I plan to get more into OK's native palm, Sabal minor, with some comparisons of different populations.
But I yearn to plant palms in the ground and watch them grow. What to do?
My aging parents have a cabin on the Oregon coast. I helped build it 30+ years ago, and it is where I made my first attempts at landscaping. The local "elk" (Cervus elaphus--"red deer" to Europeans) have long since eaten all but a lone pear tree.
I've secured my parent's permission to landscape (again) for them. They have a good Guatemalan man who works for them on occasion and whose crew can do the physical work even I am too old for.
What I want from you folks are suggestions of palm trees, and cool plants generally, to use in my plans.
Climate: temperate marine. "Temperate rainforest" is how I'd describe it in class, with about 2 metres of rain/year and essentially no snow. USDA 8b, but I plan to treat it as zone 9. My dad, who has been there for decades, says it gets to 15 F (-10 C) a couple times/century. In a typical decade, the low would be 25 F (-4 C) with 2 or 3 winters with no freeze at all. High is also low--90 F (32 C) is unusual. Rain falls October to June; "summer" is sunny and mild. Biggest storms are in November as the "pineapple express" brings storms from Hawai'i. Lowest lows are in December, but are more "cool and wet" than "cold." Every few decades a cold winter high settles in to the east and sends cold dry air that can linger for a few days. The cabin is on a steep slope facing south so cold air does not settle and what sun does shine in winter warms the land.
Palms: local nurseries are good, but do not have many exotics. The only palm I saw for sale locally was a Chamerops humilis. Trachycarpus ought to be easy, as they are ubiquitous in the city of Portland, which gets colder. I think it is safe to say that any palm which grows in Victoria BC would be easy to grow as this locale is warmer summer and winter. Further south on the Oregon coast, near the border with California, folks grow Phoenix.
Ideas?
The image shows the cabin from the front. I have quite a large area to work with. I have also linked to a photo album with more photos of the cabin and the neighborhood if you have a few minutes.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/p ... site"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YU2f ... C_0025.JPG" height="531" width="800" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm ... ite">Beach cabin</a></td></tr></table>
https://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm ... directlink
, albeit a heck of a lot drier than your place).
But good old-fashioned T. fortunei is a favorite of mine so if I can afford it I'll plant some big ones and let little exotic Trachies play catch-up. Jubaea will have to be small as they are expensive. Phoenix and Butia will miss the summer heat; Phoenix will be damaged by the occasional cold winter and never get warm enough to recover. So, I'll try small palms of many types for fun, knowing they will get zero winter protection. --Erik
