Growing Cold Hardy Palms

[PlanesandPalmsGuy]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this board, but I'm not new to growing cold hardy palm trees. I have been successfully growing three Needle Palms and two Sabal minors in my yard in Murphysboro, Illinois(USDA zone 7a as indicated my the new updated version produced by farmers and gardeners alike). I am certain that I am the only who has even thought of growing palm trees here in extreme southern Illinois. Not only did I think about it, I did it, and was successful. Alot of people in my area may think I'm crazy, but their the crazy ones for not having such beautiful specimens in their own yard. I'm looking forward to reading other posters success stories and their own secrets to growing cold hardy palms. If you would like to get in on some of my secrets to growing palms in northern climates, I would be more than happy for you to visit my webpage.

[Jay-Admin]

Welcome to the forum PlanesandPalmsGuy.

Glad to have you aboard

Regards,
Jay

[PlanesandPalmsGuy]

Yeah I'm glad to be here. It's just too bad there isn't a lot of members. I would like to post this board as a link on my website to help expose this board, with your permission. I only average around 10 hits per week, but that could mean possibly 10 additional members to this board.

[Jay-Admin]

Yeah that would be great. The more exposure the better. Hopefully we will have more members soon. Thanks in advance

Regards,
Jay

[Tony O]

Yeah I'm glad to be here. It's just too bad there isn't a lot of members.

First, welcome to the board. This is my 1st post here too. This is a new board, so it'll take a while for it to catch on. It will though. There are lots of other palm nuts like us, who grow palms where "palms don't grow". I'm in a warm zone 6 a/b here in N.E.Oklahoma. This is going to be the place to meet. I have, as far as know, the only z 6 S. minor (Growing outside) to set seeds last year. It had one seed stalk & produced about 80 seeds. Half of them came up & are now 3" to 4" tall. This year it's sending up 3 seed stalks. ~Yeah~

[PlanesandPalmsGuy]

Yes, its always fun to grow things that aren't "supposed" to grow here in southern Illinois(USDA zone 7a). I say 7a because I use a more accurate cold hardiness map, produced my gardeners and farmers. The link to this zone hardiness map is: http://davesgarden.com/zone/ . See what your "real" zone is. I really enjoy growing southern plants here in the north/central U.S. In southern Illinois, it is common to see the famous Lagerstroemia indica(Tree Crape Myrtle) common to the south, as well as many dwarf varieties of the Crape. Southern Illinois hosts other plants such as Bald Cypress, Southern Magnolias, Musa basjoo(Japanes Hardy Banana), the infamous Kudzu, and now new to the edition, thanks to the palm nut(me), there are 3 Rhapidophyllum hystrix's(Needle Palms) and 2 Sabal minor's(Dwarf Palmetto). I only wish I could grow Italian Cypress, Oleander(Despite it's toxic presence), Live Oak, Spanish Moss, and of course many other tropicals such as Cocos nucifera(yeah right). I'm anxious to share thoughts with other palm nuts such as myself. For info on growing cold hardy palms in northern climates, as well as links to websites which sell R. hystrix, S. minor, and many other cold hardy's, check out my website:
www.planesandpalms.com

[fliegen]

Hi everyone, my first post. I like the planes and palms website, it is well designed and very informative. I live in NJ z7b on a barrier island. It is great to hear from palm growers in the midwest and north. I am always ready to learn how to deal with the continental weather conditions. I enjoy growning hardy palms, bananas, and cactus. With the administrators permission I would like to let others know about this forum. fliegen

[Jay-Admin]

Welcome to the forum Tony O and fliegen.

Fliegen feel free to let others know about this forum. That would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Jay

[PlanesandPalmsGuy]

New Jersey is unique because, even though it lies in higher latitudes, it remains in a conservatively warm zone 7b. I bet Sabal palmetto is even worth a try in your area if you haven't already tried, or you may already be successfully growing them? I know there are reports of Butia capitata(Pindo Palm, Jelly Palm) growing in the Virginia Beach area. I could never grow such specimens where I live, but you could possibly be successful with minimal protection. I have been successful growing Rhapidophyllum hystrix and Sabal minor here, I planted a Livistona chinensis(Chinese Fan Palm, Fountain Palm) in May of 03' and didn't have any intentions of trying to keep it as a perennial. Then I got to thinking, I wonder if I could keep it alive during the winter? Crazily, I built a wire cage around it and lined the cage with a 1/8 inch polycarbonate, leaving only 3 inches open at the bottom for circulation. To my amazement, the lime green palmate fronds didn't suffer any leaf burn until Christmas! In the beginning of January, we received 3 inches of snow, which caused the cage to collapse on top of the palm, exposing it to 10 degree lows and 38 degree highs for two days. After that incident, a slight warm spell came and temps rose into the upper 50's. The palm suffered about 60% leaf burn and continued to burn from then until the middle of March, when weather began to moderate. At that time, the crown and stems of the fronds were still green! It lived through the winter and would have started back from its roots! The sad thing is, it wasn't in a spot where I wanted it permanently, so I sadly pulled it up. I haven't tried growing Sabal palmetto, Sabal etonia, or Serenoa repens, but I collected some Sabal palmetto while in St. Augustine, Florida back in June. The seeds are germinating in my garage and I'm going to give them a try, once they grow into saplings. I try to update my website often, so I'd be more than happy if you wanted to check it often. I try to updated every once a week, while I'm gathering more pictures and growing information. As far as growing cold hardy bananas, Musa basjoo makes a great perennial and grows well here reaching heights up to 14 feet. Cold hardy hibiscus and Chinese Bamboo grow well here, along with Passiflora(Passion Flower vine). I also think Crape Myrtles add a "tropical" look to a yard where Oleander cannot be grown, so I have several mini varieties and Lagerstroemia indica(Tree Crape) which all grow very well here. The Crapes have never died to the ground, and Lagerstroemia indica is common through this area with stout trunks, reaching as high as two story houses! Southern Magnolia is also a favorite of mine, along with Bald Cypress. It really amazes you when you look around and see those types of plants actually growing here in the midwest in large quantity!

[fliegen]

Growing a chinese fan palm in your area is quite impressive. Sorry to hear that the cage colapsed under the snow. This Last winter was really brutal here on the coast. The 8th coldest ever recorded. The winds blew down from Labrador and Qebec right down the Hudson Valley putting everyone in a deepfreeze down to the Virgina capes. I lost a number of my S Louisanas and needle palms, but the ones that survived are tough and bouncing back. My T fortunai (bulgarian) defoliated but sprouted back by may. M basjoo did ok also. This year I am trying M sikkimsis and M itenerans, they are reported to be as hardy as M basjoo. I do have a sabal palmetto seedling out, but not here on the island. We do not get enough heat for long term survival. I have it planted on the mainland by a slab of concrete next to a pool.

I noticed that you mentioned www.amazinggardens.com on your website. Theyare great people to deal with! I am growing some of their cactus in my rock garden this year. I will let you know how they make out after the winter. I am lucky to have a local nursery that sells cold hardy tropicals. They have an amazing display garden open to the public. click on their website at www.tripleoaks.com to view some of the bananas they have growing.

I am also currently trying to sprout S ripens (saw palmetto) just to see if I can get it to survive. I will be checking on your website to follow progress. I will be posting photos after I figure out how to post them on this board.

[PlanesandPalmsGuy]

Wow...thats a shame to hear about your Needle Palms dying along with your S. lous. Thankyou for providing me with the other website, I will check it out...Yes alligatoralley does very good business...my palms were in great condition when they arrived. I haven't tried any cold hardy cactus, but I'm beggining to gain interest in cacti. Keep in touch...

[fliegen]

Southern New Jersey has an unusual climate, on the coast it is 7b, 25 miles inland in the Pine Barrens it is 6a, a few miles west of that near Philadelphia it goes to 7a. The Pine Barrens are a sandy semi desert area with extreme hot and cold temps. This past winter my needle palms planted in the Pine Barrens suffered no folar damage. They were planted on the SW side of a house, bamboo was on the N providing some wind protection, no mulch or protection of any kind was provided (an oversight) The ones on the coast had an 8" black bark mulch, they burned right to the ground, with a 50% mortality rate. Perhaps the constant salt/sand blasting made the difference. Mainland temps went below zero costal temps were single digits above. (really cold 18 days below freezing with high winds) The mainland needles were from allagator alley the coastal were not. I suspect the ones from Oklahoma are much more cold hardy. I have since planted needles from Oklahoma and N Georgia (Green Plant Market, good people also) on the coast. Will update the results. I just hope we do not have another NEW ENGLAND winter here for a while!

[PlanesandPalmsGuy]

Yes, alligator alley has the hardiest Needle Palms. I purchased a Needle from Boynton Beach, Florida and it burned to the ground last year. Alligatoralley also has the hardiest Sabal minor, since they collect their seeds from a northeast Texas ecotype.

[vwbernie]

Hi all,
I'm in Montana and have a lot of baby palms growing inside that I grew from seed, but haven't tried to put any outside yet. They say our winds will get them more than anything making our wind chill super cold.
They are growing quite well in a home with only wood heat, so they should be hardy for selling someday around here, if I can bear to part with them.
Looking forward to getting to know all of you.

[Jay-Admin]

Welcome to the forum Collette

[vwbernie]

Thanks! I can see I will learn a lot here. Its a great place.

[feathered]

I have been trying to get a couple cold hardy palms all summer from a few different places , all I got was TAKEN, never got any seeds or plants , which cost me about 158.00. would love to find a honest place where I could get a few seeds or seedling from some hardy palms , without getting taken again, but I am a little leary now sorry to say , can anyone help

[feathered]

it would help if I put my e-mail on here
featheredfrnds@aol.com

[Jay-Admin]

Welcome to the forum Feathered.

That's a real bummer. I would send you some seed for free if i had any left. I'm sure someone on this forum can help you out.

Regards,
Jay

[Butterflybabe]

i'm new to this board. I live in Ohio- zone 5. i'm afraid growing in my basement is as close as I get to growing palms in the cold!!! But I sure wish I could I hope to move to a warmer climate when we retire. I guess I will just have to dream until then.

[Jay-Admin]

Welcome butterflybabe.

I wish we all could live in a warmer climate.

Regards,
Jay

[Barrie]

I heard it said many times before, "It sure would be nice to live in a warmer climate." Someone in zone 4 would love a zone 7, someone in zone 8 wants a zone 10. Well I'm in a zone 8 and don't mind it at all. There are times when I know I've said, even a half zone warmer would be nice. Especailly when cold temps threaten a cherished plant.

Cheers, Barrie.

[PlanesandPalmsGuy]

I'm at the far boundary for growing palms outside...7a is about as far north as cold hardy palm growing gets. I would definitely settle for zone 8. I would love to grow Sabal palmetto's! But, I guess zone 7 beats zone 6!

[jrhweatherman]

I have been growing hardy palms in Crossville, Tennessee for four years now. My palms include: Sabal palmetto;trachycarpus fortunei;cycas revoluta(sago palm);washingtonia robusta;rhapidophyllum histrix. The first two years i grew only the windmill palms and the sago palms. I protected the windmills a lot. A string of christmas lights kept them warm from November to March. On the coldest nights, a cotton blanket covered them(nights with lows of 15 degrees or lower). The sagos I only covered with leaves. These sagos have amazed me. They stayed buried under the leaves and flush twice a year in the summer, once in early May and again in early August. They have done this for three years now. They look great. The trachies have grown slowly. They are about 7 feet tall altogether with about 4 feet of clear trunk. They look great, I just wish they grew faster. I have not protected these at all the last two years. I added a needle palm last year and planted it out by the road. I did not protect this one. Winter low of ten degrees only made this bad boy laugh. I also added a 15 gallon sabal palmetto on the southeast side of my house and my heating unit blows out heat on this one all winter. I then planted this year 3 washingonias around the sabal. We'll see how the washies fair here in tennessee.

[PlanesandPalmsGuy]

Sounds ausum to me! Sabal minor grow's very slow, but my R. hystrixs' added 4-5 new fronds during their first summer. I'm going to protect all of my palms this year. I'm going to buy some Trachy's this spring, as well as some more Musa basjoo, Cacti, and I'm planning on trying a Live Oak. I know there are some specimens growing in Tennessee, most of them around the Memphis area. I may try some Sabal palmetto. I collected some seeds from St. Augustine, Florida over the summer. If you would like to see some pictures of a few of my young palms around the yard, click on this link: http://community.webshots.com/user/planesandpalmsguy

There is also some neat pictures of the area I live in, where S. minor was native over 100 years ago, before agriculture hit the region. There are some pictures of my St. Augustine, Florida trip in my picture album also.

[WPalm033]

Wats up everyone! U might know me from GW and HP&SB.
If you don't know me, I am from Chicago, and this will be my first winter overwintering:

Trahycarpus Fortunei
Sabal Minor 'McCurtain'
Musa Basjoo
Agave Americana
Agave Harvardiana
Yucca Rostrata
Yucca Thompsoniana.

I have some methods in mind for my trachy and others, Ill explain and posts pics etc. later, but would just like to say hi!

Peace
Kyle
Chicago, IL

[DesertZone]

Hi Everyone!
I am from Southern Iidaho and have had good luck growing several things. Here is a few of he plants I grow in my yard- Joshua-trees, Yucca elata, Y. Scidigera, Y. Riggda, Y. Tompsoniana, Y. Rostrata, Many deferent cacti, a few agave, and one Needle palm, etc..... It gets very cold here (below 0 F. ) every winter, but they just keep growing!

[Estiva]

Hello everyone:

(the look of Zone Denial)This is my third or fourth post, but I havn't formally introduced myself. I live in SE Wisconsin Z5b(maybe I'm the craziest of them all!).

My first interest in palms was when I was 17 years old and took a bus trip to Phoenix. I remember seeing my first palm tree in Cottonwood, AZ. By memory it was a date palm, probably a Canary Island date.

Ever since then I've been in love with palm trees, however only recently have I (been obsessed?) tried to plant or grow from seed myself. This is pretty ironic since in the 80's I lived in Phoenix and Southern California.

I currently have 3 R. Hystrix (needle palm) in the ground that I planted last Spring. We've had -6F as a low so far this winter, and with the exception of some minor leaf-tip burn, they seem to be doing well. This palm thing is an education in progress, since my first try a couple of years ago with a Needle was a disaster--got into the ground in late summer, then with absolutely NO winter protection. R.I.P.

This past year, besides getting into the ground early, I'm trying semi-opaque plastic covers with drill holes for ventilation. I hope to get some pics in the next few weeks and post on the "winter protection" forum.

I've also got three musa basjoos, covered with styrafoam rose covers, also vented at the top. We'll see how they turn out.

My ultimate goal is to have a trunking palm survive (and thrive) long-term. I will probably get a T. Fortunei or a T. Takil. Is anyone familiar with the Takil? I havn't seen any mention of it in the forum.

I'm also "incubating" som s. minors, s. palmetto (free from a recent rip to FL), Butia Capitata (for container only here), Nannorhops Ritchiana (Mazari Palm) and Washingtonia Filifera (way outside chance here in Z5b)

So be incouraged you souls in Z6 and higher--Unless we get a new member from Minnesota or the Yukon, what makes it here should work for you! It's o.k. to be the guinea pig

Something to consider: If we all lived in Miami, would we be this interested in palms, especially the cold-hardy variety?

[Jay-Admin]

Welcome to the forum Estiva. Glad to have you here to share your experiences with everyone. Let us know how your needle palms fare. I also used the rose cover trick for two of my Musa Basjoo this winter.

Regards,
Jay

[donrheinheimer]

I've been growing palms for a couple years here (indoors) and i'm wondering which palms would do best outside here. I plan on protecting them, but i'm unsure of which palms would handle the hot and humid summers and the cold and dry winters. Currently i have a 4 foot phoenix roebelini ( in a pot ), 6 trachycarpus fortunei, about 100 washingtonia robusta seedlings, a couple majesty palms, etc etc. i was thinking of a needle palm perhaps, but after reading many forums it seems that many of them are not surviving. This is scaring me away from this palm because of the high cost and overall slow growth. For now i just sink the pots in the ground in late march/early april and bring them inside to my sunporch for the winter. This results in faster growth because the palm doesn't nearly die each year and have to "recoup" it's losses from the winter season. My only experience with palms outdoors in our zone 7a/6b climate is when i got a trachycarpus from san diego, where my father lives and planted it in the backyard as an annual. It died over the winter, but to my surprise began to sprout new growth in the spring. It only grew one leaf before our dog finished the job of killing it, but i'm wondering if all palms in this area will act as a deciduous plant and die each year, or if any can adapt to this climate for an extended period of time. Any help would be a plus. Thanks

[Jay-Admin]

Welcome to the forum donrheinheimer.

I think Needle palm and Sabal minor would be a good choice. They are both slow growers but are really hardy. Out where i live if you can find a needle palm i know they are really expensive. And growing them from seed may take a liftime. lol

I have a few S. minor palm seedlings going on their third year now and they are just starting their second strap leaf. So in 20 years they might be a fair size. lol

You can always provide protection for palms such as building an enclosed shelter for them in the winter. You can always try wrapping the trunks with burlap and using christmas lights on them. Just some ideas.

Regards,
Jay