Returned to Pygmy Date Palm after a difficult first attempt

My first attempt at Pygmy Date Palm failed — root bound decline in pots left too long without repotting got hold of it and I didn't know what I was looking at until it was too late. I left it alone for a year before trying again.

The second attempt, with proper attention to feeding with a palm-specific slow-release fertiliser in spring, has been completely different. It's now thriving in a Mediterranean or exotic themed garden border and long-lived structure that becomes more impressive over decades is on full display. fastest growth during the warmest summer months this year was a genuine reward for starting again. If you failed first time, the plant isn't the problem — the conditions probably were.