Took a leisurely stroll around the block after work this evening.....with the camera.....and photographed some palms growing in the neighborhood. Pics taken after a nice little thunderstorm moved over the city.

As I have mentioned previously, I am a lapsed enthusiast so therefore I have forgotten many of the ID's that I once knew. Darwin is a great place for palm cultivation, Tropical climate allows us to successfully grow most subtropical, tropical and equatorial species. We are hampered somewhat by poor soils and  prolonged 'dry season' drought. Fortunately we have never had water restrictions in the Top End so we are able to keep many equatorial species alive with supplemental watering during the 'Dry'

The heyday of palm cultivation up this way was in the 1980's and '90's, and my suburb of Leanyer was built in 1981/82, so most of the gardens here are pretty well 30 or 35 years old. Darwin itself was destroyed ( with significant loss of life ) in Dec 1974 by Tropical Cyclone Tracy so even the older suburbs gardens are at the most 43 years old.

Storm brewing up....pic from my front verandah looking East. April storms are known as 'Knock 'em Downs' up in the Top End....meaning that the violent storms and wind knock down the the rampant 'wet season' Spear Grass and help spread the seeds for the next years rains.

Across the road from me....nice Cuban Royal ?

Cant remember these ones....?

Ptychosperma I think ?

Nice Foxtails on this guy's nature strip

Livistonia of some description ? Appreciate someone being able to positively ID these for me....

Cant remember what this one is ....but I like it !

Foxtails ( Wodyetia Bifurcata ) doing well out on the nature strip.

Mascarene Islands ?...Bottle Palms known as locally....Hyophorbe Lagenicaulis....they thrive up in Darwin and set viable seed frequently.

Big old Sugar Palm ?

Need an ID on both of these...

ID too ?

I've only walked 100 meters from my house...ID needed here too....

We are at the tail end of our 'Wet' so most plants are looking very good !

For the Coconut Freaks....yes they are are weed up here in the Top End....lol !

ID ?

Livistonia Humilis....very rare in cultivation....in fact I suspect this one is a remnant from the original sub division of the suburb in 1981. Endemic to the Top End and locally common out in the bush. I  know of no others in the 'burbs.....

And producing viable seed....

Another one near by.....a goner it looks like....doesn't like being choked by this seasonal vine.

A pair of Sealing Wax Palms ( Cyrtostachys Lakka )....eveyone up here thinks they are easy to grow.....well yes....indeed.....providing you keep the water up to them in the 'dry' months. They are not drought tolerant !

Another pair....very very healthy specimans these ones, some of the best I have seen in Darwin !

 

 

Sealing Wax Palms

More weeds....lol

ID anyone ?

This guy's house backs onto my place

Gotta love the 'Tropical' look of this front yard....

This a mass planting of the the Darwin native, Carpentaria Acuminata.

ID ?

The wilt does take its toll up our way....

Golden Canes in particular suffer from the wilt....

Nice Foxtail

ID ?

And back home after walking 'round the block. That's my big Washingtonia ( Cotton Palm I think ? ) towering over everything.

A group planting of Carpentarias in the flats over the road from my place.

Haha....more weeds....

 

What are the nuseries like up your way? Still stock a good selection or is it just the usual suspects?

Regards Neil

5 minutes ago, Neil C said:

What are the nuseries like up your way? Still stock a good selection or is it just the usual suspects?

Regards Neil

Mostly the usual suspects, but sometimes there are a surprise or 3 to be found.....

Here's a few more photos of Palms growing in suburban Darwin. These specimams grow at my lady friends house in the suburb of Karama about 2klm from me, Karama is a difficult place to grow successfully due to it very rocky aspect. As usual deep mulching, fertilizing and lots of dry season watering makes a big difference to success or failure.

MacArthurs are always a Darwin favorite....easy to propagate and they thrive in our poor soils ( being a 'native' up this way helps of course )

Dwarf Phoenix in the foreground, Golden Canes in the background.

The previous owners planted Golden Canes as screening plants.....hmmmm they look nice....but.....very very messy !

So not only do I have to do a weekly run with fronds my my own property, I seem to have inherited Sonia's as well.....cursed things !

Darwin produces a phenomenal tonnage of green waste daily. The local council shreds it all and sells it back to ratepayers as mulch for $20.00 a trailer load. It is good stuff !

I think the pretty purple flower is a weed of some sort.

 Its the end of our 'Wet' ( no rain since the Cyclone brushed by us last Tue/Wed ). This Cycad is lookin' good !

With the coming 'Dry', the trips to the green waste dump triple as the city's palms suffer the initial moisture stress and shed lots of fronds. I dread May/June for this reason.....every weekend in the yard picking up fronds.

And the [fill in the ethnicity] girls say

DOOT DOO DOO

DOO DOO DOO [etc]

Sax in the background.

 

2 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

And the [fill in the ethnicity] girls say

DOOT DOO DOO

DOO DOO DOO [etc]

Sax in the background.

 

I think Lou Reed's walk might have been a bit more exciting than mine......

22 minutes ago, greysrigging said:

I think Lou Reed's walk might have been a bit more exciting than mine......

Depends on the context I do submit.

Just now, DoomsDave said:

Depends on the context I do submit.

Haha....yes indeed.....I would have been somewhat surprised to meet the characters in the song in my street.....but nothing is beyond the realms of possibility in the Northern Territory.....

Did you shoot the images in a dress? Just kidding, hope I don't get deleted or booted. Just thinking of the song.

 

But, based on the coverage, you certainly did go go go!

Thanks for sharing

23 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Darwin produces a phenomenal tonnage of green waste daily. The local council shreds it all and sells it back to ratepayers as mulch for $20.00 a trailer load. It is good stuff !

 

My area is trying the same thing, but they want like $35/ cubic yard. If they sold it by the trailer I might bite. Is it any wonder they have 4 story piles of mulch in their yard......AND they're spilling over (renting) the neighboring lot, at taxpayer expense. SMH...

Great tour, I feel like I have a feel for your suburb now. I especially like the tall Pritchardias and the native Livistona is neat to see. I hope you don't mind me asking about the "rigging" thing, because my profession is rigger too.

Just now, Patrick said:

My area is trying the same thing, but they want like $35/ cubic yard. If they sold it by the trailer I might bite. Is it any wonder they have 4 story piles of mulch in their yard......AND they're spilling over (renting) the neighboring lot. SMH...

 Its not rocket science is it ? Prior to recycling our green waste, huge acreages of the council dumps were used to simply bury the plant material/vegetation. Now the product is used commercially by landscapers and by small gardeners on their household blocks. The Council even came up with a product name, "Jungle Mulch" and the stuff marches out the gates every weekend....at $20 a trailerload ! And in the long run, its a water saving device as well as the thick covering of mulch helps with water retention in the garden.soil.

Really is a win win for all.......but people wont buy it if its too expensive and $35 a cube sounds like too much.....

Sigh.

I'd look most pitiful in a dress.

Just trust me on that point!

1 hour ago, Patrick said:

My area is trying the same thing, but they want like $35/ cubic yard. If they sold it by the trailer I might bite. Is it any wonder they have 4 story piles of mulch in their yard......AND they're spilling over (renting) the neighboring lot, at taxpayer expense. SMH...

That's ridiculous.  You can get a really nice colored or bark mulch for that.  Cretins. 

1 hour ago, redbeard917 said:

Great tour, I feel like I have a feel for your suburb now. I especially like the tall Pritchardias and the native Livistona is neat to see. I hope you don't mind me asking about the "rigging" thing, because my profession is rigger too.

Yep.....been chasing and operating cranes for about 35 years.....in every state of Australia. Mine site construction, oil rigs, gas plants.....sigh !.... Haha its all I know.....getting a bit old for it now.

Here's a few more photos of street plantings of various palm species in my suburb of Leanyer ( Darwin, Australia )                                                                                                            We are right in the middle of our driest time of the year.....July is almost always rainless or a few mm ( points ) at best. A time when one dreads receiving the water bill in the mail...(sigh ). The month when a trip to the dump with dead fronds is a bi weekly occurance rather than once a month. A time to turn off the aircons and lower the ceiling fan speed and put a light doona on the bed. The season of halved beer consumption because it almost gets too cool to enjoy......( now I am making stuff up....haha ).                                                         July is the month we have to pour the water onto our Equatorial species to keep them looking half decent and the month we don't water our Council owned nature strips. End of July us locals begin to pine for the first signs of the impending 'Wet' even though it is still a few months away.

This wickedly spine armored specimen is planted on a nature strip a few blocks from my house. Can't remember its name, but I imagine its not commonly cultivated in Darwin gardens.

Again I must confess to being a bit rusty with my ID skills Are these ones African Oil Palms ( Elaeis Guineesis ) ?

Bit hard to tell of course....especially with the parasite plants growing strongly on the trunks.

Methinks their days are numbered given the size of the 'Strangler Figs' ( Ficus )

Had a nice lunch at the Darwin Waterfront Precinct yesterday and spied this attractive group planting ( Livistonias are they ? )

I thought the hot sunny aspect might not really suit these ( Chamaeorea's ? ) but they seem healthy enough if just a bit yellow .

Rainforest aspect on the hill looking towards the City from the Waterfront.

Some more street plantings in my suburb.

.

 

Edited July 7, 20178 yr by greysrigging
Spelling error

Some more street plantings in Darwin, Australia

The Canal Estate of Cullen Bay is somewhat of a 'Millionaire's Row' several miles West of the Darwin CBD. Its an amazing transformation from dirty polluted mangrove swamp that was home to a sewerage outfall and WW2 debris. I worked on the project about 25 years ago. Much of the land is reclaimed dredged sand.

Common plantings...Golden canes grow like a weed in our climate and thrive on neglect which adds to their color. Unfortunately they are susceptible to a soil born fungus that kills them off in the Darwin region. ( 95% mortallity in my garden for example )

These Foxtails looking reasonably healthy, no doubt being fed and watered. the soil in this suburb is just sand so deep mulching and watering is necessary at this time of the year ( almost 5 months rainless )

Now these Foxy's showing a typical Darwin characteristic.... the yellowing I believe is a combination of a defficiency in the soil combined with little or no mulching and intermittent watering regime.  Foxy's are probably the most common exotic planting in the Darwin region....they are simply everywhere and seed profusely.

Cullen Bay, Darwin.

Notice the green grass.... no, me either....nearly 5 months of drought !

A Boab tree street planting in the suburb of Stuart Park.

The first flowers of the season ( a bit early actually, mid Oct / November is our peak flowering season )

Nice to see the Carpentarias.  With us, they fruit prolifically, but eastern gray squirrels (the ones that conquered England) won't touch them, so the seeds tend to stay under the trees, unlike with Archontophoenix.   

@greysrigging, looks like the late Ralph Velez took over your whole town, to wondrous effect.

Gonna sing "Walk on the Wild Side" at karaoke, tonight . . . .

 

1 hour ago, Dave-Vero said:

Nice to see the Carpentarias.  With us, they fruit prolifically, but eastern gray squirrels (the ones that conquered England) won't touch them, so the seeds tend to stay under the trees, unlike with Archontophoenix.   

Mate, if i could give away my Carpentarias, I surely would !  Messiest palm on the planet....er well at least in Darwin, the seeds attract fruit bats which then take up residence in nearby trees screeching all day and night, pooping on the walls of ya house, car paintwork ( which if is not washed off promptly strips the paint to bare metal ). Constantly shedding huge fronds, thousands of seedlings all through the garden and lawns and footpaths, like walking on marbles...interesting that the squirrels avoid the seeds, must be the paint stripping qualities that puts 'em off.

I planted 'em as an avenue up my driveway 30 years ago.... cursed things ! haha. 

Native and common to the springs and creeks of the local moonsoon vine forests. I have them of a fair size that have germinated naturally ( not deliberately planted one for at least 20 years....)

In Florida, free of natural enemies, Carpies are close to instant palms.   My two were planted around 2006, and a seedling from one of them has already grown taller than either parent.  With no fruit bats or squirrels to carry seeds around, perhaps no chance to become a pest.

Archontophoenix grows well (I had one with incurable nutrient problems that had to be removed), but for some reason hasn't become popular in Florida.  There's lots more in California.  Gobs of seedlings.  (Three A. tuckeri with one A. cunninghamiania and one A. maxima, which isn't getting very maxy). 

Livistona decora is extremely easy to grow and has become a standard landscape palm in Orlando, and seems to be proving hardy in places that have fairly frequent freezes. 

Wodyetia is popular, but tends to not grow as well as it could.  The local standard for quality is a pair of old foxtails in a local botanical garden.  They're tall, shed huge quantities of fruit, long leaves, lush green.  I think they've hit a happy situation where the garden soil has enough organic matter to make fertilizer non essential and soil moisture usually pretty good, even in the dry season.  But if they're so big, why are so may others scaled-down?  Most are irrigated, most are probably given too much (cheap) fertilizer.   

I think our Acoelorrhaphe wrightii palms (Everglades or Paurotis) could become pests in northern Australia.  They like moisture and are coastal, but cultivate easily on upland sites.  Fan-leaved clump former, considerably slower growing than D. lutescens but reaching about the same height.  The Caribbean climate is fairly similar to east Madagascar and so is the sand.

 

Wodyetia amazes me in its climatic diversity outside its natural range. Here in Darwin, we are almost exactly the same climatically as its natural habitat, a rather small area on Cape York Peninsular.in far North Queensland. In the 1980's a few kilos of seed from the National Park in the Iron Ranges was commanding higher prices than a few kilos of Weed ! .In our climate, with a bit of 'dry season' watering and fertilizer, they are up there with the fastest growing palms at least the same as our local Carpentarias, even the speedster Pigafettas ( which of course needs to have its local habitat to be duplicated to really thrive ie: disturbed ground with no competition ). I have seen healthy specimens of Wodyetia in Sydney and Perth ( both locations completely different climatically and soil conditions, and 20* south of their natural environment ! )

I would have thought they would do OK in Florida ( except for the winter lows ) as they like humid hot summers and have a seasonal winter drought here in Darwin and in their natural habitat. But then in Perth they also do OK... A Mediterranean climate at 31*.57s complete with cool wet winters and hot dry summers and sandy soils is not what one would think is a Foxy habitat. And frost free coastal Sydney at 34*S also has Foxy's growing OK.

http://fshs.org/proceedings-o/1988-vol-101/118-120%20(ROUNDTREE).pdf

A koala here,

An emu there

Darwin NT is the place where they say

Hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side.

Hello, mate, take a walk on the wild side

And the fruit bats go

poop poop-poop [etc]

Carpenterias refuse to grow here in So. Cal at all. We curse Washies the same way, though.

7 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

A koala here,

An emu there

Darwin NT is the place where they say

Hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side.

Hello, mate, take a walk on the wild side

And the fruit bats go

poop poop-poop [etc]

Carpenterias refuse to grow here in So. Cal at all. We curse Washies the same way, though.

Speaking of Emus.... my rather foolish son thought it would be 'fun' to bring an Emu chick home one day...... yep all good fun until its not...... think of  chicken poop, then consider dinner plate size  Emu poop all over the back yard, under the house, on the concrete........ ( sigh )

12 hours ago, Dave-Vero said:

 

 

 

12 hours ago, Dave-Vero said:

 

I think our Acoelorrhaphe wrightii palms (Everglades or Paurotis) could become pests in northern Australia.  They like moisture and are coastal, but cultivate easily on upland sites.  Fan-leaved clump former, considerably slower growing than D. lutescens but reaching about the same height.  The Caribbean climate is fairly similar to east Madagascar and so is the sand.

 

 

 

8 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

 

 

 

 

I actually found a clump growing on the verge outside a car hire dealership in suburban Stuart Park ( Darwin ) last year. Completely neglected with no water at all during the dry months. Therefore quite tough / hardy methinks, and yes, would be a candidate to become 'weedy' in the monsoonal wetlands of the Top End.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/53757-id-darwin-nt-of-auatralia/#comment-810392

Edited September 5, 20187 yr by greysrigging
Spelling error

I love Darwin, it's a great place!  

I need to figure out Europe or Australia next June or July.  

5 hours ago, Dave-Vero said:

I need to figure out Europe or Australia next June or July.  

June / July is a nice time of year to visit northern Australia, anywhere from Broome here in W.A. Across the top to around Rockhampton in Queensland, smack bang in the middle of the dry season. 

Just now, sandgroper said:

June / July is a nice time of year to visit northern Australia, anywhere from Broome here in W.A. Across the top to around Rockhampton in Queensland, smack bang in the middle of the dry season. 

Its warming up now.... Monday / Tuesday was filthy in Darwin 35c ( 95f ) and extreme humidity. Just a taste of things to come.... lol.  Nice yesterday and today, hot but no humidity. I reckon Jan / Feb is an ok time in Darwin.....almost full overcast / rainy and cooler temps, greenery everywhere, rivers, creeks and waterfalls flowing. But yes its very oppressive humidity wise during the 'Wet'. Its a big country Australia, a land mass similar to CONUS with a very diverse climate range. June / July is cold and wet 'n' gloomy in the south east in Winter, not snowy unless in the mountains and even then our snow seasons are marginal. 

I've got some travel limits: hurricane season makes travel impractical late Aug-early Oct (and I've been away from home with a storm scare in Nov).  Oct-first half of Jan is busy.  Rest of Jan through April is our nice/resort/spring season, lots to do locally.  Summer is a good time to travel except that everyone else in the US has the same idea.  Even worse, half of them seem to be coming to Orlando for Disney and Universal. 

I've taken a peek at going to Perth in winter on grounds that (1) a fair number of Banksias will be flowering and of course things will be seasonally wet, like California and (2) there should be some opportunities to watch surfing activity.  Also, my airline with miles allows one to make two stops, so Perth can mercifully be combined with another Australian airport.  Last year on the way from Orlando to Houston, continuing to Auckland, it turned out I was with someone doing the same route but continuing on to Perth.  I'm already useless after getting to NZ.  

I marvel at "Australia" tours that shuttle you by plane all over the continent in a space of eight to ten days.  I guess it might be halfway interesting should you have window seats and clear weather.  I ought to check for US tours that do NY, Washington, New Orleans, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Seattle in a week.  

________________________

Darwin area is interesting partly because the climate has some similarities to ours (of course amazing Cuba is just across the strait and I've only spent a long weekend there).  I'm a botanist.   The region also produces outstanding contemporary art.  Very respectful Washington Post story this week, and I've seen what the story was talking about at the Quai Branly museum in Paris (that was a "free" plane ticket).  

Coastal Queensland is neat because of its similarities--but great differences--to Florida.  Archontophoenix at home.

NSW south of Sydney looks lovely.  Gotta admire Wollongong's botanic garden for transporting all those mature palms from near Brisbane.  In North American terms, that's like moving palms from my town (27ºN) to Wilmington, North Carolina, which happens to have the northernmost wild palm trees, very hardy sabals.

Anyhow, I've got miles for four or five trips.  So no excuse to leave Darwin out.  My Lepidozamia cycad is putting on a flush.  

  

 

3 hours ago, Dave-Vero said:

I've got some travel limits: hurricane season makes travel impractical late Aug-early Oct (and I've been away from home with a storm scare in Nov).  Oct-first half of Jan is busy.  Rest of Jan through April is our nice/resort/spring season, lots to do locally.  Summer is a good time to travel except that everyone else in the US has the same idea.  Even worse, half of them seem to be coming to Orlando for Disney and Universal. 

I've taken a peek at going to Perth in winter on grounds that (1) a fair number of Banksias will be flowering and of course things will be seasonally wet, like California and (2) there should be some opportunities to watch surfing activity.  Also, my airline with miles allows one to make two stops, so Perth can mercifully be combined with another Australian airport.  Last year on the way from Orlando to Houston, continuing to Auckland, it turned out I was with someone doing the same route but continuing on to Perth.  I'm already useless after getting to NZ.  

I marvel at "Australia" tours that shuttle you by plane all over the continent in a space of eight to ten days.  I guess it might be halfway interesting should you have window seats and clear weather.  I ought to check for US tours that do NY, Washington, New Orleans, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Seattle in a week.  

________________________

Darwin area is interesting partly because the climate has some similarities to ours (of course amazing Cuba is just across the strait and I've only spent a long weekend there).  I'm a botanist.   The region also produces outstanding contemporary art.  Very respectful Washington Post story this week, and I've seen what the story was talking about at the Quai Branly museum in Paris (that was a "free" plane ticket).  

Coastal Queensland is neat because of its similarities--but great differences--to Florida.  Archontophoenix at home.

NSW south of Sydney looks lovely.  Gotta admire Wollongong's botanic garden for transporting all those mature palms from near Brisbane.  In North American terms, that's like moving palms from my town (27ºN) to Wilmington, North Carolina, which happens to have the northernmost wild palm trees, very hardy sabals.

Anyhow, I've got miles for four or five trips.  So no excuse to leave Darwin out.  My Lepidozamia cycad is putting on a flush.  

  

 

Being a botanist I would imagine the the unique flora of Western Australia would be of some interest to you. About now is the world class wildflower season..... millions of acres in the mid and south west of the state transformed from empty crappy looking scrub into carpets of color. Should be good this year due to the good winter rains this season.

https://www.westernaustralia.com/en/things_to_do/forest_and_flowers/pages/wawildflowers.aspx#/

https://www.australiasgoldenoutback.com/page/outback-wildflower-trails

https://www.familytravel.com.au/stories/western-australia-wildflower-season-2018/

The big frustration about WA and the Cape region of South Africa is that their spring is our hurricane season.  A bunch of cycad scientists and enthusiasts just wound up a South Africa trip.  It's easier to get to California's flower carpets (similar winter rain climate that favors annuals) but even those are really erratic.  Still, amazingly, tickets to Perth have tended to be cheaper than to Auckland.  Maybe a crash visit? 

 

My gosh, $1,200-$1,350 in late September, Orlando to Perth.  That's the farthest airport on the planet from Orlando.  

3 hours ago, Dave-Vero said:

My gosh, $1,200-$1,350 in late September, Orlando to Perth.  That's the farthest airport on the planet from Orlando.  

Mate.... never be cheaper ! That is an exceptionally good price. Sometimes we get Darwin to Dallas or LA return for that in Aussie dollars. ATM the the AU dollar is worth .72c US so the exchange rate is good for US tourists. I bought myself 10k of US$ in 2012 when our $ was 1.10 to the US$. Still got 'em tucked away for a US visit one day....

This year will be an excellent wildflower season in W.A. they're already coming out.

Too busy in Sept, but a guy I'm working with is taking off for a while in Oct, so I can disappear simultaneous with him.  Will report if something comes up.

 

Oct. 10-15 looks like good core for a raid.

 

BTW, the foxtail yellowing in Perth is entirely typical of Florida, where north of the Miami area the "soil" is typically micronutrient-deficient sand.  We usually have enough potassium and phosphorus and people dump enough lawn fertilizer loaded with nitrogen.  Disney's Epcot giant golf ball has a bunch of foxtails growing around it. They're a bit marginal there, but Orlando (as Eric from Leu Gardens regularly notes) has developed a vast urban heat island.

Today I took another stroll around the block ( with the camera ) to show the effects of a severe 'dry' season in my suburb of Leanyer ( Darwin, Northern Territory of Australia ) Last year 2017 was a record dry spell in Darwin, 156 days between recorded rain. 2018 equalled last years record with a good 30mm ( inch and a quarter ) at the Airport at the end of September. Here at home I received 5.6mm or about 24 points.... and nothing since  (19th Oct ). I have had thunder for the last 5 days every evening, but not a drop of rain.... very depressing.... lol ! I have been pouring the water on the garden during this years 'dry'..... cost me $1000.00 for the quarter which makes me shudder somewhat....haha ( mind you I have been off work during this time so been watering way more than I normally would. Here are some photos showing how dry it is and the contrast between those of us who water and those who don't....

The verges / nature strips ( Council owned ) suffer in the 'Dry' as most people refuse to water them....

Opposite my house...

A classic example of those who water and those who don't ( and possibly a rental V owner occupied )

These weeds seem to handle the seasonal drought OK...lol

Very dry atm

Native Carpentaria handle the dry conditions ( barely )

The tall palms in the distance is my house (  discovered termites in that big tall Washingtonia last week so dunno how long it will last.... 32 years old. I have dosed it with Termidor so we'll see.....   )

Palm suffer when not watered....

Trying to keep my garden alive...

My water bill is outrageous.... haha