A lovely native palm that nobody grows here

[peachy]

Imagine an attractive palm from the tropics that can take quite a bit of cold,  down to 0c, very fast growing, very tough, can handle full sun from very age and tolerate a bit of neglect.  I am talking about the gorgeous Carpentaria palm.  With such impressive looks and fast growth, my big question is why aren't they a popular garden palm in cool sub tropical areas.  They are easily propagated but it took me many years to find one.  We have a lot of over looked native palms in Australia. Admittedly some are touchy or very slow growing but these do not go under that category.

What does everyone think about Carpies and why don't they have one ?

Peachy 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

I would have one but it would easily die in my area. I prefer clumping tropical species because of that.

[quaman58]

Lovely palm. But just don’t seem to handle a Mediterranean climate. Lord knows I’ve tried. And I’m not aware of anyone in SoCal growing them..

[happypalms]

Well you got me on that one my dear possum, I don’t have any of them, and if anyone was going to have them you would think I would have them. 
I assumed they don’t like the cold and never really have come across any seeds or plants, iam sure there out there just not in my nursery, but I will say question of the week goes to peachy🌱

Richard 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

I would have one but it would easily die in my area. I prefer clumping tropical species because of that.

You’re a game grower, saying to @peachy I prefer clumping palms, you’re in for it now 🤣🤣🤣

[peachy]

2 hours ago, happypalms said:

You’re a game grower, saying to @peachy I prefer clumping palms, you’re in for it now 🤣🤣🤣

Having @idontknowhatnametuse as a handle is going to make it so difficult for people to send flowers to the funeral.  No need to train any poochies either as here is one I prepared earlier.

[happypalms]

55 minutes ago, peachy said:

Having @idontknowhatnametuse as a handle is going to make it so difficult for people to send flowers to the funeral.  No need to train any poochies either as here is one I prepared earlier.

Send in those pooches to get him my dear possum, fancy a clumping palm lover mentioning that in your post he’s a brave man. 🤣🤣🤣

Richard 

[aztropic]

A timely post as I am just about to sow the newest crop in Arizona. Seeds are done soaking and will be planted today. Let's see what happens...

This has actually been a great choice of species for the Arizona desert if you are looking for a fast growing, crown shafted palm. Once a trunk has established, they literally gain 3 feet in height every year! My only complaint is that the crowns seem a little sparce growing without the humidity of the tropics. Notice the spacing between growth rings on this 5 year old example in my garden.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

Here are 2 between my royals that eventually succumbed to excessive heat of 3 days in a row of 119-121F. The heat didn't hurt the existing fronds or trunks, but did kill the buds in both carpies. Old fronds dropped one by one as usual over the next several months, but no replacement fronds ever developed after that extreme heat episode. 🤷‍♂️

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[Brad52]

Apparently, I have two of them, each was obtained from different vendors as Veitchia species but ID’d here from pics as Carpentaria.