Phoenix sylvestris/Phoenix canariensis damage in zone 8

[moses]

Hello, new to this forum and palm trees. Thanks for all the insightful posts! I'm located in Hattiesburg, MS (zone 8) and received severe burn on 2

Phoenix sylvestris(3 foot of trunk)and 1 Phoenix canariensis (2 foot of trunk) despite some limited protection. We had at least 3 nights of 15-16F weather during the recent snap. The only positive news is some green is still present on the emerging center buds. I was told to leave on all the dead foliage for added protection as there may be a chance of recovery when spring/summer arrives. Really hope so as they have done really well during the prior 2 winters. I tied up the dead foliage on the trees to help shield the center from future cold events and was wondering if this is the correct thing to do....this also should make it easier to apply protection blankets if needed. Any input would be truly appreciated.

Moses

[Don]

Hello, new to this forum and palm trees. Thanks for all the insightful posts! I'm located in Hattiesburg, MS (zone 8) and received severe burn on 2

Phoenix sylvestris(3 foot of trunk)and 1 Phoenix canariensis (2 foot of trunk) despite some limited protection. We had at least 3 nights of 15-16F weather during the recent snap. The only positive news is some green is still present on the emerging center buds. I was told to leave on all the dead foliage for added protection as there may be a chance of recovery when spring/summer arrives. Really hope so as they have done really well during the prior 2 winters. I tied up the dead foliage on the trees to help shield the center from future cold events and was wondering if this is the correct thing to do....this also should make it easier to apply protection blankets if needed. Any input would be truly appreciated.

Moses

Your on the right track ,adding some lights for heat and blankets, never use plastic will help alot. ive also had damage on the same plants zone 8b low of 18.1 for too long. semper Fi Don

[Matthew92]

Here's what Phoneix Canariensis looks like in zone 8b after two hard winters including many freezes in the low 20's, 17 deg freeze (during which stayed good 24 hours or so below freezing), ice storm down to 20 deg, and then the next winter a freeze to 18 deg.

It had a nice full canopy before all this and is a very healthy specimen for this area.

Before the bad winters

After the first winter (April 2014)

Today:

[Alicehunter2000]

Nice recovery

[Matthew92]

Nice recovery

Small trees were pretty much toast. As long as you have a fully mature Canary in zone 8b, it should get by- plus the past two winters were unusual. Only 3 of the 8 winters since 2007 have had below 20 deg temps which really hurt canariensis- so a lot of the time they do fine. And out where you are near the beach I'm sure it's even better. But still, a Canary in zone 8b is very marginal.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Opal92

[Matthew92]

Update on the above palm. Just drove by today, and canopy is well on the way to total recovery. Fronds are really filling out and are drooping below the horizontal line. Also, looked closely and saw small, relatively colorless inflorescence: it's a male!

[Matthew92]

Another update on the palm. It seemed to be recovering great, but several months after the above picture was taken, it started sending out leaves that looked a little misshapen. Frond comes out almost full length, but the tip looks like it was cut off or something. I'm thinking it could be latent damage. 

Although about a month ago, I drove by to see it may be growing out of it. Will look again this weekend and try to get a good picture.

[Matthew92]

Here it is now: happy to see it has resumed regular growth. Slow grower though!

[Matthew92]

Here's this palm now- taken a couple days ago.

[Xerarch]

Looks great! After seeing the damage photos I wondered if it’s worth it to grow it there, even if it survives what’s the point if it looks like garbage. Ah, but it doesn’t look like garbage, not now, it looks pretty cool, especially if hardly anyone else has one. 

[Matthew92]

22 hours ago, Xerarch said:

Looks great! After seeing the damage photos I wondered if it’s worth it to grow it there, even if it survives what’s the point if it looks like garbage. Ah, but it doesn’t look like garbage, not now, it looks pretty cool, especially if hardly anyone else has one. 

Yes! and the 2014 was unusual for this area with the freezing rain and sleet: otherwise, they do somewhat better.