Those pics are amazing! Maui (and all of Hawaii) is so beautiful. I agree, I love those bismarkias and I really like the contrast between the large ti plants and the Bismarkias. That water looks great and the whale pic is really cool! Looks like a great time of the year to be in HawaiI! Thanks for sharing! -Alex

My soil is broken down sandstone with clay elements. The location of this palm is fortunate to be near where the rabbit hutch used to be (R.I.P. Bun-Bun). The rabbit had a positive effect on the soil. Otherwise, there is regular irrigation -- brief but regular -- and I fertilize during warm weather months with whatever is available, but at least once or twice with a palm-specific fertilizer to be sure it gets the micro-nutrients. This palm is on the north side of the fence, not much direct sun, but bright light. My lowest recorded winter temperatures are 31F, and that's extreme, burnt the leaf tips a bit, but no serious damage. This winter I had one night as low as 36F, much more normal winter with lows hovering above 40F most of the time. I am 1/2 mile from the ocean, get lots of fog, feels somewhat like New Caledonia where the palm originates. A hot summer day here is 85F after the morning fog burns off, but with humidity, heat is not a problem for this palm. I should think Louisiana would be a great home for this palm, providing you don't suffer hard winter freezes. I like these palms so much I planted three more elsewhere in the garden. Well, one is a hookeri, hoping for an even redder emergent leaf. Best of luck with your chambeys!

I know how you feel I planted a bunch of stuff last year before letting it acclimate and letting soil warm up and some of the stuff took all summer to recover,it would be cool if you could pot those up(even if you already did)in some of those peat pots(or big cardboard pots) so in a few weeks when your ready to plant them you won't have to disturb the roots again and they will be used to being out side,they probably would do best if they had a month in a warm place so the roots could recover,one thing I have noticed about mail order plants is,when they are shipped bare root it takes a while for the roots to recover and if these are left outside now and your avg temp during the day is 50F(meaning your low is 40F and the high is 60F for example) thats not a lot of warmth for the roots to recover,so I would say(for BEST results)plant in something you can put right in the ground,use some kind of a root stimulater like superthrive or whatever,keep them in the warmest place you have while the roots recover plant(?) out of direct sun -by the time you do all this it will be so warm out they will take right off!or you can just throw them in the ground tomorrow,its really up to you.If you were going to disregard all this the one thing I would say is most important is to give them some shade untill the roots are back in buisness,personally I tend to get inpatient and rush things,heck I planted a waggie in my front yard in Iowa in December!It lives!with protection of course.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. orchiddude, is that the name of that Pine tree? I planted it years ago and it shot up like a rocket. mastiffhoo, I do like to label everything. Here's some more photos of the front yard: Left to right: Bottle, Coconut and Spindle. The coconut is in a pot and gets moved to the greenhouse in December. (Right to left)Far right: Euterpe edulis, Reinhardtia paiewonskiana, Chambayronia macrocarpa (triple) and Normanbya normanbyi. Dypsis decipiens