tank 400 Report post Posted March 27, 2015 This one has been in the ground for about 5 years and was planted from a 3 gal that I grew from seed. It has seen temps below 20F and has never shown much damage. It is under a high pine canopy with overhead protection and a good amount of shade, hence its slow growth and presumably why it didn't show much damage during the several dips into the low 20Fs and upper teens. It is in my "palm compound" and is usually surrounded by potted plants. Was doing some spring cleaning and freed this guy up for a pic. Its about 6' overall and growing REALLY slow. I have never protected it. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NorthFlpalmguy 43 Report post Posted March 27, 2015 It looks great to me and I'd be much more willing to slow it's growth as long as it lived longer. I've wanted one for years now and until recently never heard of any reports of them being this far north. Thanks for posting it and giving the rest of us hope! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alicehunter2000 754 Report post Posted March 27, 2015 It is under a high pine canopy with overhead protection and a good amount of shade, hence its slow growth and presumably why it didn't show much damage during the several dips into the low 20Fs and upper teens. Its about 6' overall and growing REALLY slow. I have never protected it. bismark.JPG Yes, beginning to think this key for long term survival up here. My old house, I had one with similar conditions and got the same result. Survived Polar Vortex with absolutely no protection....about the same size. Got a smaller one at a neighbors house....same situation...same results. The other factor is genetics....some are just more hardy than others. Brantley, for sure you should get some....they are starting to sell them in the box stores now pretty cheap. Keep trying them until you get some survivors....they LOVE our conditions other than the occasional deep freeze. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tank 400 Report post Posted March 27, 2015 I have a bunch of 5gals . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edbrown_III 332 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 I will get a few from y e I just gotta get offa my sorry arse and get down yur way some time Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandy Loam 340 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 I recommend buying a bismarckia from Tank. I have 3 of them. The one that came from Tank has never displayed any cold damage in my region, at least for the couple of years that I have had it. As the photo shows, it might be a bit less "beefy" than some, but that may be a question of young age or reaching out in shady conditions. I have seen a few of them growing around Gainesville, FL, and I expect those numbers to increase now that they are suddenly being sold at HD in the northern parts of the state. I could swear that I saw a bismarckia nobilis in Tallahassee the other day, and it gets COLD in Tallahassee. Brantley, I will nudge "FloridaGrower" because I think he knows about several Bismarckia growing up in your region. "FloridaGrower" is based in Tallahassee. Maybe he will post some comments on this thread. Perry, FL is just 45 minutes southeast of Tallahassee and I would be surprised if Tallahassee is much warmer than Perry, except perhaps right in the middle of town. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Josh-O 2,778 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 If anyone can grow a perfect Bismark it would be tank!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kailua_Krish 582 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 My best luck with this palm has been starting to sprout it and then letting it germinate fully directly into the ground where I wanted it. The ones that I planted like this seem to recover faster from freezes and have outpaced the ones I bought from a big box store. Of course its different genetic stock but it was an interesting observation. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Axel Amsterdam 257 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 Interesting topic, can you conclude that heat is not the main requirement for rapid growth of bismarckia but full sun is? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben in Norcal 2,227 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 This one has been in the ground for about 5 years and was planted from a 3 gal that I grew from seed. It has seen temps below 20F and has never shown much damage. It is under a high pine canopy with overhead protection and a good amount of shade, hence its slow growth and presumably why it didn't show much damage during the several dips into the low 20Fs and upper teens. It is in my "palm compound" and is usually surrounded by potted plants. Was doing some spring cleaning and freed this guy up for a pic. Its about 6' overall and growing REALLY slow. I have never protected it. bismark.JPG Are you sure that's a Bismarckia? It looks really weird, nothing like mine. Maybe it looks different because of the shade...mine are in full sun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tank 400 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 Axel - My opinion, for what its worth, is that they do grow slower in the shade Ben - Yes Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cikas 443 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 This one has been in the ground for about 5 years and was planted from a 3 gal that I grew from seed. It has seen temps below 20F and has never shown much damage. It is under a high pine canopy with overhead protection and a good amount of shade, hence its slow growth and presumably why it didn't show much damage during the several dips into the low 20Fs and upper teens. It is in my "palm compound" and is usually surrounded by potted plants. Was doing some spring cleaning and freed this guy up for a pic. Its about 6' overall and growing REALLY slow. I have never protected it. bismark.JPG In my opinion that is not Bismarckia. It looks more like some Brahea specie or Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben in Norcal 2,227 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 I was going to say it looks like a Brahea to me...maybe a Super Silver? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tank 400 Report post Posted March 28, 2015 Ok, thanks for the ID help, so which is it? Super Silver or C. humilis cerifera? Let me know if you need any additional info on leaf characteristics, seed size..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandy Loam 340 Report post Posted March 29, 2015 In case it helps everyone identify Tank's "Bismarckia" in the picture, I have a juvenile one which came from Tank over a year ago. (Two photos attached) I am assuming that it came from the same seed at the one in Tank's photo (?) It has a similar form. What is interesting about mine is that it has that burgundy/pink hue which can be found on juvenile Bismarckia Nobilis. Supposedly (perhaps an old wives' tale), the ones which become pink/burgundy when juvenile will become the most silver with age, and also the most cold-hardy. Is this also a trait found on brahea super silver or Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera? I was under the impression that it was a characteristic of Bismarckia alone, but I don't know enough about palms to say. If the punk/burgundy hue is solely in the Bismarckia family, is it possible that this is some type of Bismarckia hybrid? (Have there ever been any Bismarckia hybrids?) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Danilopez89 667 Report post Posted March 29, 2015 They look like bizziez to me... just a little stretched out. I've seen a batch of Bismarck seedlings and they looked similar to these. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandy Loam 340 Report post Posted March 29, 2015 ...and I have another juvenile Bismarckia from a different source which looks pretty similar to the one in the photos above. I can take a photo of it later so that everyone can see how similar they are (when young, they look skinnier) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben in Norcal 2,227 Report post Posted March 29, 2015 Must be the shade grown culture? They don't look much like my two Bizzies, that's for sure. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GarrettP1 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2015 I planted 3 Bismark's about 2 years ago (5 gallon size each). One single palm has survived, and continues to grow well. I don't shelter or protect it in any way, and it has seen temp's down to about 19 degrees F. I suspect it was lucky enough to carry genes for cold tolerence. I'll grow it for as long as I can, and hopefully cross it with another Bismarkia that thrives up here too. I'd like to grow some palm tree strains that are particularly cold hardy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tank 400 Report post Posted March 30, 2015 I'm excited to find out what new type of Brahea or some other palm I have. This is a great revelation to me as I always thought what I had was a Bismarck. Especially considering the seed I grew it from looked exactly like a Bismarck seed. Remarkable! Thanks for the help guys. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NorthFlpalmguy 43 Report post Posted March 30, 2015 If the seed looked similar to size as a bizzy, then I would lean towards a super silver rather than cerifera. The fronds seem too elongated to me to be cerifera. I still think it is a bizzy though due to the pinkish hue. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tank 400 Report post Posted March 30, 2015 Ok, I'll stop the charade. This is actually a very rare palm. It's a three way cross between a Bismarckia, a needle palm and a Brahea armata. I picked up the seed awhile back from a seller on ebay. He was located in Cameroon and assured me that this was the real deal. I paid a pretty penny for these seeds but I would say it was worth it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tank 400 Report post Posted March 30, 2015 I still have a few of the other ones I grew from the remaining seed. I wasn't planning on selling them but I've decided to do you palmtalkers a favor and put them up for sale. 3gal three way cross for $5000 and believe me, that's a steal. These guys start out looking like little Bismarckias but soon will look like the palm in the picture! Just make sure to grow them in the shade. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alicehunter2000 754 Report post Posted March 30, 2015 And I had come to think that snark was dead on PT. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eric in Orlando 4,866 Report post Posted March 30, 2015 Tank,That is definitely a Bismarckia, just a little stretched in the shade. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kailua_Krish 582 Report post Posted March 30, 2015 Lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben in Norcal 2,227 Report post Posted March 31, 2015 I think it might be a cycad of some sort. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Straight6tt 21 Report post Posted April 1, 2015 Does anyone know if any of the big box stores on the panhandle sell bismarckia nobilis? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alicehunter2000 754 Report post Posted April 1, 2015 They did last year. Have not seen any yet this year. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brad Mondel 819 Report post Posted April 2, 2015 once I got a large Bismarkia at HD for $40. It was a 7 gallon and 5' tall. I killed it though because I was a noob. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tropicdoc 462 Report post Posted April 2, 2015 That would be hard to pass up if I saw it in a big box garden center Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandy Loam 340 Report post Posted April 2, 2015 The northern Florida HDs currently seem to sell chest height bismarckias (15 gallon?) for $50.00 or $45.00, but in South Florida the HDs sometime also sell a 3-gallon size for $16.99. Yet the 3 gallon size were sometimes almost as big as the 15 gallon plants. The 3 gallon pots were very full looking. At $16 bucks a pop for a decent-sized starter tree, anyone could afford to plant several of them. Too bad the HDs in Mississippi and Louisiana don't stock the same plants as South Florida HDs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brad Mondel 819 Report post Posted April 2, 2015 South Florida has all the goodies. I went to Key Largo once and it was phenomenal. Too bad I couldn't buy anything. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alicehunter2000 754 Report post Posted April 2, 2015 And yet they continue to push P. roebelini by the thousands up here....just to die (for the most part). Been looking for a 15 gallon P. Sylvestris.....nothing this year. Last year they were everywhere. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Straight6tt 21 Report post Posted April 2, 2015 The home depot by me in Gulfport ms has robellini by the truck load listed at -5 degrees cold hardiness lol. But we do have some big field grown phoenix sylvestris too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bigfish 355 Report post Posted April 3, 2015 Hey Jason, I went by Crazy Palm Tree Charlie's place yesterday and saw some pretty big potted Bizzies. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandy Loam 340 Report post Posted April 3, 2015 AliceHunter2000, I agree. All over northern Florida, the HDs seem to push phoenix robelleni by the dozens, but they don't die here. I am surprised that they die in your region because we have similar weather. There are plenty of them around Gainesville, FL, but there are many winters when they look brown and horrible (e.g. 2009-2010) with those tender, feathery fronds. Nonetheless, they all seem to look fine again a couple of months later. I, personally, don't like those trees, but I don't consider them to be out of zone. ....sorry, getting off the topic of Bismarckia. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NorthFlpalmguy 43 Report post Posted April 3, 2015 I toasted a HD leftover Pygmy triple in a 7 gal this winter myself and I live in between Gainesville and PC beach.. About 10 miles from the coast. They're a little more tender than I expectated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tank 400 Report post Posted April 3, 2015 Hey Jason, I went by Crazy Palm Tree Charlie's place yesterday and saw some pretty big potted Bizzies. Interesting fellow. One of the few operations in town for installing large palms. If you buy anything from him, remember, prices are ALWAYS negotiable (and EVERYTHING in his compound is for sale, including plants, tikis, machinery, rocks, pots, sand, chain link fence, whatever clothing he has on...) although I doubt you will ever make out on the right side of any deal. I'm guessing he'll be asking more for those Bismarckias than most on this board would feel was reasonable. I've had him install several large palmettos, up to 18' tall and his prices were always decent for this. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tank 400 Report post Posted April 3, 2015 The home depot by me in Gulfport ms has robellini by the truck load listed at -5 degrees cold hardiness lol. But we do have some big field grown phoenix sylvestris too! Straight, call them and see if they'll order a couple of Bismarcks for you. I bet you could talk them into not charging shipping if they try to add it on to the total. I'm guessing they get shipments from FL for much of their plant material, especially if they are bringing in robellinis. Not a big deal for them to add some stuff on the truck to an existing order. Also, I bet one of specialty nurseries in Pensacola or closer to you along the coast might have some. Nice to pick it up from a "local" business if the price is reasonable. Worth at least a call or two. Good luck. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
