Sabal Bermudana or Sabal Causarium

[trachyman]

If you had a choice between getting a s. bermandana or a s. causarium and can only have one which one would you choose? Please state why. Also between these two which one would appears to need less summer heat to be happy? Here is a pic of a supposed s. causarium in Seattle. Seattle is slightly hotter in summer than my house with all of the urban heat island thing. So sabals will grow here despite conventional wisdom.

S. Causarium in Spring then later in the middle of summer all same year. (I do not own photo)

[monkeyranch]

I would pick the bemudana. You can see the S. causiara in your spring photo looks chilly and yellowing from prolonged cold. It is sacrificing it's older leaves, and is probably right on the edge of damage which starts around 18-20F. If you live in a location too much colder than that plant, it might defoliate in your 5 year freezes and look crappy while taking all summer to regrow it's crown. S. bermudiana is a few degrees hardier(15-17F) and would probably come through winter looking a little better. S. bermudana's habitat has a cooler climate than S. causiara's Puerto Rico and D.R., so I would expect better growth in cool Seattle even though S.bermudana is often cited as being slower than S. causiara. I like the look of all of the large Sabals so it comes down to the one which looks the healthiest in your borderline climate. You might want to consider S. 'Riverside' which is supposed to be the hardiest(12-15F) big sabal but it might prefer more summer heat than S. bermudana. It also seems to be easier to find for sale on the west coast than the others. Maybe also plant S. mexicana which, although not as big as the others, still has a larger crown than S. palmetto, and will be a better long term bet in an arctic outbreak when Seattle can reach 10f(1990), 16f(1998), 17f(2007) and more importantly can remain below freezing during the daytime. Good luck.

Edited January 3, 2013 by monkeyranch

[monkeyranch]

Oops. Double post.

Edited January 3, 2013 by monkeyranch

[Ampli]

IMO it depends from the garden dimension. If your garden is small I think the Bermudana will look better than the Causarium, because the last one is a very huge Sabal and it'll look just a little too big and out of place.

[Geoff]

here in Southern California Sabal causariums are almost always yellowy, as though they are starving for potassium. S bermudanas always look great... so for that reason alone, I would pick the latter.

[Stevetoad]

i love all the sabals but bermudana is one of my favorites. like geoff said thay have awsome color and those huge leaves. i have a large 5 gal. s.princeps that im pretty sure is the same as bermudana that i want to plant but im holding off until i figure out if my big one thats in the ground is bermudana or domingensis. (wow, was that a run on sentence or what!)