2 years growth of Washingtontonia

[AZPalms]

Boring palm? Yes I’d agree. This was a seedling 2 summers ago that must have come down from the neighbors tree. I decided I’d let it stay since it wasn’t in the way. Well, 2 years later and she’s trucking along I’d say. Not bad for free.

No fertilizer, or much water except for rain and neighbors ground water from grass yard/irrigation just opposite of the fence that soaks the ground on my side. I added a dipper to it today because I’d like to see what it can do with more. 

Anyways, I am impressed even though it’ll be a telephone pole one day. 

Fence height is about 8 feet for scale. 

[AZPalms]

Okay and just because I’m cleaning the yard up, here’s a volunteer that’s been growing for a couple of months, rent free in the yard. Decided I’d be nice and pot it up. Maybe a giveaway or future planting. Who knows...

looks like this one has a bit more filifera to her. About 12in in height. 

[Stevetoad]

Washies are a funny species for me. Planted on purpose I always say to myself “why”?  But then I’ll see stand of them growing on their own and I think “wow that’s cool”. 

[AZPalms]

7 hours ago, Stevetoad said:

Washies are a funny species for me. Planted on purpose I always say to myself “why”?  But then I’ll see stand of them growing on their own and I think “wow that’s cool”. 

I agree, Steve! In parts of town where they’re left to grow in groves, unmaintained or trimmed up, especially near washes or river beds, they look so “jungly” or something idk. Reminds me of an oasis. 

 

[kinzyjr]

@AZPalms That volunteer has a lot of "cotton" on it.  Very nice!  I tend to lean more toward filifera, but they are a little harder to grow successfully here than robusta and hybrid filibusta.  We have tons of them in the Cleveland Heights Blvd median here.  Makes the area look very "SoCal".

https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9977767,-81.9486975,3a,60y,347.86h,86.93t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spUmdOOBRDSBTPSnR0acG6g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[AZPalms]

14 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

@AZPalms That volunteer has a lot of "cotton" on it.  Very nice!  I tend to lean more toward filifera, but they are a little harder to grow successfully here than robusta and hybrid filibusta.  We have tons of them in the Cleveland Heights Blvd median here.  Makes the area look very "SoCal".

https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9977767,-81.9486975,3a,60y,347.86h,86.93t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spUmdOOBRDSBTPSnR0acG6g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Very nice! California and the Washingtontonia are synonymous with each other.

the small seedling I’m thinking came from a different tree? Way more cotton than the older 2 year tree. We have both in our neighborhood so could be a hybrid as well. They pop up here monthly it seems. Starts like a grass blade and then all of the sudden you have a big tree! I’ll grab a pic of one of the fattest filiferas I’ve seen in the area. Grows on the corner of a house in our development. 

[Josue Diaz]

This is how my garden beds looks like all the time. I feel bad pulling the seedlings but what am I to do?  i'm surrounded by tall, fruiting robusta, filifera and their hybrid offspring. 

I always say I'd like to keep a couple but haven't left any to mature yet. 

[howfam]

Josue Diaz:

Good topic. You Calif. folks have Washingtonia's like we have Sabals. The Sabals grow any & everywhere: eaves of houses (gutters),  cracks of sidewalks, on old abandoned cars, inside the creases of branches of other trees, etc. And being our state "tree", they cannot be cut from the right-of-ways. The Washies are so tall and elegant, and I just hope they can find a cure for the fusarium fungus that's killing a lot of the older washies, both here and in California. It'd be a shame to lose them.

[Neil C]

Young Washies are great looking palms, I'm just not quite so fond of them when they get taller.

Regards Neil

[howfam]

Neil C:

I think the W. filiferas make better looking specimens with age, as they have much thicker trunks with more consistent gerth throughout their height.. Much more sturdy and stately look, IMO. A shame they're not used more in SoCal., being the true native palm from that area. 

[AZPalms]

7 hours ago, howfam said:

Neil C:

I think the W. filiferas make better looking specimens with age, as they have much thicker trunks with more consistent gerth throughout their height.. Much more sturdy and stately look, IMO. A shame they're not used more in SoCal., being the true native palm from that area. 

Agree. Filifera is a nicer specimen. Here it’s tough to find a pure filifera. Even the big box stores I’ve seen labeled as such, look to be hybrids. IMO a nice Brehea is really what we should be planting for a nice desert fan palm. Unfortunately it’s quite rare in public or residential yards. 

[bubba]

Washingtonia's are not boring palms! Amazing how fast they grow. They are the Sabals of the West. I believe the W. filiferas are an under utilized palm, especially in cooler regions of the SE. I do not understand why we do not see W. filifera in So. Fla. Their trunks are thick like Royals and great contrast to W. robusta.

[kinzyjr]

I just got a pair of young filiferas a few weeks ago.  They've long been something I wanted.  Cold shouldn't be an issue, so we'll see how they do with the humidity and high rainfall.

[AZPalms]

25 minutes ago, bubba said:

Washingtonia's are not boring palms! Amazing how fast they grow. They are the Sabals of the West. I believe the W. filiferas are an under utilized palm, especially in cooler regions of the SE. I do not understand why we do not see W. filifera in So. Fla. Their trunks are thick like Royals and great contrast to W. robusta.

I should say, boring is relative. I have 2 royals in my yard. They’re my babies! I have no idea how many are growing here in the Phoenix valley but outside of Palmtalk members in the valley who grow them, probably a handful, maybe. To some in FL it’s just a royal. Kind of like the Washingtonia here in AZ. Tens of thousands of them. Literally pop up year round in yards like weeds. I love them for their speed and durability, though.

[Jim in Los Altos]

19 hours ago, Neil C said:

Young Washies are great looking palms, I'm just not quite so fond of them when they get taller.

Regards Neil

I personally love them when they get super tall and become skyline trees to be seen from far away. 

[Stevetoad]

5 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

I personally love them when they get super tall and become skyline trees to be seen from far away. 

I agree. Kind of a California thing. A washy silhouette always makes me think of home. 

[Josue Diaz]

8 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

I personally love them when they get super tall and become skyline trees to be seen from far away. 

I agree also. I like them once they get over about 20 feet, personally. These are on the next block over but they tower high over everything and I get to see them from my house. 

[palmfriend]

Hello there,

probably not really special for the most of our Californian palmtalkers, but for me a great palm - amazing how fast they grow over here!

Seeds bought in 2013, so they are now five years old...

I love them!

Best regards -

Lars

 

[AZPalms]

3 hours ago, palmfriend said:

Hello there,

probably not really special for the most of our Californian palmtalkers, but for me a great palm - amazing how fast they grow over here!

Seeds bought in 2013, so they are now five years old...

I love them!

Best regards -

Lars

 

They grow up so fast...

[bubba]

Sabals are relatively boring to us in the East like Washingtonias are to you in the West. I love Sabals but when they are everywhere you look, it is hard to get excited. We have W robusta in large numbers to the point that they actually rival Sabals. To me they are a beautiful palm that is more attractive than the common Sabal. This excludes non-ubiquitous Hat Sabal, Sabal Lisa...etc.

Washingtonia filifera is a sensational palm that is far more impressive compared to W robusta to my eye. I hope that our humidity is not the thing that disqualifies the widespread distribution of this palm in the SE. Good luck Kinzy and others in their quest to establish it’s presence in the East!

[kinzyjr]

3 hours ago, bubba said:

Sabals are relatively boring to us in the East like Washingtonias are to you in the West. I love Sabals but when they are everywhere you look, it is hard to get excited. We have W robusta in large numbers to the point that they actually rival Sabals. To me they are a beautiful palm that is more attractive than the common Sabal. This excludes non-ubiquitous Hat Sabal, Sabal Lisa...etc.

Washingtonia filifera is a sensational palm that is far more impressive compared to W robusta to my eye. I hope that our humidity is not the thing that disqualifies the widespread distribution of this palm in the SE. Good luck Kinzy and others in their quest to establish it’s presence in the East!

Thank you for the well wishes!  I've heard a few theories on why filifera decline in the east.  Humidity, fungal issues and other diseases, pests and nematodes, etc.  We'll see.  I've heard of nice ones growing in botanical gardens in Florida.

[ruskinPalms]

I personally really like Washingtonia and I would have them in my yard if it weren’t for the thorns. I have purposefully stayed away from palms with thorns since I have small children that play in the yard. Unfortunately, my no thorn policy has kept me away from a lot of really great fan palms that would do well here. 

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

On 12/18/2018, 8:27:35, bubba said:

Washingtonia's are not boring palms! Amazing how fast they grow. They are the Sabals of the West. I believe the W. filiferas are an under utilized palm, especially in cooler regions of the SE. I do not understand why we do not see W. filifera in So. Fla. Their trunks are thick like Royals and great contrast to W. robusta.

 

I too love Washingtonias.  My favorites are Robusta, but I love Filifera too.   Unfortunately FIifera are arid / desert climate palms, and while they are likely substantially more cold hardy than Robusta, they are not suited to the SE, United States because its smiply just too wet.  There may be some in FL, but in general they dislike our wet climate, and I would venture a guess that cool & wet is probably even worse for them. 

 

Here's a few very tall and gorgeous ones in my neighborhood. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PalmTreeDude]

That Washingtonia robusta is about the same size as the one I was going to try with protection here last year. It makes me miss it, maybe I will try again this upcoming Spring. I honestly don't mind them, as long as they are in a good spot. 

[PalmTreeDude]

On 12/19/2018, 2:08:59, Josue Diaz said:

I agree also. I like them once they get over about 20 feet, personally. These are on the next block over but they tower high over everything and I get to see them from my house. 

Now that is a cool sight. It looks like art with the sun shining between the palms. 

[bubba]

DCA,

Great Washingtonia shots in St. Pete! Unfortunate to hear about the reason we do not see W. filifera in the SE.The usual suspect-Humidity! Best, bubba

[AZPalms]

Just a quick update shot of the volunteer this evening with my one of my dogs relaxing after cleaning up the yard a bit. She still put on growth through our cold winter... looking forward to seeing what it does this year.

 

Max 

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

On 12/22/2018 at 2:39 PM, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

 

I too love Washingtonias.  My favorites are Robusta, but I love Filifera too.   Unfortunately FIifera are arid / desert climate palms, and while they are likely substantially more cold hardy than Robusta, they are not suited to the SE, United States because its smiply just too wet.  There may be some in FL, but in general they dislike our wet climate, and I would venture a guess that cool & wet is probably even worse for them. 

 

Here's a few very tall and gorgeous ones in my neighborhood. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

good sized sabal too

[Axel Amsterdam]

These seedlings are growing in a large pot without drainage holes in my courtyard in Amsterdam. They took some freeze damage to the leaves (after -6C)  but dont seem to mind growing as aquatic plants for weeks after heavy rainfall. They never lost a spear.

[UK_Palms]

7 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

These seedlings are growing in a large pot without drainage holes in my courtyard in Amsterdam. They took some freeze damage to the leaves (after -6C)  but dont seem to mind growing as aquatic plants for weeks after heavy rainfall. They never lost a spear.

Blimey, Axel. I've never seen Washingtonia growing in a pond like that haha. I would have thought that is a big no, no. But clearly they are doing alright. 

Those are pure Robusta I am guessing, because there is no way Filifera or hybrid Filibusta would tolerate a submerged trunk and prolonged wet roots?

[Axel Amsterdam]

i picked them from under filifera/filibusta so at least they are hybrids. One is clearly more filiferous than the others. I have filifera in the ground and it never minded our wet and cool climate. 

[Exotic Life]

I love Washy as well because even for these regions they are superfast. 
My robusta is not slower or maybe even faster than a regular T.fortunei and easily can produce 20 leafes per growing season. 
 

[UK_Palms]

3 hours ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

i picked them from under filifera/filibusta so at least they are hybrids. One is clearly more filiferous than the others. I have filifera in the ground and it never minded our wet and cool climate. 

That's weird, considering they are at least 50% Filifera, or possibly even 100% Filifera, yet they are alright sitting in a waterlogged pot over winter, with the soil and base of trunk completely submerged. That is something that Filifera are notorious for not liking... excess water, especially in winter. They are usually quite prone to wet-cold damage under those conditions, so I am quite surprised that yours seem to be doing okay. 

 

1 hour ago, Exotic Life said:

I love Washy as well because even for these regions they are superfast. 
My robusta is not slower or maybe even faster than a regular T.fortunei and easily can produce 20 leafes per growing season. 
 

My Robusta is easily the fastest growing palm that I own, closely followed by the Filibusta hybrids. And then the Filifera. All my other palms in general are actually quite slow, with Trachycarpus being one of the slowest genus's for me. Even Fortunei I find to be very slow compared to Chamaerops even, let alone the Washies that grow at lightspeed.

[Axel Amsterdam]

1 hour ago, UK_Palms said:

That's weird, considering they are at least 50% Filifera, or possibly even 100% Filifera, yet they are alright sitting in a waterlogged pot over winter, with the soil and base of trunk completely submerged. That is something that Filifera are notorious for not liking... excess water, especially in winter. They are usually quite prone to wet-cold damage under those conditions, so I am quite surprised that yours seem to be doing okay. 

 

My Robusta is easily the fastest growing palm that I own, closely followed by the Filibusta hybrids. And then the Filifera. All my other palms in general are actually quite slow, with Trachycarpus being one of the slowest genus's for me. Even Fortunei I find to be very slow compared to Chamaerops even, let alone the Washies that grow at lightspeed.

well the trunks are not completely submerged. Here is the most filiferous type in the background compared  to the more robusta type in the foreground

[UK_Palms]

7 minutes ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

well the trunks are not completely submerged. Here is the most filiferous type in the background compared  to the more robusta type in the foreground

They must be Filibusta hybrids then, considering you have a mix of Robusta and Filifera dominant ones. Much like the batch I have. 

Mine have suffered greatly from wind damage this past winter, with the young, smaller fronds being easily damaged and snapped. The wind has even snapped the fronds on my larger Robusta. It seems that Washingtonia don't stand up that well to wind. I don't know if you have had the same issue...?

Also, is that definitely cold damage, or damage from fungus/disease in wet-cold conditions? Mine have incurred similar damage, even on the specimens that have been brought indoors when the temperature dropped below -2C / -3C. Which leads me to believe the damage is more of a wet-cold illness thing, rather than actual cold damage. 

[joe_OC]

Washingtonias are underrated palms.  They are one of the prettiest fan palms to me.   Here is a nice planting at my office:

 

 

[AZPalms]

It’s still growing quickly, who knew Washingtonia was fast? 

[Sabal Steve]

1 hour ago, AZPalms said:

It’s still growing quickly, who knew Washingtonia was fast? 

Robustas are extremely fast, in California.  Have you tried Filifera?  The best ones that I’ve ever seen get zero care, in areas like Palm Springs.  Some have trunks that are 4 feet thick - a much more robust palm.  I feel that they do a little better in extreme climates like that (and the deserts of Arizona), where the opposite seems to be true, between the two species in cooler California climates (though they both grow extremely well, in my neck of the woods). Braheas would be a great option for you too.  Especially Brahea armata.  Sabal species too.  

Edited May 10, 2019 by The Steve

[Kris]

Gentlemen nice visuals...

[Axel Amsterdam]

found this nice habitat picture of filifera roots in water. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by Axel Amsterdam