happypalms Another day in paradise in the garden

[happypalms]

The good old reliable chameadorea atrovirens  a real easy landscaping palm to work with a true winner in the chameadorea world for proven success I do get a little amount of seeds from them easy to germinate palm 

[happypalms]

Iam pretty happy about my darianii surviving winter it even put out new leaves in winter I left it sitting in a bucket of water over winter so it had cold feet iam pretty sure it was in a protected hothouse temperatures around 2 degrees Celsius I will continue to grow it in a protected environment for another winter then all I have to do is plant it in the wettest spot I can create not easy in the bush around my garden but iam sure I can create those conditions I will make a raised garden extremely large with some sort of water retaining tricks out there but iam sure i will still need good drainage or i will just leave the hose on permanently either way it will get special treatment i only have one and cry if I break the roots 

[happypalms]

This palm is an easy to grow one in my climate once again iam sure more water in my climate would make for a bigger palm after 20 years or are they just slow ?

[tim_brissy_13]

Schippia surprisingly does well for me in Melbourne. In ground 3 years now. The first year it suffered transplant shock and didn’t grow, I was sure all was lost considering it’s marginal here. But then the last two years it has recovered and puts out about 5 fronds per year. Not much vertical growth though. 

[iDesign]

Was pleased to see this palm mentioned, as it's been a LONG time since I've seen the name. Not sure why this palm is not more loved on the forum (best guess is because it's very slow growing?). It's one of my personal favorites, and relatively rare, based on the scant information I've been able to find online.

What I like about it is that it looks nearly PERFECT all of the time, without any effort on my end. It's very slow growing, but that also means little to no maintenance. Cutting off a frond is infrequent enough that it's a special occasion.

While not much bigger than when I bought it, I'm happy with its relatively small size. I purchased it at almost this same size many years ago (from Rancho Soledad... was brought in from Hawaii). Mine goes into the ground this coming Spring... in a very prominent location.

[The Palm Nut]

Yep, slow but steady. Mine in the center.

[Frond-friend42]

4 hours ago, iDesign said:

Was pleased to see this palm mentioned, as it's been a LONG time since I've seen the name. Not sure why this palm is not more loved on the forum (best guess is because it's very slow growing?). It's one of my personal favorites, and relatively rare, based on the scant information I've been able to find online.

What I like about it is that it looks nearly PERFECT all of the time, without any effort on my end. It's very slow growing, but that also means little to no maintenance. Cutting off a frond is infrequent enough that it's a special occasion.

While not much bigger than when I bought it, I'm happy with its relatively small size. I purchased it at almost this same size many years ago (from Rancho Soledad... was brought in from Hawaii). Mine goes into the ground this coming Spring... in a very prominent location.

Yours looks great.  How much do you water it?

[iDesign]

15 minutes ago, Frond-friend42 said:

Yours looks great.  How much do you water it?

My husband handles irrigation, but I believe it's 3x / week in summer and 2x / week in winter? I do know this one has both a dripper and "stake" in the pot.

There's no "secret" I can share though... this plant did almost all of its growing in Hawaii. 🌴 ☀️

[happypalms]

4 hours ago, The Palm Nut said:

Yep, slow but steady. Mine in the center.

Nice palm and good looking strong growth is the bubble wrap on the vestria winter protection?

[happypalms]

8 hours ago, iDesign said:

Was pleased to see this palm mentioned, as it's been a LONG time since I've seen the name. Not sure why this palm is not more loved on the forum (best guess is because it's very slow growing?). It's one of my personal favorites, and relatively rare, based on the scant information I've been able to find online.

What I like about it is that it looks nearly PERFECT all of the time, without any effort on my end. It's very slow growing, but that also means little to no maintenance. Cutting off a frond is infrequent enough that it's a special occasion.

While not much bigger than when I bought it, I'm happy with its relatively small size. I purchased it at almost this same size many years ago (from Rancho Soledad... was brought in from Hawaii). Mine goes into the ground this coming Spring... in a very prominent location.

That’s an example of a schippia in a pot and healthy I wish there where more seeds available such a good looking cold tolerant palm very rare in my area you’re garden looks pretty amazing as well 

[happypalms]

19 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Schippia surprisingly does well for me in Melbourne. In ground 3 years now. The first year it suffered transplant shock and didn’t grow, I was sure all was lost considering it’s marginal here. But then the last two years it has recovered and puts out about 5 fronds per year. Not much vertical growth though. 

Well that’s proof enough they are cold tolerant one nice palm you have and in the ground it must get cold feet in Melbourne it must be frustrating for you growing palms in a cool climate being limited to certain varieties I keep on trying new varieties with winners and losers it hurts when the cold weather kills a rare palm all that hard work someone has done and bang I kill it 

[happypalms]

Another classic palm that is one for the collection the saintelucie with its straight as an arrow shuttlecock look  shape cold tolerant a real winner in any garden situation I just love it absolutely gorgeous very easy to grow just add water

[happypalms]

The bactris  gassiapaes if ever you have been spiked by this palm then you know how deadly it is needle sharp but still a nice palm to have in the collection this one is 20 years old it loves water but quite tolerant of dry conditions but looks best with plenty of water this one has no suckers I have another one a bit smaller that the cold weather destroyed it but a year later it came back with the suckering trait and is still alive today then a accident with the brush cutter made short work off it  then it just came back stronger again you have to be super careful with it even with the mulched up leaf when working near by in the garden I don’t know what’s worse the bactris or the roebelenii 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Here is a clumping one in Jalisco, México.

[Meangreen94z]

I love these and Acrocomia.

[flplantguy]

I may be able to add to this soon, mine is young but you give me something to aspire to!

[Matt in OC]

On the left in this picture. It's still wobbly, even at this size, but a beautiful palm!

edit: had to go get better pictures.

[John hovancsek]

I’m so glad that the one I have was the spineless one however the other ones I have are extremely armed. ( B. Millitaris B. Greyumii B. Hondurense)

[flplantguy]

Ouch! That's a handy sewing needle supplier lol.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Ain't no critters climbing those trunks.

[iDesign]

2 hours ago, Matt in OC said:

Imagine all the destruction it would cause were you to set it free...

Just kidding... I know these have a reputation of being "wobbly". Curious if yours is starting to stabilize, or will likely need "restraints" indefinitely. It's a gorgeous palm either way!!!

[happypalms]

5 hours ago, Matt in OC said:

On the left in this picture. It's still wobbly, even at this size, but a beautiful palm!

edit: had to go get better pictures.

I never had an issues with the my palm being needed to be stabilised although it did grow up next to the old greenhouse I had so it was protected from the wind as juvenile I have another small one in the open so will keep a eye on it 

[happypalms]

4 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

Ain't no critters climbing those trunks.

My mother in law grabbed it one day for stability and I was almost immediately threatened with you will never marry my daughter if I have my way luckily I had warned her not to touch it and iam still with her daughter 🤣

[happypalms]

5 hours ago, John hovancsek said:

I’m so glad that the one I have was the spineless one however the other ones I have are extremely armed. ( B. Millitaris B. Greyumii B. Hondurense)

Nice example you’ve got do you get seeds of it and if so what do they taste like ?

[happypalms]

7 hours ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Here is a clumping one in Jalisco, México.

That’s a perfect specimen you have there I wonder how the South Americans harvested the seeds in their culture ?

[John hovancsek]

1 hour ago, happypalms said:

Nice example you’ve got do you get seeds of it and if so what do they taste like ?

I herd they planted tall palms next to them to climb and reach over to harvest but who knows 

[Tracy]

Both of mine required support due to their unstable root system which did not keep pace with foliage growth.  I added support in decorative rocks around the base of one and after a couple of years now with those in place, finally removed the supporting stakes and ties a couple of weeks ago.

[WaianaeCrider]

Now you got me worried is it gonna blow over.  LOL  It survived a few days of some pretty strong winds the weak of the Maui fire.  Now I gotta go check it out.

Planted 1g plant in June of 21.  Here it is today after 2 years in the ground.

 

[tim_brissy_13]

20 hours ago, happypalms said:

Well that’s proof enough they are cold tolerant one nice palm you have and in the ground it must get cold feet in Melbourne it must be frustrating for you growing palms in a cool climate being limited to certain varieties I keep on trying new varieties with winners and losers it hurts when the cold weather kills a rare palm all that hard work someone has done and bang I kill it 

I really don’t lose too many palms over winter. It’s really just the slow grow which can be frustrating at times, but I’ve learnt to accept it and it can even have its benefits (less green waste, palms stay at eye level longer). 
 

Even as far as choice goes, I’ve got about 200 species and there are many more I don’t have which would grow fine. I’d probably get more frustrated if I lived in QLD and could grow 1000+ species but without the room or money to grow them all!

[Brad52]

Here’s one, might have been a 1 gallon not yet 3 years here 

[Rick Kelley]

These are a wonderful addition to any garden.  Yes, this species is particularly unsteady for the first few years.  The one on the right was especially wobbly and never staked.  When it finally anchored itself, it was listing to one side.  The middle one went into the ground in 2013 from a one gallon.  The one on the left went into the ground in 2015 from a 5 gallon.  The one on the right also went into the ground in 2015, but from a one gallon.  Today there is not a whole lot of size difference between them.  The middle one has about 6.5 ft of trunk while the two outer ones have about 5 ft of trunk.  Total height just under 20 ft (6 m).  This is why I have a strong preference for buying 4" and one gallon pots.  Cheaper, easy to transport, easy to dig a small hole, and after a few years the small ones often catch up to the bigger ones.

These are prolific seed producers.  The white towel on the ground was used to collect the most recent crop, probably 500-1000 seeds.  I germinated a dozen seeds several years so I would have babies to give to garden visitors, but I do not need 1000 babies.  Not sure why I bothered collecting seeds.  Emotionally it is difficult to let them go to waste.  It is a lot of trouble to tie the inflorescence up so it won't snap off as the developing seeds get heavier and the lower, old crownshafts holding the inflorescence fall away.  This may be the last time I bother trying to save the inflorescence.  Old guys like me should not be on step ladders tying ropes around developing inflorescences.

The white crownshaft is the big draw for this species, but occasionally the old frond falls away to reveal an attractively colored fresh crownshaft.  Marojejya in the background.  

Don't forget to include C. basilongus in the garden.  Very similar to C. saintelucei, but a little more slender.

[happypalms]

34 minutes ago, Rick Kelley said:

These are a wonderful addition to any garden.  Yes, this species is particularly unsteady for the first few years.  The one on the right was especially wobbly and never staked.  When it finally anchored itself, it was listing to one side.  The middle one went into the ground in 2013 from a one gallon.  The one on the left went into the ground in 2015 from a 5 gallon.  The one on the right also went into the ground in 2015, but from a one gallon.  Today there is not a whole lot of size difference between them.  The middle one has about 6.5 ft of trunk while the two outer ones have about 5 ft of trunk.  Total height just under 20 ft (6 m).  This is why I have a strong preference for buying 4" and one gallon pots.  Cheaper, easy to transport, easy to dig a small hole, and after a few years the small ones often catch up to the bigger ones.

These are prolific seed producers.  The white towel on the ground was used to collect the most recent crop, probably 500-1000 seeds.  I germinated a dozen seeds several years so I would have babies to give to garden visitors, but I do not need 1000 babies.  Not sure why I bothered collecting seeds.  Emotionally it is difficult to let them go to waste.  It is a lot of trouble to tie the inflorescence up so it won't snap off as the developing seeds get heavier and the lower, old crownshafts holding the inflorescence fall away.  This may be the last time I bother trying to save the inflorescence.  Old guys like me should not be on step ladders tying ropes around developing inflorescences.

The white crownshaft is the big draw for this species, but occasionally the old frond falls away to reveal an attractively colored fresh crownshaft.  Marojejya in the background.  

Don't forget to include C. basilongus in the garden.  Very similar to C. saintelucei, but a little more slender.

Nice palms lucky Hawaii growers I have 3 basilongus in the ground only small though love the marojejya I have one 

[happypalms]

My orange  Areca vestria is a real beauty planted in a prime piece of real estate in my garden for window viewing inside the house but iam sure there are some real stunners out there 

[Tracy]

23 hours ago, Matt in OC said:

 

Seeing the way that the crownshaft was splitting high up on the lowest retained leaf looked very familiar to me.  The relatively thin crownshaft on this species seems to be prone to splitting like this.  I see it both on my thicker trunked specimen in abundant sun, as well as the narrower girth one that spent most of it's time up until now in heavy shade.  Photo of one of mine doing the same thing below.

[PalmatierMeg]

Schippia concolor is a trouble free, underappreciated palm that deserves a wider audience. My original mother palm has been seeding reliably for years. Seeds are the size of jawbreakers and germinate easily but I’ve noticed a criminal lack of interest in seeds or seedlings. I am waiting on her latest crop to germinate and plan to plant them around the yard. Hurricane Ian wiped out the offspring I planted in recent years.

This palm is slow growing but is a very elegant palm with shiny lime green fan leaves. It doesn’t get overly large and is completely hardy in zone 10

[Rivera]

It's a very nice looking palm.

It rarely dips under 40°F (or about 5°C) in my neighborhood, but I suspect this species' growth would be too slow in San Francisco for me to ever bother. My slowest grower that still moves is Allagoptera arenaria. 

[happypalms]

2 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Schippia concolor is a trouble free, underappreciated palm that deserves a wider audience. My original mother palm has been seeding reliably for years. Seeds are the size of jawbreakers and germinate easily but I’ve noticed a criminal lack of interest in seeds or seedlings. I am waiting on her latest crop to germinate and plan to plant them around the yard. Hurricane Ian wiped out the offspring I planted in recent years.

This palm is slow growing but is a very elegant palm with shiny lime green fan leaves. It doesn’t get overly large and is completely hardy in zone 10

Hi palmatiermeg it should be planted more that’s the trouble with gardening some people want the instant affect and don’t understand it can take years to get that affect especially with palms then gardeners don’t want to pay the grower what a true  advanced palm is really worth if I could get my hands on a thousand seeds i would definitely wait out the time and grow them there just not available in my area the plants or seeds a truly spectacular palm the leaf seems to radiate a certain glow 

[WaianaeCrider]

Checked mine this morning. Looks solid. 

[Frond-friend42]

Here is one of your proud progeny, Meg. This should give me immunity from any criminal lack of appreciation charges. This one has the distinction of surviving a spear-pull.

[Frond-friend42]

I'd like to see it do better and I'm thinking it would like more sun exposure. It's pretty filtered in this spot.