This is one of my favorite palms, though I have been a tad disappointed by their lack of impressive growth in this state.. they just look less impressive here than they do in Florida or a more tropical environment. But still, there are some standouts, and I am sure I have not even seen half of them... Below are a few of the better ones I have seen.

First one in of Ralphs in Orange County... one of the tallest, but the crown is sort of small. Second are from Balboa park in San Diego... about as good as they get in California. THird is a nice one in Palm Desert, another pretty healthy looking beast. Last is an incredibly fast and beefy giant in Simi planted right over a septic tank and has the biggest trunk of one I have seen in California... plant is barely over 12 years old!

Then a few from tropical climates: Nong Nooch gardens in Thailand, the River Kwai, Thailand, Singapore Botanical Gardens, and Leu Gardens in Orlando

The trick to making a Bizzie look good is to allow the leaves/crown to grow down below the horizontal, which in California is hard to do without having a lot of unsightly browning leaves. As you would expect, heat, water, and superior drainage help greatly. The largest Bizzie, girth and crown, that I've seen has to be Paulgila's. It's planted on the west side of his property right next to the black top street, so that afternoon sun just bakes it like crazy. The roots surely have gone under the black top and I bet they feel like they are dipping their toes into the tropics.

This pic is 3 years old, but you can get an idea of how close the palm is to the black top street. It now has a massively wide clear trunk several feet tall. By far the fattest I've seen.

They like the heat.

One of our our Palmtalkers superheated his -- Jastin, I think -- and it didn't die, and seemed to get a bit of a burst of size, if my memory serves.

Also, the PSSC meeting in Palm Desert was at a garden that had a HUGE Bizze, with 20 feet of trunk, white as driven snow. There were others in town, too, but I was babbling too much to take pictures.

yup these are palms that love the heat and sun. I grew them in arizona for 6 years, they just crank out the fronds when high temps hit 90F, as many as 10-12 new fronds per year. The ones in florida grow even faster, possibly due to the wet summer like in their native habitat. I think they grow too fast in florida, no kidding. I want to be able to see into the crowns, dont want my bizzie to be 20' tall in 7 years with me looking up at the oldest leaves... I once read that a wet winter combined with low drainage soils causes some root dieoff in these palms, stunting their growth a bit. These palms just dont like wet and cold/cool.

Some incredible specimens!

I really like the look of the one from NN garden.

here is another view of the bizzies in balboa park San Diego

Beautiful visuals.....gentlemen !

Love,

kris.

Those are awesome.

The one here at Leu Gardens is about 20ft taller now !!!

What amazing photos. Makes me want to grow one even more. I've got just the spot for it, my hillside is sandstone and sand, I have to water my plants there during the rainy season. There is a spot with overhead canopy but hot afternoon sun, it should thrive there.

Hi,

Here is a video of the beauties,but i do not know wheather they are in california.But they look awesome !

http://youtu.be/M8JrqhG61A8

Love,

kris.

They like the heat.

One of our our Palmtalkers superheated his -- Jastin, I think -- and it didn't die, and seemed to get a bit of a burst of size, if my memory serves.

Dave,

How did he super heat his bizzy?

And another question, how many fronds can you expect a small bizzy to grow in S-Cali? Are they faster than brahea armata?

They like the heat. One of our our Palmtalkers superheated his -- Jastin, I think -- and it didn't die, and seemed to get a bit of a burst of size, if my memory serves.

Dave,How did he super heat his bizzy? And another question, how many fronds can you expect a small bizzy to grow in S-Cali? Are they faster than brahea armata?

i have one that is five feet overall, and even in half day sun it has been shooting out spears like wild. i haven't been keeping track, but i bet it spit out like six to eight leaves this year, even with my mediocre clay composite soil. my full sun one is even faster and has better color. definitely faster than armata.

Edited November 5, 201312 yr by Sabal Steve