July update South Carolina

[Turtlesteve]

Well, I figure it's about time for an update.

I continue to have the best luck with Sabals here:

S. causarium, almost 6' to the top of the tallest leaf

Then there's S. uresana, which is also doing well.  I planted 3 of these and still have 2.

And here's a waggie, which is doing OK but could use more water and shade:

Cycas panzihuaensis is still my favorite cycad here:

That about covers the weeded areas of my yard.  Here's a BxJxS planted out this spring:

Now I thought I had some liner-sized palms around here somewhere:

Maybe I should look under the weeds?  Yeah, that's better.

Of course, I'm losing the war on weeds on other fronts too.  I planted out a W. filifera and Macrozamia communis this spring:

And here's something non-palmy:  Quercus insignis.  This poor tree can barely hang on through the zone 8 winters.  I get two flushes of growth each year, but the second flush is not hardened off enough to survive the winter, and I generally I lose the buds on older growth too.   I guess it's not dead yet, but long term prognosis here is questionable.  It would be much happier under canopy, I think, but I don't have any.

[Chester B]

Have you had the cycad through any winters yet?

 

[Turtlesteve]

I had 2-3" caudex plants survive ~13/14F in the ground.  C. revoluta can take these temps when large, but not at that size.  They also look better than C. revoluta and aren't spiny.  I think there's a huge market for these if someone would just start mass producing them.

Steve

[Chester B]

Looks like I've found a new plant to buy!

[necturus]

Where did you get the Quercus insignis? That's a cool find.

[Scot from SC]

Looking good Steve. I have a couple of Cycads that need to be put in the ground. They didn't flinch being outside in pots all winter, so they should flourish in ground. I think one of them is a panzihuaensis, but I lost the tags. Sand oaks do well here if you like the looks of Live Oak but don't have the room for one. Keep up the good work.

[palmsOrl]

I'm also curious to know how you sourced your Quercus insignis.

[Turtlesteve]

With regards to Q. insignis, it was from an individual that I haven't had communication with in a couple years.  I'm going to err against outing someone until I get permission, since it's not a business, and they probably can't get more.  But once I find their contact information I'll ask.  I'm really hoping I can get this one to mature and produce acorns, but that's probably a pipe dream in zone 8.  I'm not sure if oaks gain cold hardiness as they get larger either.

Scot, I don't have any sand oaks but I do have a couple live oaks and some other evergreen species.  I learned several years back that there are lots of hardy evergreen oaks, but they are hard to find because they've attracted no interest from commercial nurseries.  I'm curious to know what cycas species you are trying.  I picked up some seeds of the hybrid Cycas taitugnensis x panzihuaensis off ebay last year, and I'm really optimistic about these.  They look like panzihuaensis so far but have grown faster as seedlings. 

Steve

 

[yabazid]

I get happy when I see a SC post for some reason 

[RJ]

On 7/26/2019 at 3:14 PM, Turtlesteve said:

Well, I figure it's about time for an update.

I continue to have the best luck with Sabals here:

S. causarium, almost 6' to the top of the tallest leaf

 

Looks good. How is the speed of the S. causarium? I have many now in different stages up to ~15g size. At what size did you put this one in the ground? 

[Turtlesteve]

Planted 2017 when they outgrew their pots.  They were approx. 2 gallon size when planted. 

From my experience so far, ideal planting size for Sabals is when they have ~18" strap leaves.   I have tended to kill anything planted too small (liners or 1 gallon), and you lose time waiting too long since they grow so slowly in pots. 

[Silas_Sancona]

On 7/26/2019 at 12:14 PM, Turtlesteve said:

Well, I figure it's about time for an update.

I continue to have the best luck with Sabals here:

S. causarium, almost 6' to the top of the tallest leaf

Then there's S. uresana, which is also doing well.  I planted 3 of these and still have 2.

And here's a waggie, which is doing OK but could use more water and shade:

Cycas panzihuaensis is still my favorite cycad here:

That about covers the weeded areas of my yard.  Here's a BxJxS planted out this spring:

Now I thought I had some liner-sized palms around here somewhere:

Maybe I should look under the weeds?  Yeah, that's better.

Of course, I'm losing the war on weeds on other fronts too.  I planted out a W. filifera and Macrozamia communis this spring:

And here's something non-palmy:  Quercus insignis.  This poor tree can barely hang on through the zone 8 winters.  I get two flushes of growth each year, but the second flush is not hardened off enough to survive the winter, and I generally I lose the buds on older growth too.   I guess it's not dead yet, but long term prognosis here is questionable.  It would be much happier under canopy, I think, but I don't have any.

Awesome!

Crossing my fingers for you on this one..  Only know of a few people trialing this sp. around the country atm and this is one of the nicest looking specimens i've seen pictured  thus far. If it's like other Quercus, it should gain some degree of toughness as it gains height / older wood. For a Central American sp.  the fact that it has survived ..and looks healthy, imo.. in your zone is already a big accomplishment.  

Have heard rumors of others back there trialing some of the other big -leaved  Mex. Oak sp.  ( ie:  Q. tarahumara, possibly crassifolia, etc ) with some degree of success thus far from updates i hear about. Also hear theres a nursery ...or someone conected to it.. who apparently is having success w/ some of the Quercus sp native to California..  

Looking forward to future updates

[RJ]

So how did everything finish out the summer? 

[Turtlesteve]

5 hours ago, RJ said:

So how did everything finish out the summer? 

It was actually a pretty rough summer - rainfall was very unpredictable this year and we had "flash drought" conditions for a month or so.  All the cycads did great and bigger palms were fine, but small palms suffered and a bunch of liner-sized palms (planted in spring) bit the dust.  I also lost a couple non-palms (Lithocarpus edulis and L. chinensis), and the other exotic oak trees suffered a bit and dropped some leaves.  I planted a bunch more Sabal and Butia seedlings in October as an experiment, since I have such poor luck planting them in spring.  I didn't get photos in summer but I also planted my two "super mules" this spring, so here's hoping for a mild winter!

Steve

[RJ]

7 hours ago, Turtlesteve said:

It was actually a pretty rough summer - rainfall was very unpredictable this year and we had "flash drought" conditions for a month or so.  All the cycads did great and bigger palms were fine, but small palms suffered and a bunch of liner-sized palms (planted in spring) bit the dust.  I also lost a couple non-palms (Lithocarpus edulis and L. chinensis), and the other exotic oak trees suffered a bit and dropped some leaves.  I planted a bunch more Sabal and Butia seedlings in October as an experiment, since I have such poor luck planting them in spring.  I didn't get photos in summer but I also planted my two "super mules" this spring, so here's hoping for a mild winter!

Steve

Yes rainfall was hard this year. I had trouble keeping my potted palms hydrated. Sorry to hear of the loss of some of your oaks. I still need to get down to your place at some point. I was actually in Aiken a few weeks ago meeting with a plumber for my house. 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

10 hours ago, Turtlesteve said:

I didn't get photos in summer but I also planted my two "super mules" this spring, so here's hoping for a mild winter!

Would be awesome to see these palms grow up , pics would be much appreciated !!!

[Turtlesteve]

Here's the nicer of the two hybrids....might as well get a photo before winter sets in for good:

And a Butia odorata that's decided to push inflorescences for the first time going into winter.  Certainly not rare but one of my best looking palms right now.  There are actually 5 flower spikes but only one is visible in the picture - and they're tiny in comparison to my other mature pindo.  This particular palm was planted out 3.5 years ago and has outpaced several others, having taken the least amount of cold damage each winter.  The one damaged leaf near the bottom was the spear leaf last winter.