saltydad

Agree 100%

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Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

palmtree

Cannas are fantastic plants. They have a canna called banana canna which is probably one of the tallest cannas, but there are others that will grow over 10 feet tall, some even flower. Elephant ears can also grow exceptionally tall, but some also stay small. Both cannas and elephant ears can be dug up in the fall since they are bulbs. Also Southern magnolias, crepe myrtles, camellias, swamp hibiscus, loquats, and yuccas will add a tropical feel. Some real tropical plants can be mixed with the hardy ones. You can just dig a hole to put a potted plant in and dig the potted plant back up. The closer the plants are the more tropical it looks.
Some other plants that look tropical but are hardy are many cactus (not really tropical looking, but the are interesting plants) and bamboo (probably 20 types that are hardy in your area). There are tons of other those.

Some palms are...
Sabal minors (also other sabals that are hardy), pindo palms (will need protection), needle palms, washingtonias (also with protection), windmill palms (also need some protection particuarly in their first winters, and there are other trachycaprus that can survive with protection), and medditeranean fan palms (must be in very good drainage and given protection). Date palms, bamboo palms, sago palms (really a cycad), and queen palms are not as hardy, but can survive if given serious protection when temps dip below 25F.

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Location: New York City, zone 7b

Randy4ut

Pindos rotting in Atlanta!? That must have been either a long time ago, or way past the outer belt loop in the far out 'burbs!!!

Two of the nicest Butias in Atlanta area!

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Randy4ut

I agree with the first two, maybe three, but have a very hard time believing a palmetto would survive in St. Louis without serious protection! I am gonna try one again, but think I a pushing my limit a little to much but will give it another shot!!!! Just don't think soil temps in St. Louis will stay warm enough, long enough to support a palmetto and promote growth. May be able to keep one alive for a few years, but long term, just think it will decline quickly...

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Bananaman88

Well, I'm not 100% sure, but try going up to the top of the page and clicking on "User CP" and then click on "Change Avatar" and see what that gets you. By the way, who are you calling "old"???

Abnshrek

Nobody is old.. everyone is 18 w/ many years of experience :^)

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I'm a Nannerhead :^)

Bananaman88

tu I'm acutally 18x2!

banana123

hii how can you that banana smileys?03

banana123

banana123

BonoboJoe

I was at the zoo in Atlanta. We had a handful of Pindos that did alright, but they were in the perfect location. Here in Houston, we plant them wherever and they do great. We had also tried 4 Sabal palmetto at Zoo Atlanta and the last time I was there it appears they were all gone.

r3tic

While I was in Washington DC, I saw a yucca rostrata covered in snow that looked very cool. I realize it's not a real palm tree but it is supposed to be zone 5 hardy. I'll be picking one up this year to grow in Philadelphia.

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jeffreyp

Randy,

A fellow plant enthusiast of mine has sabal palmetto growing in Rhode Island just outside of Providence. They are small seedlings but some especially cold winters they die back but come back in the summer. I would say try getting some seedlings and give them a try!


Sabal Palmetto Cabbage Palm Tree Live Plant 1 gallon - eBay (item 350243792514 end time Feb-19-10 17:21:01 PST)


BLUE DWARF PALMETTO PALM / SABAL MINOR - 5 GAL. PLANT - eBay (item 190368569529 end time Feb-25-10 19:48:02 PST)

Randy4ut

Here is another Butia that has avoided rot and is growing in 7a!




Here is you a palmetto at same location that is doing rather well for being in ground for at least 10 years...



These are not my palms, but a good friend of mine up the road a bit from where I live!
If you would like, I would be more than happy to post hundreds of pictures of Sabal Palmettos growing very well all over the Atlanta area... Say the word!

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Randy4ut

When you say small seedlings that die back but come back in summer, what do you mean by die back? Are you saying they completely die back? That is amazing that it comes back after dying back! I have plenty of minors and have tried a palmetto a few years back, but was not hurricane cut when I purchased it and so it did not make it. That was my fault for buying it in the first place. I plan on trying another one, hopefully this year. I still do not believe a palmetto would survive in St. Louis for any length of time, and will not until someone that lives in that area can prove me different. No disrespect to you in any way...

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jeffreyp

What I mean is the leaf straps would die back, get fried in severe winters but the bud would push out new leaf straps late spring early summer. I am sure they are still in the ground though they probably have never amounted to more than a few leaf straps because of the climate up there. But to be more clear, they have been in the ground 7-10 years now and were grown from seeds. Now for a st. Louis sabal to grow it would have to be in a good location and I would suggest growing them from a small 1 gallon size plant or seedling and give it a try...same for your location in TN...I suspect if they can be grown in virginia beach they stand a chance in a good location in Tennessee.

There are some pictures midway through this link:

Palm trees in Tennessee (3rd thread) - Tennessee Gardening Forum - GardenWeb

Randy4ut

Funny you should link me to a thread of my friend Rob's pictures up on the Cumberland Plateau! He is a great guy and we have traded plants often. The other elderly gentleman, Charles Cole, lives about an hour north of where I was born in middle TN! I, personally, have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cole in person, but we are planning on trying to go up to his place this spring and help him clean up his yard from the winter! He is getting on up in years and unable to get around as well as he used to. MR. COLE is THE grandfather of Palms in the TN area and known by all. He is a true pioneer when it comes to palms in TN.
As far as palmettos growing in Virginia Beach doing well and that means they should do well here in TN, I don't think that is a fair comparison! Virginia Beach has the ocean to help buffer the temps and that is why you will see nice palms as far north as at least Rehoboth Beach, DE!!!
For me, the next Sabal palmetto I purchase will be a HC palmetto that has been potted up to let roots regrow and about 4-6' of clear trunk...

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jeffreyp

Randy, I understand the differences in climate, that's why I stated "in a good location". On another note, some people have no problem spending 100+ dollars on flowers for the springtime...I have taken note that sometimes you can buy palms at home depot or lowes for the cheap in late winter or springtime. I suppose in their thinking is the palms would be used for an office space or house but why not try another use and use the plant as an annual palm? If you can get 10 or 15 palms and give your yard a tropical look for the summer for 100-200 bucks I say it's worth it! If you live in a marginal area you can always try piling a bunch of mulch or other protection scheme and see if they make it til the following year. It's all fun in pushing the zone gardening limits... (:

Randy4ut

'Nough said, agree!?!?!?! BTW, would love to see a pic of the RI palmetto if and when you have time to post it.... I find this very intriguing!!!

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jeffreyp

I am not sure if he has any photos but I can look into it...I think even sabal minor if it is burnt back in a very hard winter will come back. If you want Randy, send me your mailing address and I can ship you some sabal palmetto seeds and get some starts going for the spring.

Hardy Palm and Subtropical Board: Sabal Frozenham - Update


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