happypalms Another day in paradise in the garden

[happypalms]

A nice time to be watering the garden, with temperatures set be close to 49 degrees Celsius, water as much as I can now for the humidity, that’s one trick with growing some of the super jungle varieties I have! 

[happypalms]

Love them or dislike them, there here to stay in a garden near you. We all know how tough they are and the yellow colour is what sets them as winner. The only fault they have is drop leaves like a hot potato in butter fingers. 
But they are proven in the palm kingdom as the magical beauty of a palm up there with the coconut as picture of tropical holiday by the sea or poolside. I still grow a few and will still a few around as pioneer palms to help establish new plantings. Theres even a dwarf form worth tracking downl to grow! 

[Harry’s Palms]

I have a couple that are fairly large . They grow well in my climate and I like the colorful look of the golden canes and lighter colored fronds . Harry

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I have a couple that are fairly large . They grow well in my climate and I like the colorful look of the golden canes and lighter colored fronds . Harry

The trick with golden canes is plant them out as singles, the standard dozen in a container from the plant store doesn’t work well when mature, one great big ugly clump, but plant them out as single ps it’s a different story!

Richard

[peachy]

49c dear ?  We had a 39c a couple of weeks back but mainly mid to low 30s lately. Very humid of course but the rain only comes with nasty storms.  I am using the sprinkler again, even though we had so much rain in the past few weeks, the soil just dries out in no time.  Your bird nest fern looks good. I had 2 that were enormous at my old house but I can't get them to grow here for some strange reason.

Peachy

[Mazat]

3 hours ago, happypalms said:

A nice time to be watering the garden, with temperatures set be close to 49 degrees Celsius, water as much as I can now for the humidity, that’s one trick with growing some of the super jungle varieties I have! 

49 degrees Celsius, that's really high 🌴. In Switzerland, we had 40 degrees Celsius and slightly more measured in the shade by a colleague in Quinten SG Lake Walen...

I think that's a great trick, Richard 🤗 

[Mazat]

12 minutes ago, peachy said:

49c dear ?  We had a 39c a couple of weeks back but mainly mid to low 30s lately. Very humid of course but the rain only comes with nasty storms.  I am using the sprinkler again, even though we had so much rain in the past few weeks, the soil just dries out in no time.  Your bird nest fern looks good. I had 2 that were enormous at my old house but I can't get them to grow here for some strange reason.

Peachy

I would swap immediately; we have that at the moment, and it's on the rise and raining ...

[Harry’s Palms]

Yes , both of mine started as single clumps . They didn’t get too big a footprint , although one is still putting out pups after 25 years. The other one just keeps getting taller with above ground “ branches” forming near the base. I have seen what you described where the pot will have so many individuals that they will eventually choke each other out . One of mine  came from a wholesale Howea nursery . It was the owners personal potted palms from one of the offices. The other one was my own personal house plant from my old house . I got tired of maintaining it so I planted it in the ground. Harry

‘This is the gift from the Kentia farm I used to frequent . It was in a pot as a single , clumping palm . You can see below it is still sending out pups after 25 years. Then , a Radicalis volunteer joined the party. ( small trunk in the middle) 

It hugs the side of the house and a couple of stems have grown above roof , into the sun.

This one quit sending pups once it started trunking , that young one is a branch.

There are about three branches coming off this one but the branch , in this case , decided to make a u-turn! It looks like I missed a weed there! ( shame on me ) Harry

[Harry’s Palms]

Super Jungle is a good description. I just love your garden pictures , so many “ I spy” features like the happy Joey and the Dioon Spinalosa making friends with the Birds Nest fern that @peachy pointed out.. Wow , 49c ! That’s quite warm. Harry

[Frond-friend42]

I haven't tried any other than magifica but from my experience, and the ones that didn't make it, they do NOT like extra water.

[happypalms]

7 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Yes , both of mine started as single clumps . They didn’t get too big a footprint , although one is still putting out pups after 25 years. The other one just keeps getting taller with above ground “ branches” forming near the base. I have seen what you described where the pot will have so many individuals that they will eventually choke each other out . One of mine  came from a wholesale Howea nursery . It was the owners personal potted palms from one of the offices. The other one was my own personal house plant from my old house . I got tired of maintaining it so I planted it in the ground. Harry

‘This is the gift from the Kentia farm I used to frequent . It was in a pot as a single , clumping palm . You can see below it is still sending out pups after 25 years. Then , a Radicalis volunteer joined the party. ( small trunk in the middle) 

It hugs the side of the house and a couple of stems have grown above roof , into the sun.

This one quit sending pups once it started trunking , that young one is a branch.

There are about three branches coming off this one but the branch , in this case , decided to make a u-turn! It looks like I missed a weed there! ( shame on me ) Harry

The best palm is a gifted palm tree. I love the colour of the trunk and the spacings on the one you have there, almost bamboo like the look. 
They where so popular back in the day, imagine if they had been discovered yesterday the palm world would flip over them and they would be worth a fortune with everyone wanting them from tropical to temperate zones. 
Your allowed to miss that weed, but you better get out there and get it today for the next photo shoot🤣

Richard 

[happypalms]

5 hours ago, Frond-friend42 said:

I haven't tried any other than magifica but from my experience, and the ones that didn't make it, they do NOT like extra water.

I have some of them sitting in trays of water all year and they don’t mind it, provided they have good drainage. I have a lot of Altifrons in the ground and will drink any amount of water I give them, but my soil is  black sandy loam derived from sandstone, so actually to much drainage that has a drawback in the summer droughts. 
The big amount I have in the nursery I do monitor the amount of water they get to avoid the fungal disease. Being careful not to overwater them. 

[Phoenikakias]

This part of my garden is decorated with red color near Christmas.  That's what I like more in radicalis and microspadix as well.

[happypalms]

3 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

This part of my garden is decorated with red color near Christmas.  That's what I like more in radicalis and microspadix as well.

They have an amazing colour fruit like a rainbow almost at times.

[happypalms]

A nice bit of rain and some high temperatures has the Sabal moving along looking rather good. A nice easy palm to grow tolerant of a lot cool weather and heat like most palms just add water and good drainage! 

[Stevetoad]

Hands down my favorite Sabal. In my opinion you did it right by planting it in the shade. To me they look the best when shade stretched.  

[happypalms]

43 minutes ago, Stevetoad said:

Hands down my favorite Sabal. In my opinion you did it right by planting it in the shade. To me they look the best when shade stretched.  

I have another one that’s quite large in deeper shade and the petioles stretch to almost 3 meters, definitely better looking in the shade. Most people think Sabal it must have sun, not the mauritiformis. One nice palm they are and a bit rare in my area! 

[Harry’s Palms]

My favorite Sabal as well. Unfortunately the gophers liked “Marty” enough to make a meal of it. 🙁 Harry

[Stevetoad]

1 hour ago, happypalms said:

I have another one that’s quite large in deeper shade and the petioles stretch to almost 3 meters, definitely better looking in the shade. Most people think Sabal it must have sun, not the mauritiformis. One nice palm they are and a bit rare in my area! 

Agreed. Most Sabals look really good in shade as they get really stretched and tropical looking. Im sure it slows them down some but in thing the trade off is worth it. 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, Harry’s Palms said:

My favorite Sabal as well. Unfortunately the gophers liked “Marty” enough to make a meal of it. 🙁 Harry

Pity you can’t make a meal out of the gophers 🤣But yes one nice palm!

Richard

[happypalms]

31 minutes ago, Stevetoad said:

Agreed. Most Sabals look really good in shade as they get really stretched and tropical looking. Im sure it slows them down some but in thing the trade off is worth it. 

Here’s the one I have in the shade,  super stretchy petioles. 

[quaman58]

Great palms; like Steve says, even better in semi shade. The white leaf undersides are are an added bonus..

 

[Phoenikakias]

I have one growing in full sun and I love it. It is perhaps my favorite Sabal in the garden, because it looks quite different from the rest. Unfortunately not very resistant to wind but even so it retains an interesting figure. In a worrying incident during past warm season it had its youngest fully developed frond dried out almost up to half the length of its petiole and further growth stalled. This has signaled a loud alarm in my mind, because it could be a symptom of rhizoctonia, which had killed many other smaller Sabal specimens around with similar initial symptoms. So I had to resort to very radical measures, I had nothing to lose anyway. I drenched the soil around the plant with 10 lt water containing 400 gr tolclofos-methyl. This is a horrific amount of fungicide. But no other young frond has died ever since and plant was growing all summer long at snail's pace but it was growing nonetheless! As weather has progressively cooled up and rainfalls started, plant has taken off and a huge new leaf has unfolded.

[happypalms]

16 hours ago, quaman58 said:

Great palms; like Steve says, even better in semi shade. The white leaf undersides are are an added bonus..

 

There absolutely gorgeous and as you say the silver white is an added bonus!

[happypalms]

12 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

I have one growing in full sun and I love it. It is perhaps my favorite Sabal in the garden, because it looks quite different from the rest. Unfortunately not very resistant to wind but even so it retains an interesting figure. In a worrying incident during past warm season it had its youngest fully developed frond dried out almost up to half the length of its petiole and further growth stalled. This has signaled a loud alarm in my mind, because it could be a symptom of rhizoctonia, which had killed many other smaller Sabal specimens around with similar initial symptoms. So I had to resort to very radical measures, I had nothing to lose anyway. I drenched the soil around the plant with 10 lt water containing 400 gr tolclofos-methyl. This is a horrific amount of fungicide. But no other young frond has died ever since and plant was growing all summer long at snail's pace but it was growing nonetheless! As weather has progressively cooled up and rainfalls started, plant has taken off and a huge new leaf has unfolded.

They are tough being a Sabal, interesting you noted the rhizoctonia, I had a Kerriodoxa in the ground do the same symptoms. Sometimes you just have to use chemicals like it or not. Wind gives them a tattered look I seen one in Sydney Australia and it looked shabby due to the wind damage. But I will be looking into the rhizoctonia symptoms you suggested, it seems to one of those fungal diseases that strikes anytime it wants I have noticed as soon as it warms up at the end of winter it strikes. Glad to hear your palm recovered it’s 50/50 the survival rate with that fungus. Thanks for the information.

[Than]

I've heard these can take a couple of degrees below freezing.. anyone knows? When established ofc.

[tim_brissy_13]

50 minutes ago, Than said:

I've heard these can take a couple of degrees below freezing.. anyone knows? When established ofc.

I’ve got a couple of small seedlings in the ground. One has been in the ground for 3 years, the other only 1 winter. The older one has seen down to -1.5C/29F without damage but it does have overhead canopy. They are both still quite small and slow growing in my climate but already attractive palms. 

[Than]

1 minute ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

I’ve got a couple of small seedlings in the ground. One has been in the ground for 3 years, the other only 1 winter. The older one has seen down to -1.5C/29F without damage but it does have overhead canopy. They are both still quite small and slow growing in my climate but already attractive palms. 

Do you know how many hours roughly the temperature was at that point, -1 or -1.5?

[tim_brissy_13]

32 minutes ago, Than said:

Do you know how many hours roughly the temperature was at that point, -1 or -1.5?

I do remember the night. It got down to about 3C the previous evening so was very chilly for 12+ hours. Without having the records in front of me I’d guess it was freezing for 4-5 hours and below -1C for 1-2 hours. 

[Than]

9 minutes ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

I do remember the night. It got down to about 3C the previous evening so was very chilly for 12+ hours. Without having the records in front of me I’d guess it was freezing for 4-5 hours and below -1C for 1-2 hours. 

Thanks. I think I'll buy one and fingers crossed.

[happypalms]

13 hours ago, Than said:

Thanks. I think I'll buy one and fingers crossed.

Try and get the large form. Or the solar eclipse var much better looking!

[Tyrone]

Lovely palm. I’ve got a few in pots here.
 

I was in Vietnam in 2019 and saw many Lanonia in Bach Ma not far from Danang. They’re gorgeous palms. 

[Than]

4 hours ago, happypalms said:

Try and get the large form. Or the solar eclipse var much better looking!

RPS they are from China. No clue which variety. 

[happypalms]

5 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Lovely palm. I’ve got a few in pots here.
 

I was in Vietnam in 2019 and saw many Lanonia in Bach Ma not far from Danang. They’re gorgeous palms. 

Lucky bloke seeing them in habitat!

[happypalms]

3 hours ago, Than said:

RPS they are from China. No clue which variety. 

You may find there not all from china those seeds. 

[Phoenikakias]

On 12/9/2025 at 9:32 PM, happypalms said:

They are tough being a Sabal, interesting you noted the rhizoctonia, I had a Kerriodoxa in the ground do the same symptoms. Sometimes you just have to use chemicals like it or not. Wind gives them a tattered look I seen one in Sydney Australia and it looked shabby due to the wind damage. But I will be looking into the rhizoctonia symptoms you suggested, it seems to one of those fungal diseases that strikes anytime it wants I have noticed as soon as it warms up at the end of winter it strikes. Glad to hear your palm recovered it’s 50/50 the survival rate with that fungus. Thanks for the information.

Richard, I have had the opportunity to take yesterday some pictures of mine focusing mainly to its disease and subsequent recovery...

lower  petiole-part of an older leaf missing entirely lamina and distal half of it, they had dried out during past summer and were removed. Actually by that time almost the whole apparent leaf was removed and fresh rump petiole emerged later.

Subsequent new healthy growth

[happypalms]

12 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

Richard, I have had the opportunity to take yesterday some pictures of mine focusing mainly to its disease and subsequent recovery...

lower  petiole-part of an older leaf missing entirely lamina and distal half of it, they had dried out during past summer and were removed. Actually by that time almost the whole apparent leaf was removed and fresh rump petiole emerged later.

Subsequent new healthy growth

Glad to see it recovered be a shame to lose a glorious palm like the one you have there. Do you know what the cause was of the disease? 

[happypalms]

With basically an unlimited supply of adscendens seeds I have about 500 in the greenhouse at different stages of growth. They are my favourite chamaedorea and are hard beat for sheer beauty and colour, only my metallicas come close to them. 
And with around 50 mature ones in the garden iam certainly glad I planted them 25 years ago, and this new batch of babies are destined for the same treatment only on mass this time! 

[gyuseppe]

Richard, I had small plants that didn't have time to grow, but if you say it's your favorite chamaedorea, there must be a reason. For now, my favorite is Ernesti-augusti. I've sown both seeds of this species (the seeds of Adscendens were given to me by a person from Australia, so it's better not to mention his name!)

[peachy]

I lost 2 of my adscendens and the remaining one is strong and healthy but no pretty shades of green as yet. It will be getting planted very soon however.  I love my little Ernies, they grow so quickly and really thrive in this climate. My oldest one is now 1.35 cm after only 2 years in the ground.  You can't plant the Addy in the photo either as it has been sold and will be moving to Qld.

Peachy