Hey Randy,

Everything looks great!!!

They seem to love the warm GA sunshine!!!

Hope all is well with you!!!

Take care everyone!!

Laura in VB

Thanks Laura,
The Sabal Palmetto seedlings in the long green pots are from you.The triple pindo is also from the seeds you sent me.Only 3 of them came up so it was my idea to put them together to make a triple pindo palm.I've seen a lot of doubles lately so I made a triple,to see what happens.Both sets of sabal seeds came up good.I do notice the ones you got from South Carolina are faster growing.There is about 15 seedlings from your trees and 25 from S.C.growing.I'm in the process of potting them up to single pots,I hope they all live.I don't know why no more of the pindo seeds came up :( I think that mule palm looks strange,the way the strap leaves are splitting.Most palms start off with strap leaves,then they eventually put out there first real frond.I've never seen a palm do like that mule palm,strange.Thanks again for all the seeds and everything else.I've had 10 people stop here and ask me about those Texas Star Hibiscus,they all wanted to know what they are,they said they are the most beautiful flowers they have ever seen.I've got a big bag full of seed pods off them already.I'm doing good,thanks for asking,how are you doing?I hope everything is good with you,your a nice person with a kind soul.Thanks again for everything.Randy :)

Beautiful seedings! 80s are great! Were only in the mid to upper 60s here with most nights in the upper 40s, but some cooler ones in the low 40s. Some 70s and clouds later next week.
The weather is slowing down the growth on a lot of my plants, but the coconut palms, trachys, queen, and sago are all still growing. And some people say that musa basjoo bananas are the prefect banana for people with a cool climate, but my vote goes to musa velutina. Its still pushing up a frond a week and its making its first pup now! Ive only had it since late august or early september and it has grown about 3 or 4 leaves! Only downside is that it doesnt get very tall very quickly.
Also your mule palm seedling has a lot of characteristics of a queen palm seedling. It looks almost the same except that its a little more compact and also splitting at a shorter height. I guess thats due to the butia DNA. Mule palms are beautiful. Im looking forward to seeing some pics of its mature fronds soon!! Im also interested to see the growth rate on those palmetto seedlings! I hear they are very slow from seed, but much more tolerant of cold and also much nicer looking if they are planted in the ground without being "hurricane cut".
Nice pics! Thanks for sharing!!!
-Alex

Thanks Alex,
The Mule palm is growing very fast,faster than any other palm I have.I had 4 of them but I sold 3 of them to a lady on Dave's Garden.It's another garden forum,I joined it in 2009 before I had ever heard of this one.I go by the same name on there,but if your not a member you can only see my have and want list.The Sabal seedlings so far are slow growing,but for free,I don't really care,LOL.I plan on getting a couple 10 or 20ft ones next spring,75 dollars for a 20ft Sabal palmetto,I cant pass that up.There are some Sabal palmettos planted in ATL. from seedlings and they have some really fat trunks.You can see them on the Southeastern Palm Society website.I cant wait to see what the Mule palm fronds look like myself.We are getting a cool front coming threw tonight so no more 80's for highs,looks like mid to high 70's and low to high 40's for lows.I will bring in the mule palm if the temps.drop below 50 degrees,I don't want to take any chances with it.There so blasted expensive!!!If everything goes good with it I plan on getting more of them :)

Everything looks happy/healthy.

Quite the lovely C.cerifera you have there!

Here is a photo of my Mule Palm seedlings in 20F. I had 200 of them outdoors and lost around 10 of them during this cold snap. These are located on San Juan Island Washington a few miles south of Vancouver Island Canada.

This was two years ago. They all now look similar to yours.

Hey Erik,
I didn't get the picture of your palms.If you remember I bought my mule palms back last January.They went from the size of toothpicks to the size you see in the picture,leaves already splitting.I understand why there expensive,hand pollinated and all.If it keeps up the growth rate its growing at,it's well worth the money I paid for them.I thinking of buying in bulk next time,people would buy everyone I have.Everyone around here wants mule palms.I think they should be cold hardy enough to live here.What size do you recommend planting them in the ground?Do you know who has them for sale in bulk?This one lady wanted 20 of them!!!If I would have had a lot of them,I could have sold probably 50 if not more,no kidding :)

I can attest to this nice tropical collection firsthand!

Nice seeing you Randy!

gatraffic,
Nice to hear from you.You surprised me that morning you stopped by.The doorbell chimed,I looked to see who it was and I saw a man in a suit.I thought who in the world is that.It was nice to actually meet someone in person who is on this forum.Stop in next time your in town.I have something you might like to have.
Greg,
I love the look of the Chamaerops ceriferas,I have 3 of them.The one in the picture is my smallest one.I keep all mine as single trunk palms,I just like them better that way.I don't know why they call them Silver European Fan Palms,they look blue to me.
Alex,
My Musa Basjoos are still growing,just not as fast.The look rough this time of year due to all the windy days.It shreds the leaves terribly.I'm going to try some other types of Banana plants next year.One is Musa Orinoco and those Musa Velutinas.There are Banana Plantations in south GA. growing Orinoco bananas in large quantities to sell to the public for eating.I would be happy to get one bunch off them to eat.They are a lot bigger banana plant,up to 25ft.
Here is a picture of my Musa Basjoos still growing,but looking rough from the wind :)
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Still nice and green,a sign that there hasn't been any weather that is to chilly(-:

Hey Randy,

I am doing great...thanks for asking!!!

Love all of the babies that you have growing, you seem to have the "green" thumb going with all of those seeds!!

Those Hardy Hibiscus will produce so many seeds...by next year at this time you will be tired of collecting them!!!
Remember that when they start to look yellow and seem to be tired...cut them in half and then after the winter has passed (I do this in Feb/March) I cut them down to about 2-3 inches from the bottom. They will start to shoot out new growth soon thereafter...I'm glad you like them, they are a great conversation plant!!! :)

It's starting to get cold here in VB. Last night we had temps down in the low 40's...starting the "ritual" of cleaning everything up and preparing to bring in all of my tropicals, palms, and Plumeria...what a job!!!

Take care Randy.. and thanks again for the kind words!!!

Laura in VB

Hey Laura,
I've already got a big bag full of seed pods off those Hibiscus plants.There's probably 20 or 30 more on the plants that have'nt ripened all the way yet.I'll have enough seeds to have a field full of them,LOL.They sure do produce alot of seeds,more than most plants.

Jim,
I ment to tell you about the C.cerifera palms.I dont know why I typed Gregs name instead of yours,my bad.I have 4 of them.One is not doing so good,thats why I said I have 3 in the earlier post.The 4th one is in the black round pot in the picture of all the seedlings.It hasent grown any all summer,the one little frond on it stays closed up all the time.I've tried putting it in shade and sun but it doesent seem to make a differance.It was in the pot of the 15 gallon one I planted in the ground.I thought it was another trunk comming off the big one,till I pulled it out of the pot to plant it.I noticed it was loose and not attached to the big one,so I pulled it out and figured I would pot it up and let it get some size on it before I planted it in the ground.It might die or already be dead,untill it shows some growth I just say I have 3 of them.If it's sulking than it's sulking real bad.I just dont get it,why it hasent done anything.

Hello Richard,

Email me anytime I have the sources. I guess it is not proper etiquette to post the information on this forum. They did not like it when I posted it before. Email me anytime if you need photos or information on the Mule Palm.

sales@mulepalm.com

Erik

As you said,it may "already be dead".

I had a Waggie(when I looked at that pic originally it reminded me of this palm)that looked almost exactly like that,
it stayed that way for over a year before it finally croaked.

Palms are pretty amazing that way,they can appear to be alive for so long but may have "given up the ghost"(never cared for that expression but it seems to apply)long ago.

Only thing you can really do IMO is pull it,remove any dead material and treat with root hormone,or the like and let nature take it's course.

Always a sign something isn't quite right when palms aren't moving this time of year,luckily the lord has that one covered(-;

Good luck with it.

My Mule palms are doing the same thing with the leaves splitting, even the ones now emerging.

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Here's my pure butias..

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Washys (some robusta and some 'filibusta')...

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Sabal palmetto seedlings...

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Washingtonia filifera, the one on the right had spear pull, but it seems to be making a comeback..

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A couple of Medjool seedlings..

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Mine probably look a little worse than they should since they have been on hot black weed fabric all summer. (Ignore my leaves and weeds, LOL)

ABT,
MY mule palm is doing the same thing,the new frond is coming out already split.I've been looking for a W.Filifera,all I can find is seeds and way over priced seedlings on ebay.I wish I had some seedlings or plants of more Phoenix palms,the only Phoenix palms I have is the 3 P.theophrasti.They are also starting there first real fronds.I got them because there suppose to be the most cold hardy of the Phoenix palms.The biggest S.palmetto seedling I have is from the seeds you sent me back last year.I wanted to ask you,where do you get your Tree pots at?It's good to hear from you again,I wondered what happened to you?I haven't seen you on here for a while now.You have a great collection. :)
Randy

Try this link-

Here is a link that might be useful: California fan palm

alabama- did you treat that washy in any way for the spear pull? or did it just come back fine by itself? very nice seedlings butia bama and all of them look very healthy. keep those sabal seedlings alive and healthy they obviously are slow growers but are super acclimated growing in Mrs. Laura's yard from the seeds dropping as you know. everything looks good i have many windmill seedlings but i am going to try to get more of others... good luck everyone -Justin in VB

Randy, I got those deep pots from Charley's Greenhouse.

Justin, I didn't treat the W.filifera at all, it just started putting out a new leaf by itself, and now a new spear. I'm not sure what made the original spear pull out, maybe the humidity. Now when I water it I make sure to water the soil only.

Hi Butiaman,

Its been a warm fall so far and glad you're stretching the season and getting some extra growth. The cement bed is a good idea to keep the night warmer for them. That mule palm unusual leaf may be why they are called that? Just a guess.

We cooled off a bit here in NYC, but the past several days have been warm in the 70s and today we needed AC it was so humid.