Post your Dictyosperma album/ Hurricane Palms

[bubba]

This specimen is strong as you can see it outpace it’s neighbor:

[ASHCVS]

A youngish specimen from Paradise Palms in Delray Beach, Florida 

Please note the “reins”

 

[Jim in Los Altos]

Gorgeous. My favorite palm that I can’t grow here. 

[tim_brissy_13]

2 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Gorgeous. My favorite palm that I can’t grow here. 

Have you tried Jim? You’ve had success with palms I’d say are less hardy. There was one around here planted at a nursery a while back that was doing ok but the nursery closed down. You’re a bit warmer than here. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

13 minutes ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Have you tried Jim? You’ve had success with palms I’d say are less hardy. There was one around here planted at a nursery a while back that was doing ok but the nursery closed down. You’re a bit warmer than here. 

I’ve tried a couple of them. They don’t outright die, they just languish for several months out of the year and then take all spring and part of summer to “wake up” giving them very little time to actually produce new leaves. I’ve only tried one gallon sized ones however. On top of that, most of my garden is shaded understory so sunny spots are occupied already by other palms. 

[quaman58]

I agree with Jim, one of the most beautiful palms there is. I have tried all three types here. The var rubrum grows reasonably well in the right spot, but it’s hard to believe it’s the same species. It’s definitely the least attractive of the three as it gets a bit taller. I’m also trying the “standard“ species, they’re just a bit more cold, sensitive, and slow as heck here. The best looking one (imo) is var conjugatum (or furfuraceum, one in the same), but holy cow is it slow. By far the slowest of the three. Still, here in Southern California if you’ve got 20 years to burn waiting for something to be head high it’s a beaut.

[mike in kurtistown]

Maybe you should move to Hawaii.

Here's one planted in August 2012 Lawn chair for scale.

I planted two more at the same time. The others were troubled with some condition that weakened their fronds at the junction of the petiole with the crownshaft, so that the leaves tended to hang down. I kept fertiizing. One died and here is the other not looking great, but greatly improved, flowering and fruiting. Tons of spring rain have not done any of my palms much good - it washes the nutrients out of the soil. 9 inches in May, 47 inches YTD.

 

Edited May 28, 2024 by mike in kurtistown
rainfall data entered

[quaman58]

6 hours ago, mike in kurtistown said:

Maybe you should move to Hawaii.

Here's one planted in August 2012 Lawn chair for scale.

I planted two more at the same time. The others were troubled with some condition that weakened their fronds at the junction of the petiole with the crownshaft, so that the leaves tended to hang down. I kept fertiizing. One died and here is the other not looking great, but greatly improved, flowering and fruiting. Tons of spring rain have not done any of my palms much good - it washes the nutrients out of the soil. 9 inches in May, 47 inches YTD.

 

Oh, how often I have considered it, Mike!

[Sabal Steve]

I planted a few of these, in February 2024.  They are facing south, with open western exposure, as well.

These are the “conjugatum” variety.  Got these as single leaf seedlings, back 5-6 years ago (from John Light).  They are maybe 18” or so tall, here.  Agree, not a fast palm.  I’m hoping that they can take sun, like I hear they can.

[Billeb]

Here’s my Var. Rubrum in Huntington Beach. Kinda hard to see because the Decaryi behind. It never really looks perfect but it’s grown a lot since it was grounded a few years ago. In 2021 it had 3 rings of trunk. Doesn’t enjoy Winter too much. 
 

Pritchardia needs to be cleaned up! 😳
 

-dale 

[TomJ]

This is ny var. red Rum.

Hard to get good picture because I plant everything too close.

[sonoranfans]

the furfuraceum is not fast but not too slow.  This one is 6-7 years from a small bare root seedling with 3 inch leaves.  Might be slower since I just put it in the ground last fall from a 7 gallon.  Definitely seems to be throwing spears faster since I planted it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kim]

I'm fairly sure I've posted these pics before... D. album v. conjugatum. This is a slow palm for me in Hawaii. They produce ample fronds, but are not gaining height as rapidly as many other palms. They get morning sun and afternoon shade from a large tree. I don't seem to have a full shot of the 3, only these closeups of the linked leaflet tips, an attention-grabbing feature.

 

 

[Looking Glass]

These are one of my favorite palms for around here.  Great look and size for the residential landscape.  I’ve got 4 little babies that started as 4 inchers from Floribunda.  They are ready for the ground in the on-deck area...

They grow with a deep, dark green in some shade….

They’ll also apparently grow despite major abuse, in a lot of sun, with no irrigation at the gym parking lot….

[Kaname-kun]

A steady, no worries grower for me, about to get renewed mulch.  

[flplantguy]

Sounds like i can just stick mine in the ground wherever and it will grow lol.  I want to plant them in a few places at work if i can convince them to try it. Freezes would be the big concern, and frost.  At what point do they take damage and at what point do they die?  I know they can handle the typical chilly night in florida, but what happens when a big one comes and its 28 degrees for 9 hours with frost?

[bubba]

How does cold tolerance of D. album var. rubrum compare to D. album ? It is a beautiful palm.

[Looking Glass]

Ooo. Oooo…. I have a question too….  For planning purposes.   What’s the growth rate for furfuraceum/conjugatum down in south Florida?  I know they lean slower.  A foot a year?  Six inches per year?  Do tell..  

[mnorell]

I grew 'conjugatum'/'furfuraceum' in the Florida Keys and it grew steadily but not fast by any means. It was relatively tough in seasonal dryness and limestone-rock tolerance, but Irma killed mine (slowly). I've read over the years that v. rubrum is the most cold-tender of the bunch. The late Ron Harris (who was for a time the curator of the palm collection at the Huntington) had them growing in the Mt. Washington section of Los Angeles and showed me one or two smallish specimens he had in the ground there, under open sky, but told me that his experience there was that they did fine until they got hit with a 30F temp, at which they would fall over and die. I don't remember which form he had there. Maybe @Donald Sanders can add some details in this regard. Interestingly, the Huntington planted a couple of these (I think v. rubrum) in a hillside area of the palm garden after Ron died, and they planted them too high (root-initiation zone exposed to dry air) and didn't maintain the planting-wells for adequate watering and root-development. They looked tortured for years and I think finally dried up...but haven't been over there for some years to check out the situation.

I have a couple of young plants (both Floribunda in origin) here in the Palm Springs area (furfuraceum/conjugatum), the one I have in the ground here is really not that slow here in the heat...that seems to be a fundamental requirement...and makes sense considering the comments above in re San Diego conditions. The one I have in the ground is under very light Caesalpinia canopy in a south-facing sun-trap; the other still very small in a 4" pot.

You'll find some fairly tall, older specimens in Key West (if you look very hard), but IMHO they are at their most beautiful in their youth because of their relatively huge leaves. As they get older, the crown shrinks and the trunk becomes rather elephantine, giving a somewhat unattractive appearance. One of the potential troubles in coastal California, I think, is that the leaves are very, very long, and at their slow "push rate" it takes just forever for a leaf to open. Then you run into photosynthesis/energy deficits because you can't keep a decent crown in place to keep it moving. Luckily they do push several spears at once, which can mitigate that situation at least slightly. I have heard or read that there are some nice specimens in perfect locations in the (Sunset/UC) zone 23/24 areas. But just a difficult thing because they want heat (=inland) but seem sensitive to colder winter nights (=inland). Dang. It's a nice palm...I always felt that, at least in youth, it had the high glamour that Archontophoenix, nice as it is, just can't quite muster.

[quaman58]

12 hours ago, bubba said:

How does cold tolerance of D. album var. rubrum compare to D. album ? It is a beautiful palm.

I think it's 5 degrees or so more cold hardy, and it grows ok in cooler Mediterranean weather. As a younger palm, it's quite pretty, although seems to have a less full crown. When taller, it's just ok. At least here in SoCal. Like just about everything, I'm sure it would probably look great in places like Hawaii. 

[Billeb]

2 hours ago, quaman58 said:

….When taller, it's just ok. At least here in SoCal. Like just about everything, I'm sure it would probably look great in places like Hawaii. 

This is my outlook also. It’s an ok plant but nothing too special here. They just aren’t able to get looking like they do in warmer climates. I’ve contemplated yanking it for something different. 
 

-dale 

[palmfriend]

Hi,

 

I have recently posted this one in another thread but I hope it is ok to show the latest pics taken yesterday.

When I started with my garden 12 years ago, a "Hurricane" (proof) palm was almost the first choice when I began

ordering seeds. With all those typhoons every year, it seemed to be the most obvious candidate to be

purchased. 

Until now it hasn't disappointed me. It gets attacked by the rhinoceros beetle from time to time but it keeps

growing and slowly turns into a beauty.

Here we are - D. album var. aureum:

In the meantime the inflorescence has fallen off but I am sure it will start another try to set fruit soon.

 

Lars

 

[Brian]

They are beautiful palms that don’t seem to require to much maintenance. Here is mine.