Normanbya normanbyi in South Fl

[Davidlon]

Normanbya Normanbyi is a fast growing palm here in south Florida. It looks very similar to Wodyetia bifurcata but subtle differences. 
 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 26 by Davidlon
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[Than]

A stunning species. I could only dream of having one. Make the most out of it 🙂

[Davidlon]

Thank you

[Harry’s Palms]

I would think they are more sensitive than Wodyetia but not sure . We rarely see them here. Plenty of Wodyetia though. Harry

[PalmatierMeg]

2 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I would think they are more sensitive than Wodyetia but not sure . We rarely see them here. Plenty of Wodyetia though. Harry

Agree. I’ve tried them 3x and lost every one weeks/months later. They can’t tolerate SWFL months of heat and swelter and, possibly nematodes. Much wimpier than than foxtails. Beautiful little palm but no match for ferocious FL weather -  3 strikes and out.. Won’t try that species again 

[Jonathan]

7 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Agree. I’ve tried them 3x and lost every one weeks/months later. They can’t tolerate SWFL months of heat and swelter and, possibly nematodes. Much wimpier than than foxtails. Beautiful little palm but no match for ferocious FL weather -  3 strikes and out.. Won’t try that species again 

I doubt that heat and swelter is an issue...north east Queensland is fully sweltering, wet tropical, cyclonic! They're a swamp forest palm, I remember seeing them almost in the mangroves at the Daintree, whereas Wodyetia grow in dry forest amongst big granite boulders I believe, so can probably handle more extreme conditions.

 

[peachy]

Normanbya is so underrated in my opinion. They are hard to find even here in the state they come from.  At my place they are not as fast growing as foxies but can handle cold much better.  I sent some to Melbourne years ago and they did very well in the cool climate where foxtails don't survive. A bit shade in the early years I think is essential for them and plenty of water in the dry spells. Foxtails are more drought tolerant. 

Peachy

[Harry’s Palms]

Interesting to hear that they show some cool tolerance , I would not have guessed that . Harry

[tropicbreeze]

Normanbya is a rainforest plant. Spends its early life in very humid under-canopy conditions. But after a while they burst through and majestically tower over the canopy. However, their bottoms are firmly anchored in the humid understorey. I tried growing one but our dry season finally beat it. It lasted 4 or 5 years but each dry season set it back and it never seemed to recover enough during the following wet season.

Had a look through my photos and found a lot in habitat. I'll post some later on a separate thread.

[Eric in Orlando]

There are nice mature specimens at Fairchild in Miami.

They grow well here in Orlando but need more care than Wodyetia; water and nutrients on our sandy soil. They don't have much drought tolerance and need shade when young.  They are about the same as Wodyetia in cold hardiness maybe a bit more cool tolerant. We have 2 mature specimens at Leu Gardens that have seeded for years. One was planted in 1996 and one in 1999. I have grown seedlings of these and planted others in the Garden.

 

Back in the mid 90s when both species were still fairly uncommon I had a Normanbya and a Wodyetia growing about 5ft apart at my old house in Orlando. Both were 3-4ft tall and growing very well. The winter of 1995-96 was cold, a couple light freezes in Dec and Jan then a night at 26F in Feb. The Wodyetia died and the Normanbya survived with minor damage.

[Davidlon]

Eric, I’m am happy someone closer to my climate has given me some hope of their survival. I also appreciate all the comments and have learned more here than I have found online. I do believe they like a lot of water and I am hoping our soil, which is a sand and a dark black soil mixed will be good for their growth. Some places are very mucky here because it used to be part of Lake Okeechobee. The dead vegetation over many years produced a thick layer of black soil. Where I live, it’s a mixture of Sandy Black soil, which retains water longer than sand, but not too long like muck (full of dead vegetation) soil. 

[hbernstein]

In the Miami area, Wodyetia are subject to terrible nutritional deficiencies in our alkaline, limestone "soils". They were widely planted some years ago, until they demonstrated how bad they would grow, if neglected.

I've always liked Normanbya's more delicate appearance. I should try one in the muddy, wet Baldcypress slough area of Pinecrest Gardens. So many species that are locally touchy growers are happy there.

[Davidlon]

These are on there fifth year and overall height is about 6 feet. I’m sure I could’ve pushed them faster, but since they are so thin, I didn’t want them to grow to the sky before getting a little bigger in diameter. At any rate, I’m sure this year they will grow much more.

[Davidlon]

Hbernstein, I grew several hundred Wodyetia’s a few years ago and I found iron helped tremendously. 

[Eric in Orlando]

We have one growing happily in a wet location in heavy mucky soil , near a seepage spring. Its getting close to flowering age.

[Davidlon]

Eric, do you think maybe they like wet locations better? Maybe a mucker soil? 

[Eric in Orlando]

They grow fine in sandier soils as long as they get good irrigation and fertilizer/mulch. 

[Phoenikakias]

On 2/14/2025 at 5:35 AM, tropicbreeze said:

Normanbya is a rainforest plant. Spends its early life in very humid under-canopy conditions. But after a while they burst through and majestically tower over the canopy. However, their bottoms are firmly anchored in the humid understorey. I tried growing one but our dry season finally beat it. It lasted 4 or 5 years but each dry season set it back and it never seemed to recover enough during the following wet season.

Had a look through my photos and found a lot in habitat. I'll post some later on a separate thread.

 

On 2/13/2025 at 1:44 PM, Harry’s Palms said:

I would think they are more sensitive than Wodyetia but not sure . We rarely see them here. Plenty of Wodyetia though. Harry

Normanbya turned out a big no in my climate. It needs increased air moisture during summer, which is absent here. And the poor plant, as big as those potted specimens in the beginning of the topic, was protected under the canopy of old olive trees, but it did not help.

[Tyrone]

I grew a few Normanbya in my old Perth garden, in a sandy mix soil and they did fine with regular irrigation. However they would always remain smaller and not as robust as Wodyetia as the climate was far from the wet humid lowland tropics that they came from. 

[Davidlon]

Our climate in the summer is very wet but winters are sometimes dry. I will just make sure these don’t dry out even in the winter. Thank you everyone for the comments.