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Posted (edited)

Does anyone here happen to have a queen palm that looks as good as they do in habitat? The majority of queen palms planted don't look that good (IMO). I remember seeing a thread a while back that had pictures of queen palms in their habitat and they looked really good there (again IMO). Also there are some that look good on Palmpedia (http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Syagrus_romanzoffiana). Does anyone have one that looks super full and like they do in habitat? 

Edited by PalmTreeDude

PalmTreeDude

Posted

Not all wild queen palms look that great.  The ones around Iguazu Falls are thin and weak looking with a depauperate crown.  The full, lush look requires lots of water and lots of fertilizer, sadly few planted ones receive such careful attention.  :(

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1

San Francisco, California

Posted (edited)

I have two queens in my front garden (one larger than the other) that look so great that most people (those who have no clue about palm trees) think they're coconut trees. As Darol mentioned, they do love fertilizer and water. One way to tell whether a Queen needs more fertilizer is how the old fronds go from green to brown. A healthy Queen like mine go from green to brown when the frond is very close to the trunk and it happens very fast. A not so healthy Queen goes from green to yellow (this is where the palm is using that frond as food,) stays yellow for a while and then once all the nutrients are extracted from the old frond, the frond turns brown —this change from green to yellow sometimes happens when the frond are as high as 90 degrees with several fronds yellowing at the same time. 

Here where I live, we do have an association that doesn't like yellow fronds, so all my neighbors do is hire this "landscapers" who instead of fixing the problem, just make it worse by removing the yellow fronds, so the palms start in a yellowing frond cycle that requires cleaning every other week or at least once a month. Good $$ for the landscapers while those palm trees are desperately needing food. And my smart neighbors who think that fertilizers are too expensive are paying $40 to $50 bucks per cleaning —just my two cents. 

IMG_1913.jpg

IMG_1912.jpg

Edited by paquicuba
  • Like 8
  • Upvote 18
Posted
3 hours ago, paquicuba said:

I have two queens in my front garden (one larger than the other) that look so great that most people (those who have no clue about palm trees) think they're coconut trees. As Darol mentioned, they do love fertilizer and water. One way to tell whether a Queen needs more fertilizer is how the old fronds go from green to brown. A healthy Queen like mine go from green to brown when the frond is very close to the trunk and it happens very fast. A not so healthy Queen goes from green to yellow (this is where the palm is using that frond as food,) stays yellow for a while and then once all the nutrients are extracted from the old frond, the frond turns brown —this change from green to yellow sometimes happens when the frond are as high as 90 degrees with several fronds yellowing at the same time. 

Here where I live, we do have an association that doesn't like yellow fronds, so all my neighbors do is hire this "landscapers" who instead of fixing the problem, just make it worse by removing the yellow fronds, so the palms start in a yellowing frond cycle that requires cleaning every other week or at least once a month. Good $$ for the landscapers while those palm trees are desperately needing food. And my smart neighbors who think that fertilizers are too expensive are paying $40 to $50 bucks per cleaning —just my two cents. 

IMG_1913.jpg

IMG_1912.jpg

Yep, that's a first-rate Queen hands down.

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 2

 

 

Posted

@paquicubaThats the best looking queen ive ever seen. 

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, paquicuba said:

I have two queens in my front garden (one larger than the other) that look so great that most people (those who have no clue about palm trees) think they're coconut trees. As Darol mentioned, they do love fertilizer and water. One way to tell whether a Queen needs more fertilizer is how the old fronds go from green to brown. A healthy Queen like mine go from green to brown when the frond is very close to the trunk and it happens very fast. A not so healthy Queen goes from green to yellow (this is where the palm is using that frond as food,) stays yellow for a while and then once all the nutrients are extracted from the old frond, the frond turns brown —this change from green to yellow sometimes happens when the frond are as high as 90 degrees with several fronds yellowing at the same time. 

Here where I live, we do have an association that doesn't like yellow fronds, so all my neighbors do is hire this "landscapers" who instead of fixing the problem, just make it worse by removing the yellow fronds, so the palms start in a yellowing frond cycle that requires cleaning every other week or at least once a month. Good $$ for the landscapers while those palm trees are desperately needing food. And my smart neighbors who think that fertilizers are too expensive are paying $40 to $50 bucks per cleaning —just my two cents. 

IMG_1913.jpg

IMG_1912.jpg

Woah! I would love to have that in my yard! It kind of makes me think of the palm tree version of a weeping willow, it looks so good! 

Edited by PalmTreeDude
Typos

PalmTreeDude

Posted

I used to have two in my back yard planted in a sorta general rain forest setting so in competition with lots of other plants. They were real speedsters in our climate, up there with the local Carpentarias and North Queensland Foxtails for growth rates. One succumbed to the dreaded wilt a coupla years ago at around 30' tall so it was a bit of a mission to fell it without wrecking the garden shed and clothesline.

Queen Palms are no longer the flavor of the month in Darwin or indeed Queensland, being regarded as an invasive weed in Brisbane and S E Queensland. 

My remaining specimen is about 35' tall and appears very healthy, but not as good lookin' as the one pictured above, its an outstanding example of the species. My one is flowering atm, in fact it produces copious quantities of viable seed twice a year that is very popular with the bush rats, fruit bats and Torres Strait Pigeons. 

Very commonly planted palm in Perth, WA where the extreme Mediterranean climate and sandy soils seems to suit them fine.

Climatically they seem to have ( in Australia at least ) the widest range of all palm varieties. I have seen healthy examples in Melbourne and Darwin, about as diverse a climate as possible Down Under.

I am forever culling seedlings out of my garden....cant even give 'em away in my neck of the woods.....

 

  • Upvote 1
Posted

I have one queen palm that came up as a volunteer. It has a larger caliper trunk than the rest of my queen palms. The frond petioles and rachis and leaves are all heavier than most of my other queen palms. Also, the fronds are less arched and a little more vertical than my other queen palms. I say other queen palms because I have so many, as they are naturalizing, and I must continually cut them down or mow over them when just seedlings. One thing I've noticed, is that the volunteer queen palms look healthy. I never fertilize them.

Below is the queen palm in question with a Sabal etonia growing at its base. I took this photo only days before Hurricane Irma, which really battered this palm. But it's almost come back to normal form since then. The other queen palm was blown over on a 45 degree angle by Hurricane Jeanne back in 2004. I let it be, and you can see the result. However, the palm now is dying of ganoderma butt rot.

 

 

Queen palm volunteer.JPG

Bent queen palm.JPG

  • Like 4
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Mad about palms

Posted

Below is another view of the volunteer queen palm (far right). The smaller queen (trunk on left) is also a volunteer, but it is less robust in size.

P9070306.JPG

  • Like 3
  • Upvote 4

Mad about palms

Posted

Some nice queens in Loro parque in Tenerife. They are almost as fat as the royals. A few of them in my area that get good watering they also look great. But only very few.

 

2018-08-14 09.34.26.jpg

2018-08-14 09.34.53.jpg

  • Like 3
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Posted

They've been the cheap landscapers' delight in South Florida for many years. Plant them in tight holes in alkaline limestone or nutrient-deficient sand, don't fertilize them, don't give them much, if any irrigation. Stand back and watch them contribute to the urban crapscape! It only adds to many people's dislike of palms. 

  • Upvote 4
Posted

There are lots of nice ones around here in landscapes where they get good fertilization and irrigation. But too many aren't taken care of and look bad.

  • Upvote 1

Eric

Orlando, FL

zone 9b/10a

Posted (edited)

There are some really beautiful specimens here in coastal Los Angeles, thick trunks, lush, large and deep green fronds. Frankly, lots look better than the ones I've seen in their native Brazil. On the other hand, there are lots that look like total crap.

Edited by Panamajack

Palos Verdes Estates - coastal Los Angeles - 33°45'N 118°24'W

On a cliff, 2 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. Zone 10b - Sunset zone 24

Posted

The first time I ever saw a queen palm was in some photos my engineering department had when I worked for the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. The Lab had a field site called Underwater Sound Reference Division in Orlando, at a small, but deep lake called Lake Gem Mary, just about 1/4 mile from the intersection of S. Orange Ave. and Gatlin Ave.

We had some aerial photos (of the facility and lake). plus some grounds photos. It was in these photos I noticed the queen palms, but I had no idea what species of palms they were. To me, they looked interesting. Well, lo and behold, many years later (early 1990s) I was sent down to the USRD facility to estimate some contract workl. I remember staying at a La Quinta motel, and I had a rental car. In my free time I drove all around to check out the palms. Of course, I did check out the queen palms at the USRD facility. Little did I imagine that one day I would move to Florida.

The USRD field site was closed down in 1997 and turned over to the county. I always found it odd that such a research facility would be located in a residential area.

Mad about palms

Posted
On 8/11/2018, 10:59:55, paquicuba said:

 

Good $$ for the landscapers while those palm trees are desperately needing food. And my smart neighbors who think that fertilizers are too expensive are paying $40 to $50 bucks per cleaning —just my two cents. 

 

 

This. In Saecula Seculorum. That is why I veer away from non self-cleaning palms. The day will come when one cannot do it by oneself. And paying quarterly for it for the rest of one's natural life is uhm, not my idea. To each his own.

5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

Posted (edited)

Here are some really nice Queens in coastal Los Angeles. 

Screen Shot 2018-08-14 at 3.44.11 PM.png

Screen Shot 2018-08-14 at 3.44.37 PM.png

Screen Shot 2018-08-14 at 3.44.48 PM.png

Screen Shot 2018-08-14 at 3.45.02 PM.png

Edited by Panamajack
  • Like 6
  • Upvote 4

Palos Verdes Estates - coastal Los Angeles - 33°45'N 118°24'W

On a cliff, 2 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. Zone 10b - Sunset zone 24

Posted

My 2 cents.....too many plant them too large.....and too many don't keep them feed properly.

And lastly....do yourself a flavour and dip that pruning saw in Chlorox!

  • Upvote 1
Posted
On 8/11/2018, 1:59:55, paquicuba said:

I have two queens in my front garden (one larger than the other) that look so great that most people (those who have no clue about palm trees) think they're coconut trees. As Darol mentioned, they do love fertilizer and water. One way to tell whether a Queen needs more fertilizer is how the old fronds go from green to brown. A healthy Queen like mine go from green to brown when the frond is very close to the trunk and it happens very fast. A not so healthy Queen goes from green to yellow (this is where the palm is using that frond as food,) stays yellow for a while and then once all the nutrients are extracted from the old frond, the frond turns brown —this change from green to yellow sometimes happens when the frond are as high as 90 degrees with several fronds yellowing at the same time. 

Here where I live, we do have an association that doesn't like yellow fronds, so all my neighbors do is hire this "landscapers" who instead of fixing the problem, just make it worse by removing the yellow fronds, so the palms start in a yellowing frond cycle that requires cleaning every other week or at least once a month. Good $$ for the landscapers while those palm trees are desperately needing food. And my smart neighbors who think that fertilizers are too expensive are paying $40 to $50 bucks per cleaning —just my two cents. 

IMG_1913.jpg

IMG_1912.jpg

I usually think that queens look kinda ugly, but these palms are absolutely astonishing

  • Upvote 2

Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

Posted

Here's mine.  If well taken care of they can be very attractive.  This one holds about 22 green leaves always.  Fertilized once a year and has to be well over 30 feet tall.  Time for a little trim but no pole can reach it.  Not trimmed since last Summer.

20180824_111807.jpg

  • Like 6
  • Upvote 4
Posted

I've never seen such great-looking queen palms. Thanks for posting.

I like them for the genetics they contribute to XButiagrus.

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Posted

I did until wilt got them. I got over it and don’t miss them now.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

  • 9 months later...
Posted (edited)

Wow. Why is it that Queens look so incredibly amazing in Habitat? One of my friends from South America sent me this picture of a ranch in Uruguay. Check out how low and lush the fronds are even when the palms are fully exposed out on their own and not sheltered. Is it because of lack of wind or what?

324358074_QueensinHabitat-AP(Large).thumb.jpg.acaa45620d1ca4e0e08902c4ea95afd5.jpg

 

Edited by sipalms
picture in wrong place
  • Like 3
Posted

Possibly a contender: (not mine) anyway, @paquicuba how do you fertilize those queens, and what is your soil like?? Do they get naturally fertilized by organic material?

 

23128892-ABF1-4013-BDB9-A01D8FFB954B.jpeg

  • Like 4
Posted
On 8/11/2018 at 10:22 AM, Darold Petty said:

Not all wild queen palms look that great.  The ones around Iguazu Falls are thin and weak looking with a depauperate crown.  The full, lush look requires lots of water and lots of fertilizer, sadly few planted ones receive such careful attention.  :(

That is the word of the month! :greenthumb:

  • Like 2

Let's keep our forum fun and friendly.

Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or lost profits or revenue, claims by third parties or for other similar costs, or any special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of my opinion or the use of this data. The accuracy or reliability of the data is not guaranteed or warranted in any way and I disclaim liability of any kind whatsoever, including, without limitation, liability for quality, performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arising out of the use, or inability to use my data. Other terms may apply.

Posted
On 6/20/2019 at 7:37 AM, sipalms said:

Wow. Why is it that Queens look so incredibly amazing in Habitat? One of my friends from South America sent me this picture of a ranch in Uruguay. Check out how low and lush the fronds are even when the palms are fully exposed out on their own and not sheltered. Is it because of lack of wind or what?

324358074_QueensinHabitat-AP(Large).thumb.jpg.acaa45620d1ca4e0e08902c4ea95afd5.jpg

 

Thats the best looking cattle farm I've seen. Australian ones are just diesel and dust with billions of flies.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Posted

I've got a decent looking one at my moms rental property. Zero irrigation and zero fertilizer, a hero of a palm.

 

IMG_6156.jpg

  • Like 5
Posted
5 minutes ago, SWFLchris said:

I've got a decent looking one at my moms rental property. Zero irrigation and zero fertilizer, a hero of a palm.

 

IMG_6156.jpg

I'm not into queens, however that one looks nice. Almost foxtail-like.

Nicely grown.

5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

Posted

There were a few along the property line at my parent’s old house that always looked incredible.  Of course, they were only 10-30 feet from a canal, so they had wet feet at all times and the substrate was muck so they had plenty of nutrients.  I can still remember watching the tallest one leaning in the wind during Hurricane Charley.

Posted

i have a few really good looking ones! this one caught my eye the other day in the yard

65309179_870792913301203_8776093949375807488_n.jpg

  • Like 5

Looking for:  crytostachys hybrids, Pseudophoenix sargentii Leucothrinax morrisii, livingstona canarensis

Posted

I can't really speak to how they look in habitat.

But, I moved to Orlando when I was in high school in 1966.  The development my parents purchased a house in was on land that for many years prior to development was used for cattle.  So, the soil was very rich in organics and everything grew.  I wasn't into palms in those days.  But, I do remember seeing queen palms that were huge.  The trunks were smooth and gray and so large an adult couldn't get their arms around them.

In 1969, my parents purchased a tract of land that was 14 acres on the North side of Hoffner Avenue just north of the Orlando airport.  The property contained it's own spring fed lake with an island in the middle.  On the far side of the lake, queen palms were growing adjacent to the lake.  With an unlimited amount of water, all of them were huge with enormous trunks ad full crowns.  My brother and I cleared a path around the lake and I remember marveling at the size of those queen palms.  There were always an abundance of seedlings available.  My parents continued to live in that home until 1984.  My wife and I purchased our home here in Winter Springs in 1983.  I dug up a number of queen palm seedings from the far side of the lake and brought them here to Winter Springs and planted them here.  I still have six of them growing here.  They are healthy.  But, not to the degree they were on the far side of the lake.  :-(

In fact, I see queen palm seedlings sprouting all over my neighborhood.  These, no doubt, are progeny of my original queen palms.

Those original queen palms were so majestic as I recall.  And, sadly, these days I do not know of any that look as good as those did all those years ago...

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1

Winter Springs (Orlando area), Florida

Zone 9b/10a

Posted

I planted this queen palm in my moms backyard in 1990 near downtown Orlando . It is the more slender form and this is the more tender type that was wiped out in Central Florida in the Dec. 1989 freeze. This form probably has its ancestral origins from more northern Brazilian habitat. It is growing in poor, sandy soil and gets no supplemental water or fertilizer.  It also is self cleaning and never holds on to dead leaves very long.

FB_IMG_1561336868221.jpg

FB_IMG_1561336871312.jpg

FB_IMG_1561336874629.jpg

  • Like 7
  • Upvote 2

Eric

Orlando, FL

zone 9b/10a

Posted

Eric, that is lovely.  The soil must have a good compliment of nutrients naturally for it to look that good.

Posted

While on the subject of Syagrus romanzoffiana, does anybody know if you can effectively propylactically treat this species for the fungus that is killing them off here in Florida?

I have a 5’ potted queen that I will want to plant out when I have a yard eventually.  Perhaps a systemic fungicide every 3 months could keep uninfected palms clean?

Posted

All the palms in the photos that have been posted here look at least as good as, or probably better than,  S. romanzoffiana than I typically see in habitat in Brazil.  It is pretty common where I often do field work. Unfortunately I have no photos.

Posted

Here is an old photo from about 9 years ago of a specimen in Altamonte Springs. The palm is taller now and gets over trimmed so doesn't look as lush as it did 9 years ago.

syagrom.jpg

  • Like 2

Eric

Orlando, FL

zone 9b/10a

Posted

These 2 specimens were grown from seed collected in habitat in southern Paraguay. They are  smaller sized palms only about 15ft tall with slender trunks. They were planted in Oct. 2004 at Leu Gardens, acquired from MBC.

 

 

queen1.jpg

queen2.jpg

  • Like 1

Eric

Orlando, FL

zone 9b/10a

Posted

I removed 50 from my home's lot shortly after I bought the house so I could start over with something other than queen palms.  A few were smaller but most had overhead clean trunk.  One of my neighbor's said I must be a palm snob after removing them, but I think he sees things differently 9 years later... at least I hope he does.  No matter how nice a specimen may look, they are so overplanted here that I didn't want to leave even one.  So I'll appreciate them in other's gardens, but pass for mine.

  • Like 1

33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

Posted

This one was planted around 1994… go figure (referring to tallest one, the others were also planted in 1994)

not the best picture but this was when I first went outside after Irma (2017)

also stood up to Wilma at a comparable height. Exceptionally strong root system 0-0

wish I had a picture of it not being blasted cause it’s a ball shaped crown 

898D86E2-138A-44C9-A5CD-01E228AFEE8E.jpeg

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Posted
On 6/19/2019 at 8:26 PM, Rd003 said:

Possibly a contender: (not mine) anyway, @paquicuba how do you fertilize those queens, and what is your soil like?? Do they get naturally fertilized by organic material?

 

23128892-ABF1-4013-BDB9-A01D8FFB954B.jpeg

I use Palmgain (8-2-12) twice a year (Spring and Fall) 'cause my soil has no nutrients whatsoever. My largest queen has a very extensive root system, so it also feeds from organic material and fertilizer that I give to other tropicals.  

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