Syagrus litoralis, Santa Catarina or Uruguayan Queen Palms

[necturus]

Hello,

I live in Houston and really want to get a hold of some of the more cold hardy queen palm varieties such as Syagrus litoralis, Santa Catarina or Uruguayan queen Palms. Unfortunately, these do not seem readily available online. Does anyone have a source they could share? I would also be interested in seed, but I haven't had great luck starting queen palms from seed.

Thanks,

Daniel

[Fusca]

8 hours ago, necturus said:

Hello,

I live in Houston and really want to get a hold of some of the more cold hardy queen palm varieties such as Syagrus litoralis, Santa Catarina or Uruguayan queen Palms. Unfortunately, these do not seem readily available online. Does anyone have a source they could share? I would also be interested in seed, but I haven't had great luck starting queen palms from seed.

Thanks,

Daniel

Hey Daniel,

I'm not sure of a source for plants, but if you don't mind trying seed (my success with these is minimal as well) you could try collecting seed from queens planted at the Spring Chateau on FM 2920 near IH-45 in Spring.  The queen palms survived the 2010 freezes and at least 18°F low since then.  I doubt that they had any protection other than being planted on the SW side of one of their buildings.  I lived very close to there from 2012-2015 and don't remember any damage to those queens so I suspect they are a more hardy type perhaps one of the varieties you mentioned.  I haven't been back there recently but I assume that they are still there.  I germinated 2 seeds from those trees and planted them at a former home.  You might even find volunteer seedlings under the trees.

Jon