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Sabal x brazoriensis


willials

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Anyone have any experience with Sabal x brazoriensis? I just recently ran across this offered on a reputable palm dealer's website. This looks promising for what I am looking for, since I would like to try growing a Sabal palm here in Seattle that can take the cold but also will develop some trunk eventually. I'm not as interested in the trunkless varieties (Sabal minor, needle palm, etc.).

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It is pretty tough and does retain some sabal minor leaf characteristics. Reportedly it can withstand around 10 degrees F.

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They seem to do better with some heat but it would be cool to see one in Washington state. Snow does not bother them much either as long as the temps aren't too brutal and it does not settle in for weeks. Either it or Sabal Birmingham would be your best bets. After that in the Sabal line I would say Riverside or Burmudana. Palmetto often likes to have more heat. I am with you though and wish you luck. I would try to grow palms up there as well. Good luck man and if you need more info on it I have done some research recently just pm me. Thank you.

Edited by palm tree man
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I think the lack of heat through summer is probably the bigger issue for Sabals than the cold we get up here. Our cold, although wet, is not that extreme. The absolute cold I had here this Winter was 16F and most weather forecasters said it was 18 year lows for our region. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but my Windmill palms and Butia sailed through without any problems. Med fan palms were marginal (taking a lot of water this Winter) and are burned pretty badly. Surprisingly, the Washingtonia Robustas did quite well and I expect them to start growing new leaves relatively soon as our temps heat up.

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I think the lack of heat through summer is probably the bigger issue for Sabals than the cold we get up here. Our cold, although wet, is not that extreme. The absolute cold I had here this Winter was 16F and most weather forecasters said it was 18 year lows for our region. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but my Windmill palms and Butia sailed through without any problems. Med fan palms were marginal (taking a lot of water this Winter) and are burned pretty badly. Surprisingly, the Washingtonia Robustas did quite well and I expect them to start growing new leaves relatively soon as our temps heat up.

Turns out heat is really not the main limiting factor for sabals. It helps, but it's not as important as other factors like a ton of water. There is a large trunking sabal maritima in San Francisco that's doing fine on the cool damp SF Summers. The biggest drawback on the West Coast is that sabals need massive amounts of water during the longest days of the year, and preferably a long growing season as well. In Washington State, your growth will be limited mainly by the lack of ample water during the Summer and lack of light and no heat at all between mid October and mid April. But Washington State Summers offer more than enough heat to make most of the cold hardy sabals happy.

However, keep in mind sabal minor or any of the minor crosses/mystery sabals are typically very slow even under perfect growing conditions. So if you have good growing conditions only from say April 15th through Oct 15, you will get slow growth for six months and no growth at all for the other 6 months. In California, sabals grow (albeit much more slowly) through the Winter because there are enough hours above 45F to keep them going, they're at a higher risk to slow down in the Summer as the larger soil mass dries out completely and they have to sustain themselves on just irrigation water.

Edit: definitely do consider the non-trunking palms, they're fantastic in the garden and very cold hardy. They're actually considered a rarity and a prize garden specimen even here in California, where they're usually found only in collector gardens and botanical gardens. They really make the garden look very tropical. I passed on these when I first got into the palm hobby over 15 years ago, that was a mistake. Serenoa, sabal minor and needle palms are simply delightful palms.

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This is good info, Axel. Thanks! I guess I have a lot to learn. In your opinion, based upon what you know about the growing conditions up here, which of those 3 non-trunking palms you mentioned would do best in the Seattle area: Saw palmetto, sabal minor, or needle palm? I kinda like the look of Silver Saw Palmetto, but don't know where I would get one around here. I'm sure I could order a seedling online somewhere, but if it's too slow of a grower, that could be somewhat daunting.

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This is good info, Axel. Thanks! I guess I have a lot to learn. In your opinion, based upon what you know about the growing conditions up here, which of those 3 non-trunking palms you mentioned would do best in the Seattle area: Saw palmetto, sabal minor, or needle palm? I kinda like the look of Silver Saw Palmetto, but don't know where I would get one around here. I'm sure I could order a seedling online somewhere, but if it's too slow of a grower, that could be somewhat daunting.

Some of the growers from up there might be more knowledgeable than I am for what would work best up in Washington. Try sending a PM to 'PalmCrazy'. I can tell you that pure sabal minor is pretty slow, especially if you end up stuck with a super dwarfing one. So trying to find sabal minor 'Louisiana' might be a better bet. Might also be worth to drive to Norcal and buy a big one, they're available in the Bay area. I know needle palms are being grown in Canada with Winter protection, so should work for you with little Winter help. They're also readily available in larger sizes. Serenoa is probably the least hardy on that list, but it's still pretty hardy, especially the silver one.

If you're gonna start with smaller specimens, get a greenhouse where you can really get them to some size before planting them out. They're incredibly slow when small but pick up speed when they get older, which is why it's worth dropping extra money for a bigger one. If I lived up there I'd do a drive to California to find these things.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I agree with Axel; I tried to grow all sorts of tropical palms that didn't have a chance here when I first started nearly twenty years ago. The non trunking palms are beautiful; easy to maintain and have a charm all there own. Needle palm will get fairly large, sucker, and develop a short trunk as well. It takes a long time but many of these short shrubby palms will produce a trunk though it might not be very tall. Axel has a lot of solid, wise advice in his post.

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