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Prom Queen (Palm) - Photo Contest​ 🏆​ ​🌴​


iDesign

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Those of us in warmer climates know them all too well... those sad, sickly Syagrus romanzoffiana that infest our neighborhoods. We wince at the sight of them, frantically searching for something - anything - to switch our gaze to.  Well, it's time for an attitude adjustment!

The purpose of this post is to GLORIFY the homely yet charming neighborhood Queen Palm, and give them their moment to shine. So go seek out that hideous Queen you've been trying not to look out, take out your camera (ideally when the sun is JUST right), and take your best shot.

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CONTEST RULES:

  • No healthy Syagrus romanzoffiana
    There are plenty of other posts for the healthy ones. This post is specifically for the struggling underachievers. It does however need to be ALIVE (though "just barely alive" counts).
     
  • Give it a Name
    We want to get to know these charmers on a first-name basis.
     
  • No major Photoshopping
    Please DO color-correct, sharpen, or whatever will put your entry in the best light... but no extreme Photoshopping (changing leaf color for example).
     
  • One Palm per Post
    This will help with the "voting" process.
     
  • The Contest HAS NO END DATE
    We want you to have a reason to look at these sad palms in the neighborhood, and get excited when you see a particularly hideous one.
     
  • Frame Optional (but encouraged)
    Here's one option I found that's pretty easy, and doesn't require a subscription - https://www.fotojet.com/apps/?entry=edit
    It will invite you to upgrade, but you don't need to. In my testing, it seemed to work best to add your TEXT first, then add your frame.

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TO VOTE:

  • Click the "up arrow" (next to the heart) if you like a particular picture a lot.
     
  • You can vote for as many photos as you'd like.
     
  • Because there is no "end date" to the contest, no official "winner" will be declared
    But you can see which ones are doing best by viewing how many "up arrows" a photo gets.

----

Hoping this will become an EPIC thread of Ugly Queen Palm goodness.

Have Fun!

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Stacey Wright  |  Graphic Designer

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My first entry - a particularly yellow (and short) Queen in my neighborhood...

Dolly.thumb.jpg.ac43620b9fb0ea4a88c69fa2294af973.jpg

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Stacey Wright  |  Graphic Designer

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And this one has my heart for its valiant efforts to run with the "Big Boys". I love the tiny frond it's sticking up in the air (trying to look taller)...

Bernice.thumb.jpg.1f861562bf4787e023c447a4e09ea2d3.jpg

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Stacey Wright  |  Graphic Designer

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A typical Queen Palm "Sorority House"...

doa.thumb.jpg.d2361bfabadb4d63b59818bee8f3efc9.jpg

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Stacey Wright  |  Graphic Designer

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And the extremely popular "Star Treka Borga" Sorority House (there are more Queens on the other side of the house as well). I can't imagine how long that yard takes to trim...

borg2.thumb.jpg.a9d806e9b1135adf8979c9213de531fd.jpg

Ok, now it's your turn!!!

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Stacey Wright  |  Graphic Designer

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Interesting Post. I hope you get a lot of homely contestants. Queens and robustas are so overplanted that I would only recommend them where they're marginal. Line the robustas on Washington Ave, Augusta GA where you don't expect them. 

I knew a fellow who had beautiful, silver Queens from northern Argentina. He grew them in coastal GA.  I have seen beautiful Washies, but they were around PHX. These examples are exceptions.

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Interesting post but pretty much all the Queen palms in my area look good to great whether they are in well cared for gardens or neglected ones. 

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Jim in Los Altos, CA  SF Bay Area 37.34N- 122.13W- 190' above sea level

zone 10a/9b

sunset zone 16

300+ palms, 90+ species in the ground

Las Palmas Design

Facebook Page

Las Palmas Design & Associates

Elegant Homes and Gardens

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This thread is a crime against palmanity.

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Andrei W. Konradi, Burlingame, California.  Vicarious appreciator of palms in other people's gardens and in habitat

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Pretty funny topic...they do look pathetic throughout SoCal, I think primarily due to soil conditions combined with highly basic irrigation water. Come on out here to the low desert, and look at the most pathetic, half-dead millions of palms that keep getting planted by developers, landscape architects, homeowners...because they want some sort of pinnate palm other than dates. They would do better to plant foxtails (which are sold and planted here, just on a much, much smaller scale, as I think they're rarely spec'd into jobs by design professionals).

Jim, it's interesting that you bring up the generally good-looking queens in the Bay Area (or at least the peninsula where you are)...do you know what the soil differences are in your area? Because they just seem to be so sensitive to mineral issues and probably soil pH, also in the low desert, it's that, PLUS lack of water in summer. Meanwhile, fly over to New Orleans and in the French Quarter you will see the most beautiful, luscious Queen Palms you ever imagined.  Note that New Orleans is thick muck, generally acid, and full of nutritional goodies from many millennia of silt from the Mississippi River Valley, daily torrential rains in summer, heat/humidity galore, the whole shebang.

The crazy thing is that almost ALL of the other Syagrus do so much better than queens in SoCal, with less in the way of mineral deficiencies, yellowed foliage, etc. But because they are SLOW, the nursery industry refuses to give up their crack-baby Queen Palms. They make so much money off these fast-growing weeds...and the ultra-gorgeous Syagrus sancona just can't compete, neither can S. amara, S. coronata (Caatinga palm perfect for the desert), and the rest of the huge lot of species that could be brought into the trade.

In the end, economics rules the roost. Sad but true. So we will be looking at these 'darlings' for quite some time, methinks. 😞 

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Michael Norell

Rancho Mirage, California | 33°44' N 116°25' W | 287 ft | z10a | avg Jan 43/70F | Jul 78/108F avg | Weather Station KCARANCH310

previously Big Pine Key, Florida | 24°40' N 81°21' W | 4.5 ft. | z12a | Calcareous substrate | avg annual min. approx 52F | avg Jan 65/75F | Jul 83/90 | extreme min approx 41F

previously Natchez, Mississippi | 31°33' N 91°24' W | 220 ft.| z9a | Downtown/river-adjacent | Loess substrate | avg annual min. 23F | Jan 43/61F | Jul 73/93F | extreme min 2.5F (1899); previously Los Angeles, California (multiple locations)

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It did not take long to find a candidate in the Tampa Bay area. Lucky for her, Clarabel has an attractive friend adorning her head. 

0A9164E2-6BCB-4E90-AE43-D3005BC938B5.jpeg

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Awesome topic lol. Olak its name from almost (surviving)

FB_IMG_1678465014344.thumb.jpg.81491bb4c82370427c1234c9896de790.jpg

Edited by Phoenikakias
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That's interesting to hear that the Queens do better in some locations than others. Makes me wonder if it's water restrictions or something else that makes them so fugly in my area. Though in fairness, it's not ALL of the Queen Palms that look bad. The following picture is a bit more typical of the ones near me... with a few glorious queens, next to one that "doesn't look quite right".

pamela.thumb.jpg.999a71a38d00ad1e0f52f235798607bb.jpg

Feel free to post any "doesn't look quite right" Queen photos... doesn't have to be as extreme as the other photos posted so far (I'm still lol at "droopy form" above).

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Stacey Wright  |  Graphic Designer

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image.png.1428d194f20f056c413a5e4a9055c111.png

Its a big gal, but it gets whacked by strong winds constantly so it always looks a little disheveled. Fun to look at all the same as I ride by on my bike. 

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44 minutes ago, iDesign said:

That's interesting to hear that the Queens do better in some locations than others. Makes me wonder if it's water restrictions or something else that makes them so fugly in my area. Though in fairness, it's not ALL of the Queen Palms that look bad. The following picture is a bit more typical of the ones near me... with a few glorious queens, next to one that "doesn't look quite right".

pamela.thumb.jpg.999a71a38d00ad1e0f52f235798607bb.jpg

Feel free to post any "doesn't look quite right" Queen photos... doesn't have to be as extreme as the other photos posted so far (I'm still lol at "droopy form" above).

I am very curious to see what kind of soil lies exactly around this yellow Queen. They may be quite tolerant in their soil requirements, but not as tolerant as Phoenix spp from temperate regions. My poor experience is that some specimens react very negatively to alkaline soil and get infested subsequently by soil fungi, which block partially the vascular system. Combined soil acidification, iron chelate application  and fungicides may fix problems and save eventually the plant.

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1 hour ago, Phoenikakias said:

I am very curious to see what kind of soil lies exactly around this yellow Queen...

Funny you should ask about the soil because I also wonder what's going on in that particular spot. "Pamela" actually had a yellow-frond sister (shown in the below photo) that went into a quick decline soon after this photo was taken, and died (RIP). Makes me wonder whether that spot on the side of the yard is not compatible with palm life (due to both palms looking bad).

The Queens in their front yard look healthy - and the gardeners appear to be taking pretty good care of the rest of the plants - so it could indeed be something icky going on at the soil level. ☠️

CJ.thumb.jpg.de7b43dcf88df9273e1b2feca1023726.jpg

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Stacey Wright  |  Graphic Designer

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My husband just reminded me that we have photos of the other side of the fence, from being invited to a Dinner Party at this house. Looks like "Pamela" (currently yellow) & "C.J." (turned yellow, then died) are in a small-ish planter. And there is an outdoor stove between them (not sure if that's a factor). The Queens in the front yard have always looked healthy, but these two have struggled.

pam-cj2.thumb.jpg.3eae35055bea0fedc8dd86ea58ed4178.jpg

* I didn't intend for this thread to get serious, but if there's useful information to be gleaned (on why some Queens do better than others - even in the same yard), that's of course great info.

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Stacey Wright  |  Graphic Designer

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Like Jim most of the queens I have seen look pretty good but there's always one... this one is being overrun by some sort of wild vine to show the level of neglect.  A Rainha Feia.  And poor quality photos make it worse (both are the same palm)!  :)

IMG_20230310_164708.jpg

IMG_20230310_164649.jpg

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Jon Sunder

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On 3/9/2023 at 1:05 PM, iDesign said:

 

borg2.thumb.jpg.a9d806e9b1135adf8979c9213de531fd.jpg

 

This is the person who just moved in from the mid-west and thinks to themself "wow, our backyard is a tropical oasis." Hilarious thread by the way. I'll participate at some point as I already have several candidates in mind. 

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The bozo squad, planted all at the same time as part of a landscaping project concerning a factory's foreyard. So all three should be considered as a unit. To my surprise they are looking now a20230317_154043.thumb.jpg.7c9547a216b4f9198f618ade06da2b60.jpg20230317_154108.thumb.jpg.c8310c5ea23728b123e9ee2f72a2088d.jpg20230317_153959.thumb.jpg.52fd67ea6c2f0e850611e74e779901ae.jpg bit nicer than they used to initially. 

 

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Hilarious topic! Will start looking around. Most around here qualify!

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What you look for is what is looking

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Here's my sorta-vaguely-kinda-maybe-perhaps alive contribution.  It's got a green frond!  I'll name it...SNAG!  Some of you may get the joke...

1281295329_20230318_183123Queendead.jpg.79d3ac618ac32f5f01f8de233ad6ffc5.jpg

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On 3/10/2023 at 5:08 PM, Fusca said:

Like Jim most of the queens I have seen look pretty good but there's always one... this one is being overrun by some sort of wild vine to show the level of neglect.  A Rainha Feia.  And poor quality photos make it worse (both are the same palm)!  :)

IMG_20230310_164708.jpg

IMG_20230310_164649.jpg

Looks like the store owner saw my post!  Some serious over-trimming to the queen, the oleander and the vine!  I guess this prom queen has been disrobed!

IMG_20230323_133540.jpg

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Jon Sunder

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This is not the worst but a number of other specimens are not in the same condition:BEA95149-42F0-4853-85C9-4CA4E011E4A2.thumb.jpeg.a5ef04930b43274d7525169bebaffd81.jpeg

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What you look for is what is looking

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26 minutes ago, bubba said:

This is not the worst but a number of other specimens are not in the same condition:BEA95149-42F0-4853-85C9-4CA4E011E4A2.thumb.jpeg.a5ef04930b43274d7525169bebaffd81.jpeg

It is overshadowed by the beauty of the Canary Date in background!

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58 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Looks like the store owner saw my post!  Some serious over-trimming to the queen, the oleander and the vine!  I guess this prom queen has been disrobed!

IMG_20230323_133540.jpg

Yeah, they might have over-trimmed that just a wee bit!  :P

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1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Looks like the store owner saw my post!  Some serious over-trimming to the queen, the oleander and the vine!  I guess this prom queen has been disrobed!

IMG_20230323_133540.jpg

Maybe they were like, "didnt there use to be a palm tree there?"

Well they found it, and for safe measure they decided to practically behead it.

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Palms - 4 S. romanzoffiana, 1 W. bifurcata, 2 W. robusta, 1 R. rivularis, 1 B. odorata, 1 B. nobilis, 2 S. palmetto, 1 A. merillii, 1 P. canariensis, 1 BxJ, 1 BxJxBxS, 1 BxS, 3 P. roebelenii, 1 H. lagenicaulis, 1 H. verschaffeltii, 9 T. fortunei, 1 C. humilis, 2 C. macrocarpa, 1 L. chinensis, 1 R. excelsa

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Considering that we're currently in severe drought on the edge of exceptional drought and no rain in sight, this queen doesn't have a chance.  It gets zero supplemental watering.  :( I might offer them use of my chainsaw.

Jon Sunder

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is one I have been struggling with for a while now.  On even days I want to cut it down and on odd days I decide against it.  It's about 25' tall and it's really penciling at the top.  My wife has some orchids tied to it's base and she doesn't want to pull them off if I cut it.  We call her Miss Pencil Neck.

1961054689_1652px-Jean-baptiste_corot_corso_di_un_fiume_1845-55_ca.jpg.d2f05bf67d1cf25e3971ef856fc3f1c2.jpg

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Here's my queen; it's malnourished, haggard and it harbors parasites and other diseases.

IMG_20230412_141154862.jpg

IMG_20230412_141204716.jpg

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