The Bureau capitata is also good in containers, but the spread of the canopy and size even while young will look best in larger sized pots, At least a half oak wine barrel or larger still. Transplanting a palm out of a container that has been growing for years is also a bit of work. Often easiest if you are willing to simply break the pot to liberate it. At a minimum, make sure the pot's opening is not less wide than the pot, or you'll likely not get it out without breaking the pot. Almost all of these palms are a bit thorny to prune/transplant, but for their beauty, can't hold that against them. Arenga engleri is another slow growing clumping palm good for containers with no thorns and interesting silver color on the Lear's reverse, but you need to be careful of the ripening seeds, they are a skin irritant, and the blooming portion of the palm does die after it blooms. Very slow to bulk up in SF East Bay Area conditions without benefit of reflected heat, which actually can be an advantage for a long term container plant.

Thanks for the responses. I didn't know if I needed to file them or soak longer or something. I dug them up and they still look good and feel firm. If they send out a long taproot I wonder if I should be germinating them in bigger pots instead of peat pods? topher, I don't think this is a needle palm (like the link goes to) I think this is a european fan palm or something like that. Hopefully it won't take that long to germinate lol. It did take a year for some of my banana seeds to germinate though. ~SJN

i just got off the phone with lowes orland park.......they are calling me 2morrow afternoon.....i am goona get a 5-6 foot coconut palm, 3 foot of trunk windmill or waggie (depending on price) and a washingtonia with 3-4 feet of trunk. they want to make sure their growers have them in stock and if they do they are going to ship them up here with no shipping charges, and i can just pick them up at the store. i will keep everyone updated.

Well a little good news I found out this weekend. I went to Las Cruces because I will be attending NMSU in the spring and there are palms everywhere there. I mostly saw Mediterrean, California, and Mexican fan palms but did see a few CIDP's. The climate in Las Cruces is similar to Clovis and I think I should have some good luck. I also talked with a local nursery and here is a direct statement from their website. "In the Southwest the Mediterrean fan palm is the most hardiest followed by the California, Mexican, Sago and Windmill palms. All fronds in the southwest need trimming in spring after frost damage". But anyways, I went from choosing 2 palms but now I plan to try a few different types and see what one works best for me. I just thought I would share that and I will let you know how everything works out.