A special Palm. At first when I planted a very young one here in the Santa Rosa hills, it seemed to suffer a bit with frosts into the 2...Read More0s. Now 40 years later it's established , looking better. The fronds are about 9 ft high, but only a small trunk forming of 1 1/2 ft. Slow growing and would have grown faster if I'd watered it. Yet it existed very drought hardy. Has suffered NO leaf yellowing . Our volcanic tuff soil is high in iron, otherwise I'd suggest giving it " ironite". It loves pee too. Takes our full hot sun just fine .
The beautiful fronds have a natural arch at the tips, and are very flat. No suckers in this species. Wish I'd planted several more as all Phoenix come in males & females, a pair required for seed production.
I am entirely sure of the reason for the yellowing. It is exessive sun during summer. It can not tolerate without any yellowing full scor...Read Moreching sun in warm mediterranean climates. I grow one under light shade provided by the fronds of the next growing Phoenix dactylifera. Once I pruned latter one during summer, the rupicola instantly started to yellow its fronds, despite the increase in watering. As soon as summer ended and weather bacame cooler and more humid, it returned to the normal green color. This plant does not tolerate full sun and hot temps with low air humidity, it hardly grows during my summer.
Port Charlotte, FL (Zone 10a) | April 2011 | neutral
Just planted a small one, hard to find around S.W. Florida for some reason. I've heard this one is the least cold tolerant of all the dat...Read Moree palms. If it grows like my Sylvester Palm, I'll be very happy.
So far the potted plant has done very well. I think it needs a very even supply of moisture to avoid discolored fronds. Mine in summer w...Read Moreas getting a little off colored until I put a saucer under it...as long as there is some water in the saucer the palm has stayed a rich,glossy green. Night temperatures in the low 30's havent bothered it. I can see that this isnt as good a water saver palm as most Phoenix sp. As usual,the more exotic looking, the more needy the plant compared to its bretheren.
At the least its about the right size for small to average yards.
This is probably one of the most tropical of the Phoenix palms, and the most tropical looking of them. It has soft, droopy leaves with h...Read Moreardly any spines at the leaf bases (though they're still there, so careful). It has the greenest leaves of the Phoenix and is a very graceful tree. I have had some trouble growing this species- it's a bit touchy in zone 9b and it's quite slow, too.... but it does grow here very well for some people. In southern California this Phoenix is the most prone to yellowing of all the Phoenix, looking like it's suffering from severe potasium deficiency. Whether or not that is actually the case, I don't know. Sometimes P canariensis will show the same yellowing, but rarely. In fact, the yellowing is so prevelant, that it's sometimes used as an identifying factor when trying to figure out what species certain mature Phoenix are. Even the hybrid P rupicolas tend to have yellowy leaves.
A special Palm. At first when I planted a very young one here in the Santa Rosa hills, it seemed to suffer a bit with frosts into the 2...Read More
I am entirely sure of the reason for the yellowing. It is exessive sun during summer. It can not tolerate without any yellowing full scor...Read More
Just planted a small one, hard to find around S.W. Florida for some reason. I've heard this one is the least cold tolerant of all the dat...Read More
So far the potted plant has done very well. I think it needs a very even supply of moisture to avoid discolored fronds. Mine in summer w...Read More
This is probably one of the most tropical of the Phoenix palms, and the most tropical looking of them. It has soft, droopy leaves with h...Read More