Palms for zone 6
 

Hey guys! I have a form on this with bananas you can check out! ( http://www.bananas.org/f15/bananas-zone-6-a-9892.html )This is a list of palms that have survived zone 6.

List
Nannorrhops ritchiana
Livistona chinensis
Washingtonia filifera
Trithrinax campestris
Chamaerops humilis
Chamaerops humilis 'cerifera'
Chamaerops humilis 'Vulcano'
Rhapidophyllum hystrix
Serenoa repens
Sabal x texensis 'Brazoria'
Sabal birmingham
Sabal louisiana
Sabal Minor
Sabal minor 'McCurtain'
Sabal Palmetto
Sabal tamaulipas
Trachycarpus manipur
Trachycarpus takil
Trachycarpus wagnerianus
Trachycarpus fortunei
Trachycarpus nanus
Trachycarpus latisectus

The McCurtain has survived -24F (-31C)!!!!! If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability. Thanx! God Bless! BananaLee

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Would love to see half of these growing in zone 6 for more than a few mild winters!!! Also, love to see more than maybe two on this list to grow in 6 long term. I grow or have grown many of the listed varieties above in my zone 7a/b, and only a handful will handle my area with minimal protection. But then again, if you build the necessary protection for just about any palm, you can grow them anywhere!!!

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Very true! I'm not talking about glass protection but covering like a banana with straw, pine needles etc. and covering with burlap. Most of these are just with a little or a lot of mulch. God Bless! BananaLee:woohoonaner:

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

How long have you grown all these different types of palms in your area? Also, how large are they curtently and how large were they when you planted them out? Would love to see pics of your palms!!!!
Here is a link for some folks that are not that familiar with hardy palms. Hope this helps people that want to grow palms and are not discouraged when they encounter problems with some of the above choices. I just have a hard time imagining some of these palms surviving with just mulch in my 7 a/b, much less your 6!

A quick reference to hardy palms:
SPS Hardy Palms: A Quick Reference

More detailed info on hardy palms:
http://www.sepalms.org/Hardy%20Palms...m%20Reader.pdf

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

I really want to add my skepticism in a friendly way. I'm also in 7a and have grown T. fortunei, R. hystrix, L. chinensis and S. mexicana and S. minor with success by covering with a thick mulch (I mean at least a foot or so over the plant height) of straw, and burlap for the bigger plants. But I have also lost a R. hystrix unprotected, and a B. eriospatha with protection. And my L. chinensis died this past winter even with protection, as did a S. minor McCurtain. These are not easy plants to overwinter in zone 6 or 7. A beginner would be well instructed to stay with T. fortunei and R. hystrix until a number of years experience, IMHO.

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

I think if you changed that to zone 7 you would still be talking about surviving the occasional winter unprotected. You really would need a hot, dry climate to get most of those to survive a true zone 7 winter and even then probably not several zone 7 winters in a row. I'd say that unprotected you'd be lucky to get Sabal minor and R. hystrix to survive but they both need lots of summer heat to thrive in the long term. I think your protection methods would have to all include heated mini greenhouses. The furthest north I've seen the following palms survive without protection are:
Nannorhops ritchianna.........Anniston, AL z8a
Washingtonia filifera............Dallas, TX 8a
Sabal 'Birmingham'...............Tulsa, OK 7a
S. palmetto.........................really 8a without protection
S. louisiana..........................maybe 7a
S. 'Brazoria'..........................maybe 7a
S. ssp. 'Tamaulipas'................maybe 7a, probably less
Trachycarpus fortunei..........maybe 7a...maybe
T. wagnerianus....................maybe 7a
T. ukhrulensis (Manipur).........UNKNOWN
T. takil................................Rome, Italy
T. nanus.............................maybe 7a
T. princeps...........................UNKNOWN
Chamaerops humilis.................Atlanta, GA 8a
C. humilis 'Volcano'..................exact same as above
C. humilis 'Cerifera'..................probalby not much more cold hardy
Trithrinax campestris...............I don't know anyone who's had one long term
That being said, I'm trying all of them here in 7a as well as a few others. I expect to lose most of them and have to protect quite a few. In zone 6 you will really have a hard time. Palms don't go dormant like bananas. You can't just pile up the mulch. I don't want to be a bummer, but I want you to have realistic expectations.

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Chamaerops humilis will definitely not survive 7a temperatures, as won't many other plants. Washingtonia too.
Nannorrhopses might be true, but you forgot to add that you shoudl be in a really dry and hot climate (at least in summer) for them to thrive. They hate wet climates and soils rich in minerals.

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

That's true. I just re-read my post and realized that I did a poor job of explaining that filifera and humilis will not survive any true 7a temps without protection. I had a little blurb at the top about summer heat and dry winters, but didn't really put the info with the species. I am hopeful that Nannrohops ritchianna 'Kashmir' will prove more tolerant of winter moisture. I'd also like to point out that where I have put "UNKNOWN" I'm not just saying that I personally don't know but that absolutely no one knows. Even true takil has only that one palm in Rome as an example of cold hardiness. The true species is only recently in cultivation and has not been proven. Where I've said "maybe" I'm saying optimistically that is the coldest they might possibly make it. I don't mean to imply that I'm guessing and have no idea. My list is really optimistic as someone in 7a that hopes to grow palms. For me, being completely realistic means R. hystrix, S. minor, S. 'Birmingham', S. 'louisiana', and perhaps T. fortunei/wagnerianus (but without protection expect to lose some in cold winters). The others are experimental.

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Regarding the takil, there's a specimen about 60km from here to west, in Austria. It's a broderzone 7a/b and the palm is thriving there without any significant problems. To compare, Jubaea chilensis would have to be heated up to survive those temps. Takil is about 15 years old.

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Chamaerops humilis var cerifera is much more cold hardy than the normal one. Mine has survived 4.9F (reading from my weather station) with no protection (heavy burn). I planted it from as a 7 gallon plant 2 years ago. The first year it went through 14F with no protection and only lost the main growing point. This year, every growing point survived. I know someone growing a regular one nearby and he has to protect it below 20F.

The low of 4.9F really didn't do the damage but a late year snow storm. The snow stayed on the ground for five days along with heavy winds, completely clear sky (stronger sun) and sub-freezing daytime temperatures. I even had a 3 gallon Rhapidophyllum hystrix die (which I expected).

Weather data here:
Weather Station History : Weather Underground

After 14F - first year - no protection:


After last winter - 5F - no pretection (2nd year in ground - the front portion somehow got weed wacked):

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Thanks for sharing your experiences on the Chamaerops humilis var cerifera. The problems we have in the southeast is not so much the cold as it is more the cold in combination with our normal wet winters. The cold doesn't actually kill it. It is more the moisture getting into the growth spear and then freezing. If one can keep a marginal palm dry in the winter, they are alot more likely to have success with it, in the southeast at least....

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

People, these are just proven things, I don't mean to argue. I don't care if yours died or not (well acualy I do!) But it's your own mistake. Sorry about your palms dieing saltydad but that sounds incredible that they died. In Troy Michigan, it went down to -20F (-29C) and a man I know from there had his Rhapidophyllum Hystrix remain evergreen all year long. All but one of his palms died. But his Serenoa repens, Trachycarpus Fortunei's, And sabal Minor's survived. You guys in zone 7/8 I've notice always do the same thing, you think your fine and you don't protect anything (or not enough) and it dies. But not all of you guys do that which is good. Another problem is where you plant it. A needle palm can die on the north side of the house in zone 7 but survive the south or west side of the house in zone 5 (with mulch of course). Snow helps a lot. It keeps the plant insulated at 32F (0C) when the temps are in the low 20's (-7's) and high teens. A big tip is you want to keep them dry! Also the seasons. In Michigan, we have great weather for palms and bananas. It all has to do with the Great Lakes. Our summers get over 100F (38C) at times and we have very high humidity. One of the most important is our Autumns. This is when the Great Lakes come in handy. Our Autumns get gradually (and slowly) colder thus preparing the plants and giving them time to prepare and bundle up for the winter. We also get a lot of snow which, like I said before, helps a ton. Also, trachy palms defoliate most of the time here. So when a palm defoliates, don't think it's dead, 'cause it's not. Hope this gets you a better look at things. I appreciate your knowledge everybody. I appreciate the cool photo of the Chamaerops humilis var cerifera, I didn't know much about them, thanks! God Bless! BananaLee:drum:

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Thanks Randy4tut! I really appreciate your knowledge! To tell you the truth, the palms listed are reported to grow here, but I am going to grow a lot of these! People from my area have palms as well as over some parts of southern Michigan (though I don't travel much but I here reports) Trachy palms here are usually 10-15ft tall i think. Mine just started to form 5in fan leaves!:ha: I did find in the garbage three livistona palms with two foot wide leaves! The funny thing is that I prayed to The Blessed Mother for three in a clump and a week later I GOT ONE!!! She always answers my prayers! :goteam:

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

I'm going to try to plant Sabal Uresana, Sabal Louisiana,and I heard some where (I forgot! lol) that butia capitata may survive zone 6 so I'll give it a whirl!

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

I really recommend Nearly Native Nursery ( Nearly Native Nursery - Nursery specializing in growing and selling southeastern native plants for all landscaping needs. )
people are having more success with there palms because there pots are deep so the roots are strong. There the BEST in the US. ( The scoop on 'A Nearly Native Nursery ' ) I would highly recommend them! Thanx! God Bless! BananaLee

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

All I am going to say to you, Lee, is that I wish you the best of luck and hope you learn and are willing to listen to folks that have been growing these plants for years!!! I would still love to see the pics of your palms that you say survive your climate with NO protection.
Here is a link to my backyard and when you have time, take a look and then share yours!!!

Most of the pics are located in subfolders listed on the lefthand side of the main page!!!

Pictures by randy4ut - Photobucket

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Thanks! I LOVE your pictures!! Next year (when I have more palms!:ha:) I'll post pics of my palms! Actually, I'm gonna take a pic of my livistona palm right now! I do appreciate everybody's advice! And don't get me wrong, in zone 6 you need protection on everything!!! Thanx! God Bless!!! BananaLee:bananarow::bananaflipflop::bananabeard::giveflowersnan a::pinwheelnaner::banananinja::blueskirtnaner::bungejumpnaner:

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Mo one argue with you? LOL!!! You can't expect to put a list of palms up like that and NOT expect an argument. Personally, I think you are just trying to start an argument, because anyone who has grown palms in zone 7 for a few years and has experimented with those palms can tell you that none of them are reliably hardy to zone 7a, with the possible exceptions of Rhapidophyllum, Sabal minor, and maybe S. sp. 'Birmingham', and that's only after being established for several years first. I have personally lost Rhapidophyllum (the main trunk) in a zone 7 winter due to cold. I would love to see some pictures, especially of the 10-15 feet tall Trachycarpus fortunei that are all over southern Michigan.

:pics:

Frank

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Please, I am not trying to start an argument here, I just wanted people to have a little hope who live in these cold climates. I have only one picture at the time of my trachy palm and when I get the chance I will post pics of large trachys. 10-15ft trachys are not common but they are planted in southern Michigan.

Re: Palms for zone 6
 

Sounds like you guys need some freez pruf, heat tapes or a heated greenhouse.. Pindo's do get a 2ft diameter trunk so don't plant to close to the house & such... good luck.