My first attempt at this genus was the finicky Hyphaene compressa. I didn't know it at the time, but now I hear these are not the easiest palm to grow in South Florida, unlike the weedy and ubiquitous coriacea. One of my favorite aspects of this genus is the dichotomous branching that most species exhibit(another reason why I wouldn't grow a coriacea). When I was first getting into palms, I did a little research and then hunted down a Hyphaene compressa, as the photos of this one were what drew me to the genus in the first place--that, and it's reputed to be the largest species.

A few years later and a couple summer swale inundations and my Hyphaene was toast; I found out( after the fact) that not only does this species like very little water, but my palm curator friend at MBC told me the species is hit or miss, no matter how long it has been in the ground. She then told me of a very large specimen in their garden that just up and died on her for no apparent reason...

Fastforward to a week ago. I was at a nursery and was 'hunting'... I come across one of my new favorites from this genus--Hyphaene petersiana. I say new favorites because people's tastes change, and after seeing more than a few of these around South Florida landscapes, I can say it's definitely my favorite Hyphaene. Funny thing is, the dichotomous branching that initially got me interested in this genus, petersiana does not exhibit! No, no branching on this palm--but what is indeed so alluring with petersiana, is the color. I would have to say of all the silver palms in the world, Hyphaene petersiana may just have the best coloring of them all. Oh and did I mention they are absolute monsters too? Big and tall palms, for sure!

So I pulled the trigger on this palm--was not the biggest in the lot, as I picked for color, not size. I dug an over sized hole and backfilled the hole with a sandy medium, mixed with a palm fertilizer and watered her in, best I could. The very next day, it rained for 24 hours straight--a real toad strangler! We will see, but I don't think I should be too worried as this species is supposed to be much less tempermental in our climate. The lack of branching means it will have less of a chance of crowding out the sun for my Copernicia gigas which is a 'win, win'.

Andrew,

you Copernicia gigas was so big

good luck on the Hyphaene compressa.

Nice C. Gigas BTY

ohh how I wish I had your climate....

good luck on the Hyphaene compressa.

Nice C. Gigas BTY

ohh how I wish I had your climate....

Thanks Josh, but I am beyond luck with my compressa-it bit the dust over a year ago.

Thanks for the positive comments, guys

I took these shots yesterday. Man, this palm is fast! I am very happy with the color too. Not sure why this palm isn't grown more just for its color. 

From a couple days ago...

Lovely Andrew!

Thanks! I am thankful it is so fast. I also look forward to the huge silver beacon it will eventually become.

Nice score!!

Just some update pics from yesterday afternoon.

 I love a palm you can forget about, in your yard.

This palm you can forget about and then, on a casual walk about, rediscover the glory you needed when you decided to plant it in the first place.

The color is my favorite.

Andrew, its a Good Looker because of its name     Pete

Haha, good call! 

I love this palm and it makes me smile every time I look at it. Growing nicely and amazing color.

I like Hyphaene.  They do well in our climate.  I also really like the Adonidias in the background.  Those do not do well in our climate.

I absolutely despise Adonidia.

Growing, growing, growing! 

Update from 2 minutes ago. Despite it being a desert palm, it's not hating this week straight of constant rain...

Well, Irma did it's thing and it was substantial, in total.

This Hyphaene went to leaning pretty hard-most palms that got rocked, all were leaning in the same direction. I trimmed some fronds and propped it up a few degrees, and counted my blessings...

Any update? It’s holding up to Florida rains still? What about hardiness? Thanks 

On 1/14/2018 at 4:20 PM, Mandrew968 said:

Well, Irma did it's thing and it was substantial, in total.

This Hyphaene went to leaning pretty hard-most palms that got rocked, all were leaning in the same direction. I trimmed some fronds and propped it up a few degrees, and counted my blessings...

Any update? Thanks

 Update from a couple days ago.

Wow!

That really shot up from 2018 til now!

Wow! I’ve been waiting to get the hyphaene species for my yard 

It started creating shade so I began mulching. Also put in some companion groundcover-7 species of elephant chewing gum. Some are growing faster than others and eventually I may move some of these to another part of the yard.

In our current drought, it seems to be happy.

Is that two separate plants, or has one put off a second trunk?  I read pertersiana is supposed to be solitary trunked.  

9 hours ago, Blueman said:

Is that two separate plants, or has one put off a second trunk?  I read pertersiana is supposed to be solitary trunked.  

It made two spears and then split into two heads. Doubt it does it again. Yes, this is usually the case in the wild as the elephants only leave one main trunk...

Does anyone have any hyphaene for sale?

 

 

Any updates for 2025 @Mandrew968 ?

This was about a month ago. Fast palm!