I purchased a 32 inch box alfredii, it looked amazing for 3 months and now it looks perfect for Halloween. Its scary.

I have decided to do what many Floridian members did and just put it out of its misery.

Im considering replacing it with some tender cunninghamianas.

I figure of they die it wont cost me $1000 and it wont be a pain to remove. What do you guys think? I’ve heard alexander is better in full sun. This area gets blasted all day in full sun.

I'd choose A. alexandrae over cunninghamiana if Californian heat and UV is anything like where I am. Alexandrae handles it much better especially when young.

Plant a Bismarckia there, if you insist on archontophoenix, a nice triple planting of Alexander’s would look good! A nice baroni black petiole would seal the deal for me. And give the street a wow factor.

2 hours ago, Jayce said:

I'd choose A. alexandrae over cunninghamiana if Californian heat and UV is anything like where I am. Alexandrae handles it much better especially when young.

It’s definitely 10-11 uv index all summer. Its usually low to high 90s with the occasional heat wave where we see 100-103 multiple days.

2 hours ago, happypalms said:

Plant a Bismarckia there, if you insist on archontophoenix, a nice triple planting of Alexander’s would look good! A nice baroni black petiole would seal the deal for me. And give the street a wow factor.

The Australian palms are my favorite aesthetic wise. My wife does not like the blue in the bismarkia. It certainly looks interesting and there’s a cheap one at Home Depot. I live too far from the coast otherwise id get a few kentias and call it a day.

In your experience, Alexanders do better in full sun?

38 minutes ago, SCVpalmenthusiast said:

The Australian palms are my favorite aesthetic wise. My wife does not like the blue in the bismarkia. It certainly looks interesting and there’s a cheap one at Home Depot. I live too far from the coast otherwise id get a few kentias and call it a day.

In your experience, Alexanders do better in full sun?

Alexander are the better of the two for lots of sun, bangalows tend to yellow a bit in full sun. I have seen bangalows in full sun but that is after they have broken through the canopy and that’s with all of there habitat surrounding them in the microclimate. If you’re up for Australian palms ptychosperma elegans triple planted, Normanbya Normanbyi, I won’t dare say the foxtail palm.

Howea grow quite well inland away from the coast, although iam unfamiliar with your climate zone for them, but a Howea bellmooreana would look pretty neat there, again a triple planting of fosteriana would look good.

1 hour ago, SCVpalmenthusiast said:

It’s definitely 10-11 uv index all summer. Its usually low to high 90s with the occasional heat wave where we see 100-103 multiple days.

Alex will take that fine. Where I am we get up to 43c / 109f for a few days at a time, keep the water up and mulch over the roots then you wouldn't have issues.

44 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Alexander are the better of the two for lots of sun, bangalows tend to yellow a bit in full sun. I have seen bangalows in full sun but that is after they have broken through the canopy and that’s with all of there habitat surrounding them in the microclimate. If you’re up for Australian palms ptychosperma elegans triple planted, Normanbya Normanbyi, I won’t dare say the foxtail palm.

Howea grow quite well inland away from the coast, although iam unfamiliar with your climate zone for them, but a Howea bellmooreana would look pretty neat there, again a triple planting of fosteriana would look good.

Agreed, I've found atleast till the bangalows are trunking they just get burnt.
I have two Ptychosperma elegans planted both do okay in the sun, cold winter winds here make them a bit straggly. Normanbya I only had very young ones and they got fried even in dappled shade.
Kentia bit like the alex and bangalows, keep water up and they can take it but definitely do better once they trunk and emerge from shade also.

1 hour ago, happypalms said:

Alexander are the better of the two for lots of sun, bangalows tend to yellow a bit in full sun. I have seen bangalows in full sun but that is after they have broken through the canopy and that’s with all of there habitat surrounding them in the microclimate. If you’re up for Australian palms ptychosperma elegans triple planted, Normanbya Normanbyi, I won’t dare say the foxtail palm.

Howea grow quite well inland away from the coast, although iam unfamiliar with your climate zone for them, but a Howea bellmooreana would look pretty neat there, again a triple planting of fosteriana would look good.

I agree the alexanders are a lot better in florida sun than bangalows and they are ok with continually wet roots. The OP has a spot there that would not work for a bismarckia anyway, it doesn't drain and the Alfredii -which has the same soil drainage requirements as bismarckia- rotted the roots. Ive never seen an Alfredii die that fast, very few have died in 9b+. Alexanders are a lot less cold hardy(5-6 deegrees F?) than either bismarckia or BA, but they don't mind wet roots as they grow surface roots not the deep roots of the others. The alexanders may get burned when small, but he could always put a net over them for a year while they develop roots. Here is my alfredii triple 6-7 years ago back when I could still get a pic of the whole triple. These were 8+ years in the ground from a 1 gallon. They will; grow a bit faster and will get a bigger root system and canopy if you space them out little like this triple. For scale, the fence is 7'.

1 hour ago, sonoranfans said:

I agree the alexanders are a lot better in florida sun than bangalows and they are ok with continually wet roots. The OP has a spot there that would not work for a bismarckia anyway, it doesn't drain and the Alfredii -which has the same soil drainage requirements as bismarckia- rotted the roots. Ive never seen an Alfredii die that fast, very few have died in 9b+. Alexanders are a lot less cold hardy(5-6 deegrees F?) than either bismarckia or BA, but they don't mind wet roots as they grow surface roots not the deep roots of the others. The alexanders may get burned when small, but he could always put a net over them for a year while they develop roots. Here is my alfredii triple 6-7 years ago back when I could still get a pic of the whole triple. These were 8+ years in the ground from a 1 gallon. They will; grow a bit faster and will get a bigger root system and canopy if you space them out little like this triple. For scale, the fence is 7'.

Once I remove the Alfredii i'm gonna have the drainage issue fixed. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. Unfortunately, I'm no longer willing to spend a $1,000+ on a palm tree. I can buy a 25 gallon king palm for $250 bucks in nearby San Fernando Valley. I know this may sound high for Floridians, but its reasonable in California. How cold hardy are these? I believe the lowest temp recorded in the last 20 years has been 28f, but the area has considerably warmed up in the last 10 years, it rarely falls below freezing. Its much more of a solid 10a climate that previous decades.

3 hours ago, happypalms said:

Alexander are the better of the two for lots of sun, bangalows tend to yellow a bit in full sun. I have seen bangalows in full sun but that is after they have broken through the canopy and that’s with all of there habitat surrounding them in the microclimate. If you’re up for Australian palms ptychosperma elegans triple planted, Normanbya Normanbyi, I won’t dare say the foxtail palm.

Howea grow quite well inland away from the coast, although iam unfamiliar with your climate zone for them, but a Howea bellmooreana would look pretty neat there, again a triple planting of fosteriana would look good.

I could be wrong but I don't think the ptychosperma survive in my climate. Thats much more of a Florida palm. I'm in a dry Mediterranean climate, we have diurnal shifts in humidity and temparture. We can be at 38 degrees Celsius and 30% humidity and by early am be at 20 degrees celsius at 65% humidity.

Howea Forsteriana for me are one of the most beautiful palms in the world. I can grow them but they need to be in full shade. The sun is simply too strong and will burn the fronds. You have to live no more than 15 miles from the coast to plant them in full sun. I am not sure about the bellmoreana you would know better than me, but it would definitely be more of a specialty palm. Most nurseries don't carry it here.

I will concur with others. My A. Alexandrae was planted out at a 10” size , in full sun. It stabilized much faster than the Cunninghamiana . Both species do well here but I have a bit more coastal influence . These heat waves will come and go and only the oldest fronds show any damage . It has been here over 25 years , seen triple digit temps many times , cold into the low 40’s , and seems to love it here. The swollen base gives it a bit of interest as it ages . The silver underside to the leaves and dark green uppers would give a nice look to that area. Look for sun grown examples to plant . Harry

This was a few years ago.

20 minutes ago, SCVpalmenthusiast said:

Once I remove the Alfredii i'm gonna have the drainage issue fixed. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. Unfortunately, I'm no longer willing to spend a $1,000+ on a palm tree. I can buy a 25 gallon king palm for $250 bucks in nearby San Fernando Valley. I know this may sound high for Floridians, but its reasonable in California. How cold hardy are these? I believe the lowest temp recorded in the last 20 years has been 28f, but the area has considerably warmed up in the last 10 years, it rarely falls below freezing. Its much more of a solid 10a climate that previous decades.

I can relate, I killed my first big container palm, $600, by handling it by the trunk. It was too heavy for me to plant gently without a bobcat and it had sensitive roots. We live and learn, and I do understand that palms in california are a lot more expensive than here, I lived there for 7 years. 54" rain a year will make them cheaper to grow here to a good box size. Most of us on palmtalk started out wanting that immediate impact. It is very rarely worth it for the faster growing species. With your heat you should be able to grow things quickly given enough water and some fertilizer. Remember that those Alexandre will need a lot more water out in the open like that compared with a bismarckia or alfredii. Wind dries things out much faster and if the roots can't take up enough water, you get brown leaves generally oldest first. When you plant a palm from a container it has small roots that have a limit for how much water they can take up. I would wait to plant those alexandre till it doesnt hit 85F any more. Over the winter it has a chance to grow roots before the hot weather tests those roots for how much water they can supply. At some point, watering more doesn't solve the problem of a small root system. For Alexandre, make the soil pretty rich in organics and perlite with y our clay. The perlite hold water and will prevent soil compaction which is often a cause of poor drainage. Deeper drainage gives deeper roots and they may give a much healthier tree in the inland heat.

59 minutes ago, SCVpalmenthusiast said:

I could be wrong but I don't think the ptychosperma survive in my climate. Thats much more of a Florida palm. I'm in a dry Mediterranean climate, we have diurnal shifts in humidity and temparture. We can be at 38 degrees Celsius and 30% humidity and by early am be at 20 degrees celsius at 65% humidity.

Howea Forsteriana for me are one of the most beautiful palms in the world. I can grow them but they need to be in full shade. The sun is simply too strong and will burn the fronds. You have to live no more than 15 miles from the coast to plant them in full sun. I am not sure about the bellmoreana you would know better than me, but it would definitely be more of a specialty palm. Most nurseries don't carry it here.

I just planted my first Ptychosperma. I had the same opinion as you , I thought it was much too tropical for my environment. Then I went down to @DoomsDave place in La Habra , very similar climate to mine , even closer to your climate. He had a beauty down there . I was so excited to learn I could grow them , if I get the right species . I came home with a juvenile Ptychosperma Sandereanum and planted it in our courtyard. It gets warm afternoon sun from about 12:30pm -about4pm depending on time of year. It is planted not far from the A. Alexandrae. It has been in the ground a couple of weeks and already opened a new frond. Harry

I have hope this will be a great grower in my warm inland climate. The one Dave has is superb . Maybe partial shade out there where you are. If you go to Dave’s in La Habra , he has a great selection of palms that may work in warmer climates. He has mature specimens in the ground so you can see what they will look like , also a great knowledge of what will work for you.

Edit- I will say , we water A LOT! I have fast draining soil and a sunny south facing lot.