False advertising?...queen palm hardy to zone 8??

[jfrye01@live.com]

There is a new nursery in Wichita that just opened...and it specializes in palms!! So far, they have Trachies, Livistona, Chamaerops, and Needles. Those make sense. What doesn't make sense to me is the large amount of Pygmy Dates and Queens they are selling. Now obviously, the pygmy dates make great indoor palms, but the queens they have for sale are at least 10' tall. The nursery says they are hardy to zone 8, which I believe is already a stretch, and it doesn't really matter anyway, since most of Kansas is zone 6. Wichita is zone 7, but it is still not zone 8...I was under the impression the Queen was a zone 9+ palm...I'm not gonna spend any money and try one, but it just seems interesting to me that this place seems to be pushing the Queen, instead of the much more reasonable Trachies and Needles...Thoughts?

Edited April 24, 2014 by jfrye01@live.com

[SueH_AZ]

Depending on what map you look at, my area of Mesa, AZ it considered either zone 9a or 8b. Queen palms abound here.

That said, they look like crap every time there is a harsh winter, especially if they get frost on them (as do the roebellinis, for what it's worth).

Zone 8 may not kill them, but they'd probably never look good.

[Matt in OC]

The Home Depot tag on my Cocos says "hardiness 30-F." So, yeah...

[aztropic]

Just because the palms won't grow there year round is no reason not to enjoy them as annuals.People buy cut flowers all the time and they only last a week.If you buy some of these palms and plant them in your landscape for the summer,the enjoyment you get might be worth the $.Ocean City,Maryland businesses import thousands of palms every spring and are famous for the tropical atmosphere even though they're up north. It's also beneficial to the growers,shippers,suppliers and installers.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Zeeth]

The Home Depot tag on my Cocos says "hardiness 30-F." So, yeah...

In Florida they usually only see mild to moderate damage at 30F, so the tag isn't wrong per se, it just depends on what kind of 30F you're talking about.

[jfrye01@live.com]

Just because the palms won't grow there year round is no reason not to enjoy them as annuals.People buy cut flowers all the time and they only last a week.If you buy some of these palms and plant them in your landscape for the summer,the enjoyment you get might be worth the $.Ocean City,Maryland businesses import thousands of palms every spring and are famous for the tropical atmosphere even though they're up north. It's also beneficial to the growers,shippers,suppliers and installers.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

That's true...I'm actually doing that with a Ravenea...bought a 5' tall one at Lowes for $15...planted it, and it'll look good for the next 7 months or so;) Haha:)

Thanks for the replies, everyone, I was simply confused...I like the look of the queen, so I may end up with one, however, I'm gonna make sure my others live first;)

[_Keith]

Depends on what part of the Zone, depends on the year. Warmer parts of Zone 8b, certainly, at least for a decade or two till an Arctic blast makes its 15 to 20 year appearance and takes it out.

[jfrye01@live.com]

I didn't mention this, but it has come up here before...but there is a church in Wichita that has some Sabal minor and Sabal palmetto around it...they have been there for probably 10 years now...This winter, Wichita Mid-Continent Airport recorded a low of -7F. I went and checked on the palms a week later, they didn't even have burnt tips. Of course, the airport is on the outskirts of the city, and not affected by the "urban heat island"...I'm seriously wondering if that church (located in the middle of downtown, with skyscrapers on two sides) stayed much warmer...if so, it's very possible that downtown Wichita could have some very local zone 8 microclimates, due to skyscrapers and all the concrete...any thoughts on this? How much can urban areas affect climate?

[NorthFlpalmguy]

Queens are so cheap that I agree with the palm for an annual idea. They look like crap the few big ones that are here so I doubt seriously they last even one winter in zone 8. Sabals are native here and once established and can take anything- fire, frost, heavy herbicide, etc. Timber companies HATE them as they are tough to kill.

Edited April 24, 2014 by bbrantley

[Brad Mondel]

Queens survive in my zone 8b as long as a stupid "polar vortex" doesn't whip around and freeze dry them. (this year my queen died after two seasons unprotected) It was a gorgeous "annual" that broke my heart when I lost it.

[blake_tx]

Here in San Antonio we got down 14f/15f last winter. all the smaller queens died, but the ones with over 10' of trunk defoliated but survived. We have these Mexican restaurants that are on almost every street and all have huge queens planted around them. And at the three restaurants around my house, all of their queens survived this winter. This was a shock to me. I didn't think they were this hardy.

[Palmdude]

Mmmmmmm palms and Tacos! Sounds like heaven to me!

[Phoenikakias]

Jacob, I admire your persistance with palms, you must like them a lot (in Zone 8 I would have given up quickly), but unlike seeking a unicorn you have to prepare yourself for the coming winter, designing and building effective shelters for your palms. Many people here can help you like Jim and other FM from central Europe.

[smithgn]

I'm not especially knowledgeable of queen palms, but I live in a zone 8 and I have never and probably would never considering trying to grow one here.