Plant sales still continue in June. The Audubon Society is having their Go-Native sale this Saturday, June 7 in South Miami. In fact, it begins in 30 minutes (9:00 am), so I’m typing fast. See link: 2025 Go-Native Plant Sale . They have many volunteers helping out, giving excellent gardening advice.

Sommieria leucophylla is very sought after by palm collectors. Even small seedlings are immediately recognizable by the silver or bronze undersides. I first posted a photo of this plant in 2018, with a single leaf. I prefer the deep pot with gravel in the bottom at this stage to improve drainage.

Growers tell me that it is cold sensitive, but so far in 7 years, I’ve had no problem. They do well in a shady spot where the humidity can be kept high. Not really a problem in soggy June.

They used to have 3 different species, S, affins, S. elegans and S. leucophylla, and while it was almost impossible to find just one species, botanists had fun teasing us that there were really 3 species growing in the wild in Western New Guinea. The fun ended in 2002, when all three species were lumped into S. leucophylla. For more information and images, go to Palmpedia.com

Brief ginger update. The procession is nearly done, with the emergence of Kaempferia rotunda ‘Raven.’ Curcumas and Hedychium coronarium (White butterfly ginger) are started starting to bloom. Globba’s just poked up after the rain. More photos later. See last year’s post, Summer Gingers.

Happy gardening,

Dave