Besides shoveling all the cinder and gravel, I obviously enjoy watching the palms and other plants flourish. Here are a couple of photos comparing the newly planted baby palm with the palm today.

The Metroxylon amicarum next to my front gate was planted in December 2013 from a 5 gallon pot. The palm is growing into a monster after nearly seven years, but has not quite started to trunk yet. Over the years I have tried and failed to germinate dozens of M. amicarum seeds. This spring I finally hit the jackpot with one. I already have a spot in the garden reserved for it once it has a few more leaves.

I got the Corypha umbraculifera as a seedling at the February 2017 HIPS banquet. I was warned that they are super slow growers, but I was motivated by photos of large trees. After three years it is beginning to take off opening a new frond about every five weeks. It is almost five feet high. At this rate it should start to become an eye-catcher in another few years.

Michael and I don't have a palm garden here on Maui, but I volunteer at The Merwin Conservancy where we help manage the palm collection.  Michael is posing next to a Physokentia spp.  One of our tasks is to take photos of palms that have unknown species names when they develop flowers or fruit and then send the photo to experts for identification.