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Washingtonia in Columbia SC


PaddyM

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I was in Columbia, SC this weekend. I lived here for a few years a decade ago and decided to check on some palms around town. Here's pics of three very large Washingtonia - seemed to be doing pretty good! Each has at least 20-25' of trunk I'd guess; they're tall. 

The first palm is one that Penny has sold seeds from on eBay (I bought some last year). It's near the botanical garden. The second and third pics are closer to/in downtown. The third pic also has a palmetto behind the two Washingtonia. 

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Edited by PaddyM
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How are they able to survive there?

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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Where was the second picture taken? That looks like the one on Rosewood drive. 

There are also two very tall ones on Gadsden street and Blanding street in the Arsenal Hill neighborhood. All of the aforementioned palms have endured the polar vortex of 2014/2015 and the Filibusta near the zoo (the first one), made it through the freeze in the 80's. 

 

RedRabbit: The first thought that comes to mind is heat, heat, heat.  While it's not any hotter than some southern Texan and Louisiana cities, Columbia is decently protected by the Appalachians and has close enough proximity to the Atlantic that keeps it surprisingly warm for an 8A. I actually think the city itself is borderline an 8B. The official weather station at the airport is in a cold sink and has relatively little around it as far as a UHI would go so looking at a weather station at the University would be a better indicator. 

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I got some of the seeds off the tree via Gayland Penny. It is a filibusta, so my reasoning was that it would have the best shot for a Washingtonia at surviving our sometimes wet winters. I planted all of the seeds last year in tree pots, and planted one in the ground last year. Keep in mind that it wasn't even a year old when I planted it. It is now pushing up its third (I believe) adult frond. Besides growing rapidly, it seemed to shrug off my 8a winter here in South Carolina (I am about an hour or so north of the palm in West Columbia). I would say a full 75% of the ones I grew from seed survived the winter in tree pots outside. It will be interesting to see how my in ground one performs for me. I hope that it gets hardier as it ages.

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Dang, I see them along the coast but that's it. I have never been to Columbia though. It is pretty cool that they can make it there, and they look really nice!

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PalmTreeDude

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I saw a few pretty good sized Washingtonias when I was there back in the spring. My planted robustas here in Greenville defoliated at 14F but are now exploding with growth. My young filifera is doing the best with zero damage this past winter in a pot. My hybrids were sheltered by my unheated greenhouse and are doing well. 

Los Angeles, CA and Myrtle Beach, SC.

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This thread motivated me to get out and take pictures of the ones I know about in town. There are a few others in some neighborhoods I've seen but I couldn't remember exactly where. The first 3 are of the same cluster of robustas in the Arsenal hill neighborhood; great microclimate with the UHI and it's also on a very pronounced ridge, so the coldest air sinks to the bottom of the hill.

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I noticed these two while I was in college back in 2009 or 2010. I rented a house several houses down and despite the fact I wasn't really into palms then, I still took notice of them. They have grown immensely since I first discovered them, of course.

 

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I just happened upon this one. After getting home and looking at Google Earth, I notice they had several more and only this guy was the survivor.

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Sorry for the terrible pics; it was later in the afternoon and it seemed like every shot I took I had the sun behind the palm lol

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2 hours ago, Brad Mondel said:

I saw a few pretty good sized Washingtonias when I was there back in the spring. My planted robustas here in Greenville defoliated at 14F but are now exploding with growth. My young filifera is doing the best with zero damage this past winter in a pot. My hybrids were sheltered by my unheated greenhouse and are doing well. 

Seeing the pictures you posted of the filiferas in Greenville (at Greenville Tech) gives me a lot of hope for filiferas in my yard.

Edited by smithgn
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How often do these mod South Carolina Washingtonia get defoliated? Every winter or every few winters? Do they ever die? Interesting. I would imagine they only do well from Columbia and east to the coast. 

PalmTreeDude

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Here are the ones I pass when I visit Myrtle Beach, this is around a half a mile inland. 

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PalmTreeDude

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6 hours ago, PalmTreeDude said:

How often do these mod South Carolina Washingtonia get defoliated? Every winter or every few winters? Do they ever die? Interesting. I would imagine they only do well from Columbia and east to the coast. 

Since I've been a palm fanatic (the last 4 years or so), these W. Robustas have roasted every year. Some more than others. After the last two years, we hit the low, low 20's. Mild winters; but all of the Robusta I saw were either completely fried or mostly fried. I've seen numerous planted in residential areas in the suburbs that are very small, the smallest that the big box stores sell, and they never make it. I think if you want robustas to survive long term, you need to buy big and you need to plant in your best microclimate and/or live downtown where the strongest UHI is.

 

Myrtle Beach has a good many more than Columbia and I'm sure their long term survivability is better than Columbia. It's a tad bit more mild in Myrtle Beach.

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Here is my young filifera and one of my robustas growing back. 

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Los Angeles, CA and Myrtle Beach, SC.

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3 hours ago, Brad Mondel said:

Here is my young filifera and one of my robustas growing back. 

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Those filiferas look happy. What kind of soil did you use for your potted filifera? Did you only use rocks/pebbles as a top layer or did you mix it in with the entire pot?

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11 hours ago, smithgn said:

Those filiferas look happy. What kind of soil did you use for your potted filifera? Did you only use rocks/pebbles as a top layer or did you mix it in with the entire pot?

The Mix is 50% perlite and 50% garden soil. The pebbles are inside the bottom of the pot and on top for extra drainage. It is doing incredible! I fertilize with orchid fertilizer. 

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Los Angeles, CA and Myrtle Beach, SC.

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  • 3 years later...
On 5/7/2017 at 9:49 PM, PaddyM said:

I was in Columbia, SC this weekend. I lived here for a few years a decade ago and decided to check on some palms around town. Here's pics of three very large Washingtonia - seemed to be doing pretty good! Each has at least 20-25' of trunk I'd guess; they're tall. 

The first palm is one that Penny has sold seeds from on eBay (I bought some last year). It's near the botanical garden. The second and third pics are closer to/in downtown. The third pic also has a palmetto behind the two Washingtonia. 

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Pardon, but where is the third picture? They look beautiful!

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