Testament to washingtonia hardiness

[jwitt]

Been a lurker for many years. Wanted to show some palms that survived February 2011 here. These palms saw about -10f for an ultimate low and 30 plus consecutive hours below 7f. These pix are are from last summer after recovery from the deep freeze. The location is westside Albuquerque and Corrales, New Mexico. Elevation 5000 feet.

[JASON M]

Been a lurker for many years. Wanted to show some palms that survived February 2011 here. These palms saw about -10f for an ultimate low and 30 plus consecutive hours below 7f. These pix are are from last summer after recovery from the deep freeze. The location is westside Albuquerque and Corrales, New Mexico. Elevation 5000 feet.

Whoah! Now why can't I have those in Wisconsin? It only reached like -3F this year.

[redant]

Pull them out of the freezer and into the toaster oven and bam, good as new.

[Trava]

-10°F = -23°C ?!

[Kumar]

-23 degrees Centigrade!?

[jwitt]

Here is the weather data from the ABQ sunport from Feb, 2011 during the cold event. The palms saw about -10f(-23c) and 30+ consecutive hours below 7f(-13c) Yes, celcius would be -23c.

Here are the palms a couple of weeks ago after enduring 4f(-15c) on 12/6/11

[MattyB]

That's amazing! Thanks for sharing. Your desert heat sure helps with the recovery I bet.

[Jubaea]

Those Washingtonia sure are tough. Thanks for sharing. I'm curious if they defoliate every winter or only sometimes?

[realarch]

Boy Jim, that's amazing. I was born and raised in Albuquerque and as a kid used to see those persistent folks plant Washingtonia's during the spring only to see them die during those cold winters.

I used to have mine in pots and dragged them inside during winter. So glad to see some surviving the high desert climate.

Welcome to the board, nice to see someone from my home town, well almost anyway.

Tim

[jwitt]

MattyB - Yes, the heat plus the mile high elevation with it's solar radiation. Only beneficial on some palms(think mass) tho.

Jubaea - They have defoliated the last 2 years. Winters "green" varies from full green to only the emerging spear. The last couple of pictures are actually in a zone 6b, so they do "brown out" on a routine basis(most years).

realarch - Nice to meet you neighbor. Yep, robusta's are(at best) a 1-5 year palm before succumbing to the cold. Filifera are proving to be more adaptable to this climate. The palms pictured have been in place about 15 years, so planted with some size. I do know of a seed grown in-situ filifera pushing almost 25 years. Palms are getting somewhat more popular, or at least planted, at least for here. Last year was a good test(50-100 year event)considering it was the second coldest ever. Maybe the palms are not long term, but soon pushing 20-30 years is at least a start. Oh, and when I say neighbor, I got some ties to the big Island and plan on eventually retiring to some acreage just above Milolilli. Mahalo Bruddah!

[JD in the OC]

God Bless one of the few California native palms! Good to see such hardiness. Does anyone there grow the Filibusta hybrid?

[Brad Mondel]

Too bad wet soil and humidity make those freeze to the core at around 18F in the southeast.

[Tom in Tucson]

God Bless one of the few California native palms! Good to see such hardiness. Does anyone there grow the Filibusta hybrid?

I'm not trying to nitpick, but what are other native species?

High 75F, Low 52F

[Sutter Bob]

Great post/thread.

We took a road trip from San Diego, CA to Carlsbad, NM last summer.

Was interesting to see how the Washingtonia in NM looked more stressed than those in AZ at similar latitude, elevation.

I assume this is due to the effect of the Rockies /continental divide directing cold arctic air coming down the plains.

The Washingtonia sure love it here - can't keep them out of my yard

(I always leave a few seedlings around to get a few feet high but woe to me if they get out of hand).

This is a shot from Carlsbad.

[fdrc65]

This palm saw -10 C and a lot of snow in the last three winters, I collect some seeds this afternoon. The soil is pure sand and the sea is at only 40 meter.<br />It's at 44 N in northern Italy<br /

Edited March 11, 2012 by fdrc65

[Takil-Explorer]

Amazing they can survive that cold there in New Mexico! It must be thanks to the very hot summers and very dry sunny climate! Maybe the coldhardiness is something Washingtonia filifera did develop during the last iceages, if it stayed in California during the colder glacial periods. That could be an explenation that they can survive temperatures below -20 C in a dessert climate.

Well here in the Low Countries no chance without good winterprotection to keep them frostfree! It shows that its very difficuld to give a definition of winterhardiness for some plants.

Alexander

[jwitt]

Sutter Bob- The reason they looked so bad in NM is the cold prior winter(50-100 year event) which did not hit AZ with near intensity. That being said, Carlsbad palms usually look worse for the wear due to it's proximity to the plains and the temperature variations they see. While Carlsbad is lower in elevation(3000'), the palms seem to do better in Las Cruces/El paso whith are higher(4000'), but shielded by the mountains. Remember those palms in Carlsbad saw 1f, then a high of 14f, followed by a low of -2f. I don't think that happened in AZ.

JD in the OC-I think the first picture shows a hybrid. At least I consider it to be. Also see robusta, but they need to be protected, or will die after a couple of winters.

ArchAngeL01- You may be surprised to note, the top 3 pictures are palms growing in a place with a water table of less than 5 feet year round, 6b zone. So we know it is not "wet soil" or roots affecting hardiness. The fourth picture is a mesa area with a water table probably pushing 300'. But yes, none of these palms are subjected to overhead SE type moisture. Dry with plenty sunshine.

fdrc65 - That washingtonia looks better than the trachies in your picture. You guys sure had a cold winter!

Takil-Explorer - Or they developed the hardiness to survive fires and drought, at least my hunch. I think think the solar radiation is key here and why you see what you see here and to a much greater extent in Las Cruces/El Paso. Elevation+latitude+clear skies.