seeking Kerriodoxa

12 years ago

At the risk of seeming to rub it in the faces of the many devoted Palm Lovers on here who struggle north of Zone 10, I am hoping I can find someone in South Florida who can steer me to a couple slightly unusual palms for my yard.

I'm trying to locate a Kerriodoxa Elegans, which Betrock's says will grow in my Zone. (Strangely enough, Home Depot here in Cape Coral had a battered looking one hanging around last year, but I had to first see if last winter was going to be better than '09-'10, my first winter here!)

Among others, I'm trying as well to find a Sabal Mauritiiformis or two, and either a Dypsis Lanceolata or a Dypsis Lastelliana. (There seems to be some argument as to whether or not Lanceolata is actually a bit more cold-hardy than Lastelliana. Across the River from me, Ft. Myers has beautiful teddy bear palms growing in the ground in the city, but I'm not sure if I could get away with the same, even though I'm closer to the Gulf. Not much urban heat island over my place!)

Also, there was someone on the Garden Web sometime back who had Mauritia Flexuosa and a few other oddities; "kingfish", if you're around, I've lost your email address and hope you'll ping me from here.

Happy Growing, and here's praying for a rainy summer!

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Comments (6)

statenislandpalm7a
12 years ago
Im sorry i dont have any of those palms.

Would you be interested in seeds of thrinax radiata florida thatch palm
cattman
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi, StatenIsland -- thanks for your reply! I have thought about going the "seed route" for quite a few palms, but since so many of them seem to grow slowly (or germinate slowly, or both!), I'm kind of leaning towards getting plants at this time.

Are you growing Thrinax Radiata up there where you are?? Kudos to you if you are!
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lzrddr
12 years ago
You can usually find these and other good rare palms for your area at Floribunda Palms in Hawaii... good quality plants for cheap. You can usually get Kerriodoxa from him (Marcus). I think it would survive your climate (way better than it does here in So Cal). And both those Dypsis would probably do well for you, too. Mauritia flexuosa would probably be a tough one, but you never know. By the way, there are many palm sellers in your neck of the woods, too (I just don't know their website). Ron Searle sells a lot of palms and they are pretty good deals, too.... and then you don't need to get them bare root.
cattman
Original Author
12 years ago
Hey, lzrddr, thanks for the great advice! I got a friendly reply from the Searle guys and also downloaded that astonishing palm list from Floribunda. According to the advice I'm getting, I should be able to branch out nicely (no pun intended!) from the foxtails, ptychospermas and coconuts that rule my place now.

At the moment I'm putting in a 6-foot privacy fence for my yard, so that's probably going to eat up all my dough for a bit. (It's so wide-open and windy here, I think the palms will really appreciate it -- especially in winter!) But I'll definitely be adding some more palms once I'm back on my feet financially.

(I just wish it would RAIN!!!)

Best to you and your Palmaceae :-)
protempsfish
12 years ago
I have purchased some palms from a guy that lives in South Florida. At one point he may have put his business on hold but he is very knowledgable and his prices are fantastic. His name is Bill and I believe he lives in the Venice Beach area. At the very least he will be able to point you in the right direction. Cheers!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pious Palms
cattman
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi, Protempsfish -- thanks for sharing that experience and website. I'm beginning to have good success locating some growers who have a good variety of palms for sale. I've even found one grower practically in my own backyard!

This week I've been detoured with the installation of a 6-foot-high white vinyl privacy fence. It is GORGemous, and really makes the palm trees "pop". Supposedly the fence crew finishes today -- we'll see! Then the picture-taking starts. If I can ever figure out how to post pics here, I will. And THEN, it's back to planting....

I need to stick in a shade tree or two for my nascent rainforest section. The pinanga has luckily got a neighbor's tree branch hanging overhead, but the areca vestiaria is a bit too sun-exposed and not liking it. Looks like kerriodoxa prefers shade and plenty of protection from strong winds, so I'm doubly glad I've got this fence going in.

With suggestions from the palm people I've chatted with, I'll be adding some dypsis, kentiopsis, and dictyosperma to supplement my 3 overly tall ptychosperma elegans. (Hey, what's the deal with everyone in Florida calling pty. elegans "Alexander Palm"? The REAL Alexander palm is archontophoenix alexandrae -- how hard is THAT?