Last year, we wrote about the famous Sabal ‘Birmingham’ palm, but until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t visited the old specimens at Raleigh’s Jaycee park in well over a decade, so I thought it was time to check on their status. We don’t know an exact planting date, but best guesses are that they
A Visit to Birmingham Read More »
As of September 2025, we officially have a newly published hardy palm species, Sabal tamaulipensis, although it’s one that we’ve been growing since 1995, and offering for sale through Plant Delights since 2006. From the first time we laid eyes on it, we knew it constituted a new species, but our and other palm collectors
The Newest Species of Hardy Palm Read More »
Twenty five years ago, my late wife Michelle and I, headed to Bermuda for a botanizing excursion….I mean, vacation. One of the collections I returned home with (legally declared) was a few seed of their native palm, Sabal bermudiana. I didn’t really have high hopes that it would be winter hardy here, but wanted to
Bermuda…with Palms in Mind Read More »
Sabal ‘DeFuniak’ is a mystery palm, first spotted years ago, in the town of DeFuniak Springs, Florida, as an oddity and potential hybrid. Palm experts agree that the trunk looks like Sabal bermudana, while the foliage more closely resembles Sabal minor var. louisiana. Our first Sabal ‘DeFuniak’ plants are currently flowering this year at 5
Deciphering Defuniak Read More »
Looking lovely in the garden now is one of the most overlooked of the Southeast US native palms. Sabal etonia may look superficially similar to the better known Sabal minor, but while Sabal minor is typically found in swamps and ditches, Sabal etonia comes from dry sandy scrub habitat in North Central Florida. It is
This is the time of year that we’re harvesting seed from our windmill palms, Trachycarpus fortunei. Unlike our native Sabal palms, which have both male and female flowers on each plant, Trachycarpus are usually either male or female. Consequently, if you’d like to have a seed crop, it’s best to plant these in groups of
Fortunate to get Seed Read More »
We love planting garden combinations that cause visitors to have a moment of cognitive dissonance. One of those moments in the garden currently is illustrated in the combination of Picea orientalis with Sabal ‘DeFuniak’. I remember a visitor once commenting that they didn’t like it that we had planted cactus with ferns, since they found
Hot and Cold Detente Read More »
We love our Mediterranean blue fan palms! While there are several blue foliaged palms for gardeners in tropical climates, Chamaerops (Kam her hops) humilis var. argentea is the only one we’ve found reliable in our Zone 7b/8a garden. Mediterranean blue fan palm hails from high elevations in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where it eventually
Hard to top a Chamaerops Read More »
One of the legendary palms of the Southeast US, is a plant known simply as Sabal ‘Birmingham’. It’s origin is the stuff of legends, and like a good legend, grows better with the passage of time. What we know is that the palm first came to the knowledge of the public in 1976, when a
One of our favorite native plants for the garden is Sabal minor, yet you rarely see these mentioned in lists of great native plants to use in the garden. I wonder if this is because they don’t have that “weedy, unkempt” look that most folks associate with Southeastern US natives. I’ve talked with many native
Not so minor sabals Read More »
