Beautiful palm!looks happy now,hopefully you will miss the freezing mark this winter and it will build on its current success.

Thanks Jim,

I really hadn't noticed how thick the trunk had gotten until i compared the first and last pics side by side. Now i'm wondering how long it'll be until it actually gets a woody trunk. If it's anything like the queen palm in growth rate, it should be getting a woody trunk next year. I think that this year shouldn't be as bad as last year for my little majesty. It's already had over a year to aclimatize, and this summer, i planted a queen (not five feet away from it) to provide a canopy and protect it from frost. We'll see how it fares.

If temps stay above 30, will frost still damage it?

Beautiful palm you have there. I'm amazed at the growth rate, even after winter damage. Majesties are definitely my favorite palm. I bought a 10 footer from Lowe's the other day for $15, but now I'm not sure what I'll do if it grows any taller. I'm gonna try to overwinter it in my garage and see what happens. I'd like to pot plant it next spring, so I can pull it up in the fall and save it. I'm wondering if maybe I can cut the tops of the tallest leaves off to allow it to fit when it grows taller, and thats when I'm relying on its growth rate to recover from the butchered fronds.

Good luck with yours this winter. I hope mine survives in my garage. I don't intend to let it get below freezing. If it makes it through this winter, you should some amazing growth come next spring if it grows anything like it did this year.

Alex, any exposure to frost will damage it. I used a straw mat to wrap it up every night that frost threatened, but later on during the winter i got a little lazy and it went through one or two light frosts without being wrapped. It showed no damage when it was wrapped, but the two nights when it wasn't wrapped really damaged it. The damage didn't show up until about two weeks after the exposure to frost.

Islandbreeze,
Thanks, it is a beautifull palm, one of my favorite. I'm sure you could overwinter it in the garage, as long as it doesn't freeze in there. One suggestion, if you pot plant it, plant it near water. They LOVE water and are also heavy feeders. If you have a pond, that is probably the best place for it. In the wild, these grow in river banks (hence the name Ravenea Rivularis. Good Luck with yours too.

I know what you mean about looking at photos side by side,sometimes you don't even notice when you see a plant every day how much its growing,anyway based on what that palm did this year I can see it doubleing in size next year if it can pull through with the leaves it has,I would think a sheet over it on cold nights would do it,can't wait to see what it does between now and then.Good luck with yours Islb,post a pic!

Yeah Jim, I will definately wrap it EVERY time frost threatens this year. lol. I'll post an update on it come February.

Also, from the time i took this picture until now, it has opened up one more frond and has three spears all coming at the same time. Definately a fast grower - hands down.

You might just have to accept that by winters end every year its fronds will not be pristine like with CIDP or Washys. It's about the same hardiness as King palms. The big difference is that Majestys are more massive palms AND they LOVE that valley heat-if given enough water. You might find as they get a trunk that they do well on average watering-just dont test it,when it gets over 85f!
Thats a great,great, start for a palm where you live.Its already getting that adult palm 'look'

Stan, don't you have a majesty up in Hayward? I think i remember seeing a picture of it. Of course, you don't have to worry about frosts like i do - with a zone 10 and with an overhead canopy of trees.

I did have a gopher problem-and I'm sure they ate some as it went from fast growing to a dead stop-just as some other plants of mine were killed by those rodents.
It survived,and just in the latter half of summer started to send out normal fronds again. Mine also isnt getting full sun(hey,what can i do about that on a small lot?) or as much water as I preach!..I can post a pic later. It's ok.Not that great for almost three years or so.
There is one at the Oakland palmetum older than mine and not much different.It's getting too much shade for the cool Oakland climate. Another, near Lake Merrit in full sun, looks darn good.

Figures the Raiders would lose again.
Halftime pics before the demise of Oakland..

3 summers old. Those are rotten ash leafs in the crown. I sort of hoped it would grow up into the sun.Now,it looks like that's going to take much longer than hoped.

It's still a nice palm though, and it looks like yours is actually ahead of mine in that it has a woody trunk. Nice Crassula by the way. Also, what type of aloe is that crawling all around the ravenea? I have the same one, but it was planted this summer, and has not yet flowered. Maybe this winter it will. Also, what brugmansia is that?

At first i thought the palm was in your backyard or sideyard, but then i cought a glimpse of the Agave Americana in the background, and recognized it from other photos you've posted. Wow, you've really packed that front yard of yours! I would have never guessed there was a majesty behind the other topicalia.

Aloe ciliaris and another more compact type.In this part shade the compact looks almost identical to the lanky ciliaris.
The Brugmansia has to be moved-if it does well it creates too much shade.The high water use is also a minus for that spot. Frosty pink bought in the early 90's..surviving countless dies offs from the 98 and 07 freeze's and who knows how many drought times.
Here it is November 9 and the Crotons have all their leaves. NEVER had them do as well in a pot or indoors.Jeez,even in mid summer in a pot-they dropped leaves or rotted outdoors.Indoor? wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy-pest magnet,dont grow,and if they do the leaves have no color. I wish I had found them for sale-cheap-in May instead of September.

What's up cali ? majesty looks great !

Hey Topher, nothing much. Just doing some maintenance around the yard. It's been a long summer and the yard went neglected for a big portion of the summer because i was out of the country. We havn't cooled down enough yet to bring the growing season to a halt, still hovering in the high 70s and 80s. Here are some pics from my yard:

a newly planted corner with various tropicals and succulents - aloe arborescens, aloe barbadiensis, aloe "blue elf", aloe marlothii, aloe saponaria, aloe ciliaris, aloe striata, beaucarnea recurvata, crassulas, agave scabra x reginae, agave desmettiana variegata, agave angustafolia, dypsis decaryi, monstera deliciosa, pachypodium lamereii, cordyline australis, cycas revoluta, phoenix roebelenii, strelitzia nicolai, antigonon leptopus...and more to come!

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Jubaea Chilensis - fronds are beginning to split. I planted this seedling last December with only 1 strap leaf.

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Pomegrantes - first substantial crop from my seedling grown tree

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Tecoma Stans getting ready to bloom

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Oleander

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Erthrina Crista-Galli

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Bougainvillea x Buttiana

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Corner with Cyathea Cooperi, Howea Forsteriana, Tibouchina Urvilleana, Blechnum Gibbum, Clivia Miniata, Spathiphyllum...

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Tibouchina Urvilleana

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Mixed Succulents

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Passiflora Edulis fruit and flowers

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Rescued cycas flushing

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Bougainvillea Barbara Karst




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Agave Desmettiana Variegata

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Meyer Lemon blooms

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Murcott Mandarins - last season this tree gave us over 100 mandarins, this year only 5

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Mexican Sweet Limes getting some color - looking like Christmas ornaments

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My own experience with Majesty Palms is that they absolutely require abundant bright light to survive the winter. I have 3 and if they do not get enough light over the winter the look really bad come spring and take nearly the entire summer to recover. However, bright light, water them well once a week, and they'll be beautiful come spring.

BTW... Mine are about 8 years old and still no woody trunk. But I have gotten several baby sucker plants that are doing fine.

Yes, southern il boy, i agree with you. They do require bright light. I had one as a houseplant that didn't do so hot. The one outside apparently gets enough light though. Mine gets watered every tome the sprinklers go on (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays).

Are you sure you have a majesty? Majesty palms (Ravenea Rivularis) don't produce suckers (at least no species i know of does that). And mine is going on it's second year in the ground and it looks as though next year it will begin to put on some trunk. You should post some pictures of your palms. And of the suckers. I'm really interested in knowing what they are.

Southern il boy a majesty by 8 yrs in my opinion should have quite a bit of trunk These guys grow realy fast ! Mine isn't but 2 yrs and it's already trying to trunk.