Today's Palmy Adventures

[JohnAndSancho]

My brother's not getting out of the hospital today, so I went to pick up refills for Sancho's pills and I finally worked up the nerve to stop at this house on the corner. Y'all previously identified the Butia for me, and there's a bunch of Sabal Minors and he had a really nice Philodendron Selloum out front. 

 

This dude is NOT a palm enthusiast and he seemed absolutely annoyed, but I introduced myself and complimented him and asked him if I could take some pictures and look for seeds. I won't repeat exactly what he said, but something along the lines of it's ok to take pictures and then he slammed the door. 

 

I think these are all Minors based on the shortness and big inflourences. I was really hoping to make a plant buddy because I really want seed from the Butia, but he just told me they were here when he bought the house and he didn't care. All of these saw temps 10-12°F and this town got at least a few inches of snow. 

 

Anyway, next I stopped at Wally World for some groceries and to see what this podunk town has. They had some philodendron tortum, and I really want one of these - but a) they left them in the sun so they're crispy and b) my philodendron shelf is pretty damn full. So I hit the clearance rack and found something that Mom would like. She still hasn't seen what I've done to the flowerbed and it feels like I've been working on that for months. Anyway - they also didn't have the little lavender like I wanted, just 3 in a big pot for $16. 

 

So it's 95° and I've got a car full of frozen food since neither me and mom are doing well enough to actually cook, I already had to stop and put gas in the car... Screw it, let's just roll by Tractor Supply and see if they have plants. 

 

Y'all, this is tacky AF and I'm not gonna lie, if I had the money I'd absolutely put this in the yard and surround it with big giant palms. 

 

But lo and behold, they had the little lavender plants so I grabbed 2. As soon as I got back on the highway, I realized that for literally $2 more I coulda got 3 plants and another nice pot, but I really didn't care at that point. I just needed to get home and eat and take my meds. Anyway - thanks for reading. Hopefully this is enough to keep the cats away.  And with my brother in the hospital, ALL OF THE CATS ARE OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW.

[JohnAndSancho]

Addendum: I'd really like some Butia seeds. How long should I wait to go back and how would y'all approach this gentleman to ask if I can collect the seeds from this and all of his Sabals? Should I offer him a few bucks? Bring a snack? Jesus I don't have a tall enough ladder to get them 😞 

 

Anyway he has a crazy security system and this is a town where people leave their doors and cars unlocked all the time. It's basically Mayberry. I dunno what I'd be risking, but if worst comes to worst it wouldn't be the first time I've had a gun in my face. And just for the record, police officers get REALLY mad when you tell them it's not the first time you've had a gun in your face. Anyway, stay hydrated. 

[Harry’s Palms]

Great story ! I dunno how I would move forward to getting seeds from someone like that. It could be that his day wasn’t going well or it could be he just doesn’t care to be friendly. It happens. Getting seeds from a Butia could be gnarly they have teeth and they “bite”. Mine is flowering and I was looking to see if there were any seeds from last year as there is a volunteer growing next to the trunk. There is no way I would stick my arm in there! Harry

not going near those teeth

inflorescence

A volunteer from previous fruiting

[JohnAndSancho]

2 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Great story ! I dunno how I would move forward to getting seeds from someone like that. It could be that his day wasn’t going well or it could be he just doesn’t care to be friendly. It happens. Getting seeds from a Butia could be gnarly they have teeth and they “bite”. Mine is flowering and I was looking to see if there were any seeds from last year as there is a volunteer growing next to the trunk. There is no way I would stick my arm in there! Harry

not going near those teeth

inflorescence

A volunteer from previous fruiting

Wow. Those teeth make Washy teeth look like satin sheets. And my old Washy aka Dirty Sanchez absolutely hamburgered me when I dressed it up as a Christmas tree. That's the reason I bought gardening gloves. Then I went to work in a factory and now I have like 10 pairs of cut resistant gloves. I think I'll just let him keep his seeds lol... Someone will have seeds or a volunteer somewhere that'll end up in the flowerbed of unwanted bastard palms.