Palm tree blooming

[Sharky]

One of my palm trees has finally bloomed (it has never bloomed before).

A couple of spathes (pods containing the inflorescence) appeared over the weekend. One of the spathes opened overnight last night and the inflorescence appeared. The flowers will turn into dates.

The palm (in my front garden):

Closer - you can see the bloom:

Close-up of the bloom:

There's another spathe about to open - it's the bright green pod to the right of the bloom:

There are several older palms on my property that bloom every year, but this is the first time I have ever caught one as it bloomed. It happens very fast - one day they're not there, then boom - there they are. Usually I don't pay that much attention to them, but this one was noticeable because it has never bloomed before. Cool, huh?

 

[unclehobart]

I wonder if the drier climate this year helped it along. I need to read up on date palms.

 

[tonksy]

That's really cool, Shark.

 

[Inkara1]

Too bad you're in the panhandle instead of int he center of the state... otherwise then you could call it an, ahem, Orlando Bloom.

 

[unclehobart]

*bouncers quickly move in to restrain Rob*

LET ME AT HIM!! I'LL KEEL HIM!!! That was the worst !@#$%^ ....

*an armbar across the throat renders the rest unintelligible*

 

[Sharky]

I wonder if the drier climate this year helped it along. I need to read up on date palms.

That one gets watered when I water the gardens, so I don't know if the drought triggered it. The others don't get watered but they bloom and produce fruit anyway.

That's really cool, Shark.

Ain't it? It's not often you get the chance to witness a palm tree reaching puberty. I planted that tree when it was just a pup.

 

[Sharky]

Too bad you're in the panhandle instead of int he center of the state... otherwise then you could call it an, ahem, Orlando Bloom.

*bouncers quickly move in to restrain Rob*

LET ME AT HIM!! I'LL KEEL HIM!!! That was the worst !@#$%^ ....

*an armbar across the throat renders the rest intelligible*

Hey, hey, settle down. He's posted worse puns before.

 

[Sharky]

The blossoms are turning into dates.

Close-up, you can see honeydew on the tips of the buds:

The other spathe has yet to pop open.

 

[tonksy]

That's awesome! Are you going to harvest the dates?

 

[BB]

or date the harvest of fruity delights?

*gives Inky a run fer his tomatoes*

 

[Sharky]

That's awesome! Are you going to harvest the dates?

Nah. It's messy (they are fragile when ripe and ooze sticky honey) and you have to compete with lots of bees to get to them. Me no likey bees.

or date the harvest of fruity delights?

*gives Inky a run fer his tomatoes*

*lobs tomato across the Atlantic*

 

[Inkara1]

I always thought, from listening to Altron's stories, that dates don't just grow on trees.

 

[Sharky]

I always thought, from listening to Altron's stories, that dates don't just grow on trees.

Ya just have to look in the right trees.

 

[Sharky]

The second spathe popped open Saturday:

And a third spathe has appeared:

 

[Sharky]

The third spathe popped open last Sunday:

And it has opened fully as of Thursday morning:

The first bloom's dates are getting fatter: