Dypsis mirabilis

[realarch]

Surprising you don’t see more posts about this Madagascar palm. Tall, thin, colorful, and fast growing, a small grove looks especially nice. They are variable with pinnate or entire leaves and lightly clumping. What’s more to ask for, although I have no idea how cold hardy they are. 

Tim

[TomJ]

I have had success growing these in Vista California.

I have about 6 of these in ground that I planted straight out from FB 4 inch.

Slow but steady.  

I am out of the country, but I'll post pictures when I get home at the end of March.

[Patrick]

Very pretty. Watch out for the name change! ...If it applies

[realarch]

Patrick, I double checked any name changes, it remained the same. 

Tim

[iDesign]

I'm really curious to hear any California experiences, since these have been on my radar. I saw some large ones at Rancho Soledad, which were under the name "Dypsis florencii" (which is apparently another name for these, according to the description on Floribunda). Here is a photo of the ones Rancho Soledad was selling...

The ones at Rancho Soledad are NOT an example of how they'll do in CA, as they were brought in from Hawaii recently, and already mature. But they had also planted a few in their outdoor display garden, and I'm curious how those ones did this winter (they appeared to be a recent planting, and were near a shed in the outdoor display garden). If someone is going to Rancho Soledad in the near future maybe they can go check them out and take a picture, now that winter is close to over.

[Tracy]

16 hours ago, realarch said:

Surprising you don’t see more posts about this Madagascar palm. Tall, thin, colorful, and fast growing, a small grove looks especially nice. They are variable with pinnate or entire leaves and lightly clumping. What’s more to ask for, although I have no idea how cold hardy they are. 

Tim

I had success growing these for a while but lost them eventually.   The ones in Carlsbad died after I moved out and turned over the landscape maintenance to a third party.  I don't recall for sure but think the one in Leucadia died during our remodeling, so neglect or abuse being the root cause.

Looking forward to seeing Tom's in Vista when he returns since he has had longterm success here. 

[mike in kurtistown]

Just took this pic of one of the ones I was given seeds of by an old Australian palm person who did a lot of early exploration in Madagascar. He called it D. paludosa. The names paludosa, florencei, procera, and mirabilis really need to be clarified. POM states that mirabilis is solitary. If so, mine can't be mirabilis. They seem to be happy here in full sun in rainy windward Hawaii.

 

[Brad52]

Mine from Jeff Marcus looks different enough to make me question my tags, I have 3 seedlings but they look like nearly dead seedlings.

[Kim]

I planted 8 Dypsis paludosa in March 2010, one died, but the rest grew very well. They were later reclassified as Dypsis mirabilis. I would say the leaves on mine were more divided that what I see on Tim's photos. Come the eruption in 2018, all but one (which uniquely had 2 trunks) died as a result of exposure to SO2. The one remaining palm continues to look shabby. Mikes photo just above looks more like what I grow as Dypsis procera, obtained from Bill Austin, and does cluster. Those were also damaged during the eruption but several survived and continue to improve slowly.

D. paludosa at time of planting, below. The tall one on the left was already mature, the others were just little keiki.

[TomJ]

What FB sells as Rosea and Procera I found to be much harder grows.

Mirabilis to me is better looking with the yellow and leaf structure.

[D. Morrowii]

I picked up several hundred seeds from Bill last year, probably half were already sprouted  and I had to find container homes for 150-175 of them. I was very excited to try these out in groups all over the place. However, over several months they damped off one by one and I now have (1) 2 leafer left struggling in a cone lol. Wish me luck! 
 

I do love seeing all the pictures of the success stories though! 

[realarch]

Awww Dean, that’s tough. There must have been some pathogen running wild through the germination beds. Good luck to your lone survivor.

Tim

[D. Morrowii]

Its a shame! There were so many sprouted I figured it was a slam dunk. A classic example of counting my chickens before they hatched I guess. At least I can grab a few from Floribunda and try again if my lone survivor croaks. 

[TomJ]

These two were planted in either 2016 or 2017 from 4 inch seedlings via FB.

No greenhouse ever, straight into clay. Pictures today.

Remember this is California not Hawaii....

[TomJ]

Plugging along 

[realarch]

Those look darn good Tom, attractive at any size.

Tim

[Tracy]

I should probably try this species again.  I had a couple growing a decade ago and lost them after I put them in the ground.  I didn't have much canopy back then if any.  I think the transition from winter shade to summer full sun did them in when I put them in the ground and wasn't moving them around for best exposure in their pots.  Tim, I'm curious how much sun yours get.  If yours get a lot, that would blow my theory right out of the water.

[Brad52]

I killed 3…

[Brad52]

On 3/5/2023 at 11:18 AM, Brad52 said:

Mine from Jeff Marcus looks different enough to make me question my tags, I have 3 seedlings but they look like nearly dead seedlings.

Sorry I had a senior moment here, this is dransfeldii…

[realarch]

Hey Tracy, well……..stand back! Full sun from the moment they were planted. One caveat, full Hilo sun is a different animal with the amount of cloud cover and ever present high humidity. 

With a bit of cover you might be successful with this species. Even small, they are ann interesting palm for intimate spaces. 

Tim

[Hurricanepalms]

Anyone have luck with this one in Florida? If so, let’s see them. 

[iDesign]

Replying to this thread to ask any thoughts on the “entire leaf” vs “split leaf” options from Floribunda.

I was favoring “entire leaf” since that’s the type I fell in love with at Rancho Soledad, but @TomJ (not far from me) has some that appear to be the split leaf variety, which are doing well for him.

Is this choice just a matter of leaf style preference? Or is one more hardy than the other? I was already planning on ordering some on my next Floribunda order, but not sure on the split vs entire leaf choice. Thoughts?

[DoomsDave]

10 hours ago, iDesign said:

Replying to this thread to ask any thoughts on the “entire leaf” vs “split leaf” options from Floribunda.

I was favoring “entire leaf” since that’s the type I fell in love with at Rancho Soledad, but @TomJ (not far from me) has some that appear to be the split leaf variety, which are doing well for him.

Is this choice just a matter of leaf style preference? Or is one more hardy than the other? I was already planning on ordering some on my next Floribunda order, but not sure on the split vs entire leaf choice. Thoughts?

COMPROMISE . . .

TRY EVERYTHING! And let us know. (Maybe I'll do the same and we can compare notes.)

[realarch]

Stacey, I’ve not noticed any difference between the two leaf types. Other than the fronds, the palms look identical…..at least to me. I’m growing both side by side and unless you have them spaced far enough apart, the entire leaf form doesn’t really stand out.

Tim

[Kim]

I will go with Dave's advice and try a few of each. Chances are not all will survive, but I won't know until I try.