Palms and Others of Interest

[kinzyjr]

A mini-update due to an opportunistic find.  After Ian, a home owner cut up some curb concrete they had used to border their yard.  When I saw it, I made sure I snagged it and used it to make a bed for the 3 x Livistona chinensis gifted to me by @palmsOrl and the now-established Arenga englieri from the 2018 CFPACS Holiday meeting seeds.

Starting to dig the bed:

This area was dead sand only 3 years ago.  The flesh and fruit from all of the seeds I cleaned were dumped in this area.  Soil looks very rich now:

Concrete is placed and the Arenga at the far end was moved to form a triangle with the two palms at the end:

The border is now black.  Everyone could use another degree near the ground in the winter:

Another change - placed an AmbientWeather in one of my old planters.  We'll see what kind of numbers I get with this station here:

Moved my potted Borassus to guard duty.  With the oak moved, the Ptychosperma macarthurii could use a bit more shade.

My trip to the 2021 Holiday CFPACS meeting netted me two coconuts of unknown lineage.  They hate pots, so I made them a triple planting with the Fiji Dwarf in front.

Moved the plain Acoelorraphe wrightii near where the Azul is planted to clear space on the south border for a project planned later.

[Foxpalms]

@kinzyjr When the sun is shining against my black wall even 4ft away the temperature is 4-5f warmer than the rest of the garden and on really hot days even more. I'm sure that black border will definitely help, especially considering how much more sun Florida gets, and how much stronger it is. Here it only really works well in the summer months probably why the syagrus romanzoffianana grows fairly fast in the summer, whilst in the winter it only really gives off 1-2f. We don't get many full sun days in January and the sun is very weak at this latitude! Looks good.

[Little Tex]

On 10/27/2022 at 8:28 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

As King of the Off Topic Replies

Might be bubba 🤔

[D. Morrowii]

I like that border material, pretty cool find! Hey is your acoelorraphe wrightii slow as molasses? I sprouted some seeds last year and they are still just slowly pushing out strap leaves every couple of months. 

[kinzyjr]

3 hours ago, Foxpalms said:

@kinzyjr When the sun is shining against my black wall even 4ft away the temperature is 4-5f warmer than the rest of the garden and on really hot days even more. I'm sure that black border will definitely help, especially considering how much more sun Florida gets, and how much stronger it is. Here it only really works well in the summer months probably why the syagrus romanzoffianana grows fairly fast in the summer, whilst in the winter it only really gives off 1-2f. We don't get many full sun days in January and the sun is very weak at this latitude! Looks good.

I used to have a 900 sq. ft. patio and pool in that area, with the pavers pressed into 6 inches of concrete.  That used to keep the backyard really warm.  When I had to have that area demolished due to age, wear, and tear, I could tell a noticeable difference in the backyard in regard to susceptibility to radiational cooling.  As I run across concrete and stone pavers and borders, they get added to the landscape.  Most people see concrete, I see a heat battery.

3 hours ago, Little Tex said:

Might be bubba 🤔

We all needs some comic relief once in a while LOL

10 minutes ago, D. Morrowii said:

I like that border material, pretty cool find! Hey is your acoelorraphe wrightii slow as molasses? I sprouted some seeds last year and they are still just slowly pushing out strap leaves every couple of months. 

Yes, Acoelorraphe wrightii is slow as all hades until it forms a rootball.  To give you an idea how slow, I collected the seed that produced that one before the coronavirus outbreak.

[JohnAndSancho]

3 hours ago, Little Tex said:

Might be bubba 🤔

Lololol it's a close competition. 

[palmfriend]

Hi,

this is going to be your tribute to Okinawa! If you can add one or two Satakentias later, it would make it perfect...😀

 

Lars

 

[kinzyjr]

Allagoptera arenaria is flowering pretty young:

[Looking Glass]

7 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Allagoptera arenaria is flowering pretty young:

Wow.  Really young.  

[kinzyjr]

Got an early start on that New Year's resolution - by completing the @Merlyn workout:

Removed a bush - this is about a third of the bush.  The rest was chopped to pieces.

The hole it occupied.

[Merlyn]

10 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Got an early start on that New Year's resolution - by completing the @Merlyn workout:

I think it has real potential as a competitor to CrossFit.  Or maybe I could sucker some of them into coming over here and doing the new WOD: The Merlyn:

• Two handed axe chop
• Pinch bar pry and deadlift
• 400m run down the street and back
• Clean and jerk a chunk of stump
• 50m trash can haul

I'd have my yard done in no time! 

[kinzyjr]

Some spring time blooms to cheer everyone up after an "average" winter:

Avocados:

Mangoes:

Aloes:

Adenium (Desert Rose):

Date Palms:

Unsure on these bushes:

Hawaiian Ti Fruit (late on the draw for the flowers) :

[D. Morrowii]

Looking springy over there @kinzyjr!

[kinzyjr]

On 2/28/2023 at 6:51 PM, D. Morrowii said:

Looking springy over there @kinzyjr!

Might as well add another one to the mix then... Ptychosperma macarthurii with flowers and immature fruit:

[kinzyjr]

The garden has a lot of necessary edits underway, so probably no full update until Memorial Day after everything that needs moved is moved and decides whether it wants to stay in the gene pool or head to the mulch pile.  In the mean time:

One of my seed-grown Phoenix reclinata is flowering (male flowers) - approximately 4.5 years from seed to flower:

Some may remember this particular palm from it's germination photos on 08/16/2018:

The Atlantic Tall/Jamaican Tall coconut on the south side of the house decided to begin shedding it's leaf bases.  They are piled up on the other side of the palm for easier viewing of the now clear portion of the trunk.

Veitchia winin: This was bought at the 2023 CFPACS Spring Meeting yesterday as a $10 experiment palm.  If it goes, just mow over it.