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You palm nuts think a palm could survive without protection in my CO zone 7A? Would be fun to try one, but I'm not one to coddle and build an insulated structure over it lol. I'll be honest im not a palm expert but from what I gather a trachy or fortunei might survive? What about a washi? That's what I'm interested in.

It does get cold here but its not the central rockies for god sakes. I live in a big valley that gets 'inversions' that sometimes set in for a few weeks with single digits. Normally, 20's -30's is a typical winter though.

Who wants to be a palm donor and send me a starter palm for a science experiment lol?

Nope. Only a needle palm will survive in 7a with no protection... its the wind damage and moisture that kills all the others. I suggest south-facing wall with heavy mulch and shelter from ALL winter moisture and wind... then you may get in to some trachys, chamaerops, and maybe a pindo or a sabal. Add a thermocube and a couple light bulbs.. you can get in to some phoenixes and washingtonias and even braheas or a livistona.
Speaking from personal experience.

Thanks for the reply. Damn, 1 more zone and maybe I could plant a Washy. Maybe I'll just move haha.

Bato367 wrote:Thanks for the reply. Damn, 1 more zone and maybe I could plant a Washy. Maybe I'll just move haha.

I bet one would grow there, have seen large ones in Nampa, and Boise Idaho. They removed the best ones, I think because after some winters they are slow to recover. (no protection) They also have lots of fog in the winter that does not help. I bet it would be worth a try with just Christmas lights on the trunk and in the crown. Of course extreme winters may do them in. (trchies)

A Sabal minor ought to to work. I'll bring you some in exchange for a BnB next time I drive between Oklahoma and Oregon.

What about sabal minor louisiana and maybe birmingham?

A Birmingham would probably die back to nothing before it ever got started. Louisianas or Brazoria would be the way to go.

Well you have a much better chance than I would. I'm in the Denver, CO region, and I think we're zone 5B or 6. Theres actually a website from a guy in Grand Junction that grows palms. I think they are trachys.

Bato367 wrote:You palm nuts think a palm could survive without protection in my CO zone 7A? Would be fun to try one, but I'm not one to coddle and build an insulated structure over it lol. I'll be honest im not a palm expert but from what I gather a trachy or fortunei might survive? What about a washi? That's what I'm interested in.

It does get cold here but its not the central rockies for god sakes. I live in a big valley that gets 'inversions' that sometimes set in for a few weeks with single digits. Normally, 20's -30's is a typical winter though.

Who wants to be a palm donor and send me a starter palm for a science experiment lol?

If you look up John Hesler...not for sure about that
last name-but he had/has a garden in Colorado Springs
where he documented growing Trachys,Needle palms etc.
I may have posted the info from his website.....
Growing palms in Colorado Springs z5b

you could do a search on here for it-I believe I
may have posted it in its entirety-minus the pics.

I think this guy had a nursery/garden center called

2lazy2pee gardens

Bato367 wrote:You palm nuts think a palm could survive without protection in my CO zone 7A? Would be fun to try one, but I'm not one to coddle and build an insulated structure over it lol. I'll be honest im not a palm expert but from what I gather a trachy or fortunei might survive? What about a washi? That's what I'm interested in.

It does get cold here but its not the central rockies for god sakes. I live in a big valley that gets 'inversions' that sometimes set in for a few weeks with single digits. Normally, 20's -30's is a typical winter though.

Who wants to be a palm donor and send me a starter palm for a science experiment lol?

Hey I'm a palm nut in Grand Junction!, Here's my Washingtonia Filibusta winter cover, kinda overkill, but I feel if you want washingtonias outside in Colorado, that's how it's got to be done. First I cut off a few dead brown leaves, left the petioles that were still green intact, tied the leaves up in biodegradable rope, wrapped the trunk in burlap, stacked six one gallon jugs painted black around the trunk, and slapped the greenhouse up and over that. I have a max/min temperature probe that tells me temps/humidity, as well as a 25 string of c-9 7 watt Christmas lights activated off of a 35'F-50'F thermocube. also threw a fan and dehumidifier in there. (Was getting too humid). I'll let you know how it turns out in spring. Also have some washingtonia seedlings overwintering in my house right now if you're interested in one. Also trying a windmill with no artificial heat, just burlap and good sighting we'll see how that goes.

Welcome Jacobb92.........good luck with your palms.

hardyjim wrote:Welcome Jacobb92.........good luck with your palms.

. Thank you hardyjim, glad to be here, good luck with your palms as well!

Never mind I yanked the windmill out, (luckily it was buried with its pot). 6 inches of snow, long inversion ahead of us, 15 day forecast too cold, overwintering in my unheated garage at night and in my house during the day. Maybe next year if it's warmer I'll leave it outside. Hopefully I can stick it back outside around February, we'll see how that goes. My Washingtonia is still doing good in its mini greenhouse, this cold snap will be a good test for it, so far hasn't seen anything below 29, usually bottoms out around 34-36 (29'F night I unplugged it in the morning and didn't plug cord back in until 8pm). Still only half way there though, we'll see how it looks in March when I take the greenhouse off. I'm sure if everything goes good I'll be turning some heads when people see a Washingtonia with a healthy green crown full of leaves in early March here in GJ Colorado before any trees start showing any green. May be corny to some, but to me it makes it all worth the while!

Good thing it was in the pot...
pulling palms and storing them in a
cool place can be a death sentence as
the cool damaged roots can rot out.

Yikes, I dug up a sabal minor back in Nov. and put it in a 5 gallon pot. Luckily I just took my potted palms in today and it showed no signs of damaged. Could be the 6" of rain in 2 months.

hardyjim wrote:Good thing it was in the pot...
pulling palms and storing them in a
cool place can be a death sentence as
the cool damaged roots can rot out.

If all my palms die again this year I'm gonna find a new hobby!

Here's an update on my Filibusta fan palm, decided to take the mini greenhouse off early, since I started protecting it kind of early, in late October. Therefore it hasn't really experienced anything below 35'F. I should add too that even though I took the cover off on 2/16 I still cover the leaves with a little piece of burlap and surround the trunk with a couple gallons of warm water once the sun goes down, I also decided to move it to my back yard (to give it more sun), had roots growing out of the bottom again which surprised me since it went from a five gallon pot, to a 20g trashcan just seven months ago in July. Anyways i trimmed up the roots and fronds a little bit prettying it up a little bit and hopefully not hurting it too badly. I guess we'll see what happens, we're not out of the woods yet! I will update again when things are blazing hot again around June or July. Take care everybody!

Well I'm done posting on palms north (too hard to post pics on here) I tried creating an account with postimage.org but still nothing. So if you want to see my palms and their progress check out palm trees in Grand Junction on city data forum WAY easier IMO to work with. Take care everybody!

Try Photobucket