BGreen

Here is a nice clean palm I spotted on my way to work earlier this year.



And here is what it looked like today....

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Take care,

BGreen

mudcat25

BGreen I see that you are in the same zone I'm in. Is this pic in the same zone also, because I'd love to find a palm I could grow outside in my area. I have Robellini palm that I bring in every year but it would be great to find one that could stay outside.

the flying dutchman

Trachycarpus fortunei is in many gardens here in the netherlands.
It is probably the most hardy, I don't protect mine. It is said that tritrhinax campestris(the blue needle palm) is hardy too, but that one has sharp parts.

Ron

Randy4ut

Hey Mudcat,
I belong to the Southeastern Palm Society, and wanted to pass along a link that you may find informative... This link is a section of our website, which is sepalms.org... If you have any questions, feel free to contact me...
Randy4ut

http://www.sepalms.org/Hardy%20Palms..._Reference.htm

This link lists hardy palms from the most cold hardy first...

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the flying dutchman

Randy, I had bad experiences with the Whasingtonia Filifera on that list.
It hates the rain in the fall and before the winter starts it already looks bad and eventualy it dies in the winter. This happened to me two times in mild
winters.

Ron

mudcat25

Randy thanks for the site. I just finished looking at some. Not enough time right now. I will probably have some questions for you in the future.

Randy4ut

Ron,
That is the problem we in the SE United States have with the Washytonias also... The thing we try to do if growing a washy is to make sure to keep it as dry as possible in the winter... I have two Robustas outside that I cover in the winter... They lose all their fronds in the winter but send out tons in the summer heat... Water in the summer is their big thing...
Randy

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BGreen

Hey Mudcat,
Thank palm is dug pup and stored in a geenhouse each winter, but I love it anyways. The website that Randy posted has the few listed that I would like to try, but you can always try them as a die-back perennial.
I bought the book "Palms won't grow here" http://www.amazon.com/Palms-Wont-Gro.../dp/0881925756. It's a great book, but I also like the book "Hot Plants for Cool Climates" It gives other plant ideas, but better for a warmer zone.

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Take care,

BGreen

mudcat25

BGreen thanks for the info. I really want a palm but without the greenhouse or a bigger house the ones I want may not be a possibility. It may be cheaper to move south. I will look into the book though. Thanks again, Bob

Randy4ut

Bob,
what zone are you in? If you are in zone 6b or higher,,, there are some good possibilities for you as far as palms go...
Randy

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mudcat25

I did the zone thing on here and it shows 6. It does not show A or B. I'm about 30mi. south of St. Louis. I really want something with some trunk growing. I've seen some nice fan palms that I really like. Just don't have the room in the house for more plants in the winter. That's why bananas are so great I can store them bareroot in my basement. I tried to store alocasias and some bananas in pots with plant lights, but I think only one alocasia this year and a couple colocasia's. Any ideas on the palms if possible would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob

Randy4ut

Mudcat,
If you are wanting a trunking palm, your best bet would be a Trachycarpus fortunei... It is listed to 7a with protection, so you would need to make sure you site it in an ideal location (south facing near wall), and you may have to protect it when temps drop below 10F. There are a few other palms that would work better in your area, but they are more clumping types... Let me know if I can help with anything you need... There is a guy in Little Rock that is big in Trachys that may have some smaller sized ones that he is selling, if you want to pot one up for another year or so, and then putting it out in the landscape... Let me know and I can forward you his e-mail....
Randy

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the flying dutchman

Randy is right, I also think the trachy fortunei is the hardiest. There is also
Trachy Wagnerianus just as hardy but the leaves are stronger and will not hang down due to the winds.
The best thing to do is to get a big tree, it will be more hardy. Plant it in
spring so it can root before the winter. Now , some people protect the
grow-point in the winter against the rain, but I never did that or they spray
with anti-fungus in spring when there is rot.
Take care for a well draining soil, that is very important.
I have stones all around the base of the stem to protect
the ground for freezing.

Ron

BGreen

Here you go Bob, this is the USDA zone map USDA Zone map
For our zone we have several palms to look at:
Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Needle palm)
Sabal minor (and possibly S.louisiana, S.Birmingham, and S. McCurtain County)
Trachycarpus fortunei (been used as a die-back perennial in our zone, fast grower)

Grated I don't have any yet, but looking at them hard right now.
Here is a link to a guy in zone 5 with a Washingtonia robusta in the ground, but it gets a mini hot house over the winter: W.robusta
I would love to try this, but want to move to a house with a south facing backyard first.

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Take care,

BGreen

the flying dutchman

Ben, that picture looks a filifera to me and it is said the Robusta is even less
Hardy. From my experiences and what I know washingtonias are not hardy at all.

Ron