phoenix sylvestris

[sonoranfans]

I bought a phoenix sylvestris 3 gallon last april by mail from florida. Yeah I know they are common palms and collectors may not be interested, you collectors are warned. It appears to be a sylvestris with color and plumosity of the frond leaflet arrangements, though hybridization of phoenix species is rather common. It took the first summer for it to get acclimated and put some roots down, but it has been throwing spears very quickly since then, often 4 emerging at once. I have seen alot of other phoenix, none have grown like this one at this young age. CIDP seem to take off at a larger size and are also pretty quick here. Here is the palm in september 08, several months after planting.

[sonoranfans]

And here is the palm at the beginning of july '09, 10 months later. They dont grow much nov-march, but then pick it up again as the soil temps warm up. Anybody else out there have a sylvestris? I hear they grow real well in parts of texas, I have 3 small seedlings from south texas.

Edited July 17, 2009 by sonoranfans

[Davidl]

It looks nice and is growing fast.

[freakypalmguy]

Looking good Tom, that's some serious growth. It may be common in FL, but not in CA

I traded a good sized sylvestris for a 12er of Modelo Especials with Len about 3 months ago. Len had no room for it and it was starting to do poorly in the container (thank you again Len). When I removed it from the container (a 25 gal), it was loaded with white roots filling the bottom. It's on it's 10th frond since I put it in the ground and is looking great (4 from existing spears when I received the palm). It's pumping out fronds quicker than anything I have. The newly emerged fronds are apx. 6-8" shorter than the fronds that were on the palm when I received it, but that's fairly common when I plant anything in the harsh environment at my home, most palms and cycads shrink up a bit and stay more compact for a while. Unfortunately, I'm sitting in a hotel in NYC so I can't get a picture until tomorrow.

I also have a bunch that I germinated from seed that have been very fast growers, going pinnate in less than a year.

Matt

[sonoranfans]

Looking good Tom, that's some serious growth. It may be common in FL, but not in CA

I traded a good sized sylvestris for a 12er of Modelo Especials with Len about 3 months ago. Len had no room for it and it was starting to do poorly in the container (thank you again Len). When I removed it from the container (a 25 gal), it was loaded with white roots filling the bottom. It's on it's 10th frond since I put it in the ground and is looking great (4 from existing spears when I received the palm). It's pumping out fronds quicker than anything I have. The newly emerged fronds are apx. 6-8" shorter than the fronds that were on the palm when I received it, but that's fairly common when I plant anything in the harsh environment at my home, most palms and cycads shrink up a bit and stay more compact for a while. Unfortunately, I'm sitting in a hotel in NYC so I can't get a picture until tomorrow.

I also have a bunch that I germinated from seed that have been very fast growers, going pinnate in less than a year.

Matt

Sounds very fast matt, and the shortened spears happeded to a L. Rigida that I planted after it got really hot. I think its a response to a change of environment or sun exposure. My sylvestris' spears have really become longer(1'?) this hot season, its roots are well acclimated by now.

[Brad Mondel]

hey! congrats on your pheonix growth rate i have a 6 foot (1 foot clear cut trunk) sylvestris and it has ben really slow for me,however i planted it this past spring and its focusing on the root growth first,it has only opened 2 fronds so far,,,, yours looks great!

[war_eagle]

I planted this one from a 15g on 5/21/2008, so it's been in the ground for about 14 months. It seems to really like it here just south of Houston so far. This picture was taken on the day it went into the ground (5/2008).

[war_eagle]

This picture was taken just a few minutes ago.

[sonoranfans]

hey! congrats on your pheonix growth rate i have a 6 foot (1 foot clear cut trunk) sylvestris and it has ben really slow for me,however i planted it this past spring and its focusing on the root growth first,it has only opened 2 fronds so far,,,, yours looks great!

Thanks archangel,

I have a weakness for the sylvestris and rupicolas, and I love a big CIDP, but not in my yard.

War eagle,

shes looking real pretty and looks quite a bit larger in the second photo. May I ask how much time elapsed between the two shots?

[war_eagle]

War eagle,

shes looking real pretty and looks quite a bit larger in the second photo. May I ask how much time elapsed between the two shots?

The first photo was taken 5/21/2008 and the second was today (7/17/2009), so she's been in the ground about 14 months.

[Kris]

Dear Tom & Friends

Yes the p.sylversteris are fast growers,And here is a one that is growing in our garden.I think its around 8 to 9 years old.It was growing fast till i stopped regular trimming..

Since i have stopped trimming the fronds often,the palms crown has increased its sized 3 times.And as as result the bottom of the trunk we can see new white roots pooping quite often.And only past one year i have began giving it regular chemical fertz feed.

A still of the same palm as of now !

A close-up of the crown area :

Now lets see the its new roots..

And i must thank our forum member kathryn for her suggestion that less trimmed palms are much healthier.

love,

Kris

[Alicehunter2000]

I love P. sylvestris.......it is currently my favorite palm that I have planted. Mine has been in the ground for 3 or 4 years and it has done beautifully. This is a picture from last year....it's looking even better now.

[sonoranfans]

Now that form is exactly what Im hoping for, its a gorgeous palm Kris. I also love rupicolas, but the sylvestris is so much more versatile here as they grow so much faster, and take the hot sun much better. Im even willing to put up with the nasty stabbling leaflets for such a gorgeous palm. And yes Kris less trimming is a good idea. I once read that the sap in palms takes alot of energy to produce and when you cut off a viable frond the tree loses that important fluid and must remake it. When the tree choses to give up a frond, it withdraws the sap and it turns brown, thus conserving it. Certainly more leaf area means greater photosynthesis capacity as well. For these reasons my palms are bushy and untrimmed until the fronds brown or interfere with another smaller palm.

Edited July 18, 2009 by sonoranfans

[sonoranfans]

I love P. sylvestris.......it is currently my favorite palm that I have planted. Mine has been in the ground for 3 or 4 years and it has done beautifully. This is a picture from last year....it's looking even better now.

Gorgeous palm David, and adorable little ones, they remind me of my own grandaughters.

regards,

Tom

Edited July 18, 2009 by sonoranfans

[Kris]

Dear David

Very beautiful still ! Since all your loved ones are covered in that lovely snap..

Lots of love to you & your kids,

Kris

[freakypalmguy]

Kris definitely has the best looking sylvestris I have ever seen, that is a beauty Kris.

Matt

[Kris]

Now that form is exactly what Im hoping for, its a gorgeous palm Kris.

Dear Tom

Thanks & iam very glad our tastes are very similar.. There is a another form avaliable here in chennai,which i call as the weak looking form.Which i really hate. And here are few visuals of that !

Lots of love,

Kris

[Kris]

Kris definitely has the best looking sylvestris I have ever seen, that is a beauty Kris.

Matt

Dear Matt

Thanks.

Lots of love,

Kris

[freakypalmguy]

Here is a shot of my recovering P. sylvestris. The picture does not show it's blue coloration very well or the trademark orange leaf bases of sylvestris.

[sonoranfans]

Here is a shot of my recovering P. sylvestris. The picture does not show it's blue coloration very well or the trademark orange leaf bases of sylvestris.

I have found that the sylvestris are kind of funny with the blue. It tends to change with time of day or especially season or exposure. I bought (2) 3 gallon palms from florida. The one in post #2 is the one that came with a light green/ silver and some light blue in it. The second one looked green from any angle, I thought I'd been given a CIPD hybrid or something. So the less attractive one I put in the back of the yard near an orange esperanza. I'd figured it was just genetically different, less blue/silver than the "pretty one". Well that one in the back went unnoticed till late spring this year. I went back there and noticed it was pushing new silver blue fronds, nothing like the fronds it came with. Here is a pic taken a month ago of the one in the back, its as blue or more so than the "pretty one " now. The one in the back gets plenty of sun, perhaps it was green as delivered because it wasnt getting the sun at the nursery. Or perhaps a recovering palm turns green to ramp up photosynthesis, I have noticed that in chamaerops cerifera. One of my ceriferas froze, part of a spear came off and it just turned green for one summer. Today that cerifera is a haunting blue, teriffic. I have one tip for showing the blue in a photograph: shoot with the sun at your back and/or at the edges of the day. The reflected light will be more blue, transmitted more green. You will always see more transmitted and less reflected light when the "bluish" palm is between you and the sun, just optical physics. I suspect your sylvestris will take on its blue coloration as it recovers. By early next summer, it will show its coloration.

Edited July 18, 2009 by sonoranfans

[iamjv]

My Phx S. has been a rocket here, even with our rocky soil and lack of water.... (planted in an area where the sprinklers system fails to hit-so it only gets water every so often). It just seems to love the heat and keeps on pushing spears despite the conditions. Clearly my fastest phx! Jv

[freakypalmguy]

Here is a shot of my recovering P. sylvestris. The picture does not show it's blue coloration very well or the trademark orange leaf bases of sylvestris.

I have found that the sylvestris are kind of funny with the blue. It tends to change with time of day or especially season or exposure. I bought (2) 3 gallon palms from florida. The one in post #2 is the one that came with a light green/ silver and some light blue in it. The second one looked green from any angle, I thought I'd been given a CIPD hybrid or something. So the less attractive one I put in the back of the yard near an orange esperanza. I'd figured it was just genetically different, less blue/silver than the "pretty one". Well that one in the back went unnoticed till late spring this year. I went back there and noticed it was pushing new silver blue fronds, nothing like the fronds it came with. Here is a pic taken a month ago of the one in the back, its as blue or more so than the "pretty one " now. The one in the back gets plenty of sun, perhaps it was green as delivered because it wasnt getting the sun at the nursery. Or perhaps a recovering palm turns green to ramp up photosynthesis, I have noticed that in chamaerops cerifera. One of my ceriferas froze, part of a spear came off and it just turned green for one summer. Today that cerifera is a haunting blue, teriffic. I have one tip for showing the blue in a photograph: shoot with the sun at your back and/or at the edges of the day. The reflected light will be more blue, transmitted more green. You will always see more transmitted and less reflected light when the "bluish" palm is between you and the sun, just optical physics. I suspect your sylvestris will take on its blue coloration as it recovers. By early next summer, it will show its coloration.

A very interesting theory Tom, plants are amazingly adaptive. I bet you are on to something.

[mnorell]

P. sylvestris does beautifully here at my location in SW Mississippi zone 9a and I have indeed noticed that they are somewhat slow the first year in the ground while it puts its feet down (and what palm isn't), then stand back! I have found the 'robusta' form to be the fastest for me here. A giant shuttlecock of leaves about 10-12' tall after just four years in the ground from a 1gal...no trunk yet but it will be here quickly I'm sure. Meanwhile theophrastii is just starting to look decent, it's quite slow by comparison. I have planted the standard form of sylvestris around as well, its leaves are greener when young than the robusta form. Never harmed by the cold so far, low 20s each year and we have at least one good, long 10-15 hour freeze each year plus a smattering of less severe episodes. This is really about my favorite Phoenix for so many reasons. Am waiting for those gorgeous orange-yellow leaf-bases, they really IMHO make this a fantastic palm. Loves the heat and humidity here and doesn't seem to mind those chilly wet winters one bit so far...trouble-free in just about every way, but watch those vicious spines.

[Brad Mondel]

i checked mine and the new spear is getting brown burn-like markings on it can u help me ?

[Gan Eden]

nice pics

[sonoranfans]

i checked mine and the new spear is getting brown burn-like markings on it can u help me ?

If it is a young one, make sure it gets watered regularly. New spears evolve with a protective brown wrap. These phoenix dont sun burn when young in my experience if watered well.

[Alicehunter2000]

Thought this old photo from a P. sylvestris in a neighborhood near me was relevent........a beautiful palm!

[sonoranfans]

Thought this old photo from a P. sylvestris in a neighborhood near me was relevent........a beautiful palm!

Yes David, that is what a mature sylvestris should look like! Its pics like that and good cold tolerance which inspired me to buy my sylvestris. For me the sylvestris is an asthetically beautiful palm that is also a safe pic, will take the cold here (to the low 20's) no problem.

regards,

Tom

[iamjv]

David, that is a great specimen, what temp extremes has that Phx S. seen there in Panama City??? Thanks. Jv

[Alicehunter2000]

I would imagine its been in the ground at least 10 years.........in that time period we have probably had a few nights in the upper teens. Just a guess, would have to look at weather history for the area to be sure. I remember P. canaries totally defoliating many years ago and thinking they had all died around town.........but they all came back and we have many many fine specimens around. So if the weather was cold enough to defoliate a P. canary than I would imagine it would have to be in the upper teens.

[Kris]

Dear David

Nice visual..

Love,

Kris

[iamjv]

Thanks for the info David.... I've only seen CIDPs defoliate when it went into the single digits (back when I lived in AZ)... have seen them burned hard in the lower teens but the centers were still green. Jv