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Eastern Shore / DelMarVa Cold Hardy Palms


ESVA

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Just thought I'd share my experience here in Accomack County on Virginia's Eastern Shore growing palms and cycads. We are  at the colder end of Zone 8a with average winter minimum temps of 10-15°F but we do get a few winters every half decade or so where we might get a few days or a week of temps down into the single digits or below (-5°F).  We are colder up here than down in Cape Charles or Virginia Beach. Roses in Cape Charles will still be blooming at Thanksgiving when up here all the trees including the pecans have already dropped their leaves.  In Virginia Beach there's lots of spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) growing on the trees but here I only know of one woods near Eastville with a surviving population of the airplant. Been meaning to plant some on some bald cypress trees and see how it does. 

Needle palms do fine here, but I don't know of any specimens with trunks. Mine is typical:

Needle Palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix)

 

I tried a miniature chusan palm "waggie" (Trachycarpus wagnerianus). It got big enough to bloom but two back to back cold winters finally killed the growing spear :-( 

Miniature Chusan Palm (Trachycarpus wagnerianus)

Blooming waggie

 

I had hoped the waggie would be more cold hardy than the ubiquitous chinese windmill palm (T. fortunei) but maybe mine wasn't large enough. I do know of quite a few larger T. fortunei which survived the winter(s) which did mine in.. 

 

I did set out a dozen or so Cycas panzhihuaensis and two survived. I planted them in a very hot spot with powder-dry soil and think I lost most of them to drought rather than cold. Most years the leaves are killed come January/February but resprout come spring like a die-back perennial. The past winter was warm and the leaves survived. Very slow growing for me. 

Cycas panzhihuaensis

 

I planted a sack of a thousand Jubaea chilensis seeds "coquitos" and about a 100 germinated for me. I raised them in an unheated greenhouse/coldframe and over the years lost some due to either cold, too much water not enough water, etc and was down to three 5-gallon size plants. Then I lost 2 more and was then down to a lone survivor. Wasn't root-bound but wasn't producing new fronds so decided it was time to plant outside to dp or die a couple years ago.  Grew quite a lot this summer. Had read somewhere these didn't grow on the East Coast (too hot in Florida and the Deep South and too cold in the Northeast).  Our summers here are hot and muggy with hot, muggy nights. I've tried other plants from Chile that do well until they succumb to the hot summer nights.  So far the J. chilensis appears to be happy. I know someone on Chincoteague who plants out pindo palms (Butia capitata) for the summer season. Occasionally they'll make it through a winter but eventually they'll get frozen much like oleanders.  So fingers crossed. Would like to try the JubaeaxButia hybrid if I could find the spot for it. 

Chilean Winepalm (Jubaea chilensis) in foreground. Sabal minor "McCurtain" in background

Chilean Winepalm

I grew some Sabal minor "McCurtain" and Sabal minor var "Lousiana" from seed. The Louisiana has grown quite large and has been fruiting for several years and lots of volunteers around its base which is probably a foot in diameter but can't yet be cconsidered a trunk.

Sabal minor Lousiana

Sabal minor var. Lousiana

 

I planted out a couple dozen dwarf palmettos  grown from seed from McCurtain County, OK which is Zone 8a like here. Planted a half dozen on either side of a walkway on the south side of the house where I thought they'd be protected. The ground is very sandy, powder dry so kept them watered when little, but now they don't need supplemental water but have probably grown too big for their location and are probably too big to try to move.  

Sabal minor "McCurtain"

Getting about a 5-gallon bucket of seeds off  7 of the bigger plants every year now.

Fruiting Sabal minor

The mockinbirds and other song birds feast on the fruit all winter/spring and spread the seeds everywhere.

Volunteers growing under a Snowball viburnum (V. opulus 'sterile')

The seedlings are perfectly cold hardy here surviving -5°F winter temps with no protection. Drought hardy as well. I planted some seed out beside a walkway last year where some volunteers had sprouted the prior year and they germinated mid-July when temps reached  upper 90's°F

https://zot.shorehub.com/photo/4ca9cee5-c086-4196-98e4-2e6dbd01dc31-0.jpg

We had a severe drought this summer from June to July, but it didn't affect the sabals seedlings which made good growth:

2-year old seedlings (and some 3-year olds with fans)

I also planted some sabal minors on the NE side of the house  among the azaleas, rhododendrons and mountain laurels. The neighbor has some large 50+ year old loblolly pines which suck all the water out of the ground but provide light dappled shade. I think the leaf color of the sabals is improved with the shade.

https://zot.shorehub.com/photo/bb00bb78-d5a0-4647-994e-87be7a84d1b3-0.jpg

https://zot.shorehub.com/photo/b462cb59-7902-4318-ba49-015ffda38dc9-0.jpg

https://zot.shorehub.com/photo/ce42ad45-0502-4fb9-a085-edf149c3f2d7-0.jpg

 

Grew some Cretan Island date palms (Pheonix theophrasti)  from seed and they were easy to germinate. Grew them in pots in an unheated coldframe and they survived a couple seasons before I eventually lost them all. Not sure if they might have survived if planted in the ground or if I had brought them inside till they were larger. 

Anyhow, I'm really pleased with how the sabals do here. I'd like to try Sabal etonia. I like the look of the costa palmate leaves and the shorter flower spikes are tidier. Found a forestry/native plant site in Florida offering them but have procrastinated. Maybe next year. 

Edited by ESVA
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Thanks for sharing your experience!

I have a few recommendations for you to try:

Sabal Palmetto "Bald Head Island" - allegedly hardy to zone 7b

Sabal Tamaulipas - one of the faster growing minors, also eventually develops crawling trunk

Trachycarpus Fortunei "Taylor Form" - proven to be very hardy, surviving temps as low as -8F

Chamaerops Humilis - definitely worth a try in full sun, I know of some surviving on the 7b/8a border here in the NC piedmont

Sabal Birmingham - should be bulletproof for you

Sabal Mexicana - I've heard reports that this variety is slightly hardier than regular sabal palmetto, worth a shot

Sabal Brazoria - leaf hardy to 10F

Gary's Nursery in New Bern, NC carries most of what I listed above. The owner, Mr. Hollar, is a great guy and he really knows his stuff. I would consider taking a trip down there some time, its well worth the drive if you ask me. Here's his website, lots of info and pictures there: garysnursery.com

Have a great evening!

 

 

 

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Thanks for the suggestions. One of the local nurseries here does carry the humilis so I should ask him if he's planted any at job sites and if so how they've done.

I am familiar with Gary Hollar's website and might just stop in to visit if I'm passing through NC. Think it's about an 8 hour drive from here. 

The Sabal Birmingham has been on my list of palms to try. Just need to find a location as it appears to grow quite large. 

On Chincoteague Island some of the hotels plant Sabal Palmettos but they wrap the trunks and crown in the winter. The Bald Head Island would be a lot less fuss if it's really that cold hardy. If the fronds get burned back and have to be trimmed then that'd be a bit of work when they get tall. 

Forgot to mention that I also grew some silver Mazari (Nannorrhops ritchiana) from seed. They grew easily and quickly but I lost them after a couple years in the cold frame before getting to try them in the ground. 

Thanks again for the suggestions! 

Edited by ESVA
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Great info for your local palm growers

Might want to try Serenoa repens in your area too.  They like the sandy soil and maybe hardy enough, and you could get the silver form as a contrast to your mostly green palms.  I got some from this place via mail order.

https://www.mailordernatives.com/palms-cycads/

In a protected location possibly Chamaedorea radicalis.  These would be easy to cover if you wanted to protect.  Easy to grow from seed too.

 

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I live in Raleigh, in zone 7b but just over the line from 8a. I've noticed the windmill palms do better in cold winters here than they do further east, even though the temps are a bit warmer there. And I believe it has something to do with the soil. The windmills just don't do as well in sandy soil.  But I agree with NC_Palm Enthusiast. Gary is the BEST! I have six sabal minors and one sabal brazoriensis that I purchased from him this past spring. All of them are in the ground. I also have the following:

three sabal birminghams in the ground that I sprouted from seed collected from a parent tree here in Raleigh.

a bunch of sabal bald head islands that I sprouted from a tree in Winterville NC after the record winter of 2018, and

three Trachycarpus Novas that I planted this past spring. 

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That's awesome you're growing palms up there. I lived in Worcester County as a kid and never imagined being able to grow palms outdoors. :greenthumb:

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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1 hour ago, RedRabbit said:

That's awesome you're growing palms up there. I lived in Worcester County as a kid and never imagined being able to grow palms outdoors. :greenthumb:

I wish I had known how easy the sabal minors were to grow here. I would never have babied them along in pots in coldframe. I would just have scattered seed on the ground where I wanted the palms to grow.  Only downside I see is that they could probe very invasive if they're allowed to set seed.  Think I'd like to try some of the dward rockgarden size plants to see how they'd do here.

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1 hour ago, knikfar said:

I live in Raleigh, in zone 7b but just over the line from 8a. I've noticed the windmill palms do better in cold winters here than they do further east, even though the temps are a bit warmer there. And I believe it has something to do with the soil. The windmills just don't do as well in sandy soil.  But I agree with NC_Palm Enthusiast. Gary is the BEST! I have six sabal minors and one sabal brazoriensis that I purchased from him this past spring. All of them are in the ground. I also have the following:

three sabal birminghams in the ground that I sprouted from seed collected from a parent tree here in Raleigh.

a bunch of sabal bald head islands that I sprouted from a tree in Winterville NC after the record winter of 2018, and

three Trachycarpus Novas that I planted this past spring. 

I did like the smaller stout leaves of the miniature chusan. Shame it died just when it was getting some size and setting fruit. The first extra cold winter burned a lot of leaves so I limbed it up and planted clematis to grow on the remaining petioles. Then the next cold winter wasn't that cold but I don't remember the details. Anyhow the spear  pulled and nothing more sprouted. Finally took a chainsaw to it at the end of the summer when all hope was gone.

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1 hour ago, Chester B said:

Great info for your local palm growers

Might want to try Serenoa repens in your area too.  They like the sandy soil and maybe hardy enough, and you could get the silver form as a contrast to your mostly green palms.  I got some from this place via mail order.

https://www.mailordernatives.com/palms-cycads/

In a protected location possibly Chamaedorea radicalis.  These would be easy to cover if you wanted to protect.  Easy to grow from seed too.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I had considered trying the saw palmetto before just never got around to it. The silver form looks interesting. 

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11 hours ago, ESVA said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I had considered trying the saw palmetto before just never got around to it. The silver form looks interesting. 

could always throw around sabal Palmetto seeds, by the time they start trunking they will be far hardier and used to the winters than any florida transplant you can find.  even planting young ones pot grown

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On 9/22/2020 at 11:30 PM, Mr.SamuraiSword said:

could always throw around sabal Palmetto seeds, by the time they start trunking they will be far hardier and used to the winters than any florida transplant you can find.  even planting young ones pot grown

Might give the 'Bald Head Island' palmetto a try. We do get some wintry conditions here, though. I think it was the winter of 2014 that did in my miniature chusan. This is the last photo I have of it and its leaves look dessicated:

a8072e6a-3529-4a64-ab58-4b07118c4254-0.j

 

Anyhow, by the winter of 2017 it was gone. We were snowed in for a week with VDOT's snowplows unable to break through the snow drifts up to 12 feet deep. Eventually they had to bring in a snow blower to clear the road.  The Sabal minor in this pic survived perfectly fine, as well as the Louisiana and needle palms. 

99da5df7-1c4c-45a9-a738-5226ef3f2de4-0.g

 

And the following winter of 2018 was memorable as well with overnight temps below zero. We were lucky and only got  snowed in for a few days by the drifts but those on the secondary roads were snowed in for weeks before the roads could be cleared. 

96c559b3-11cc-456e-b917-a5a09a2bb4ec-0.j

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14 hours ago, ESVA said:

Might give the 'Bald Head Island' palmetto a try. We do get some wintry conditions here, though. I think it was the winter of 2014 that did in my miniature chusan. This is the last photo I have of it and its leaves look dessicated:

a8072e6a-3529-4a64-ab58-4b07118c4254-0.j

 

Anyhow, by the winter of 2017 it was gone. We were snowed in for a week with VDOT's snowplows unable to break through the snow drifts up to 12 feet deep. Eventually they had to bring in a snow blower to clear the road.  The Sabal minor in this pic survived perfectly fine, as well as the Louisiana and needle palms. 

99da5df7-1c4c-45a9-a738-5226ef3f2de4-0.g

 

And the following winter of 2018 was memorable as well with overnight temps below zero. We were lucky and only got  snowed in for a few days by the drifts but those on the secondary roads were snowed in for weeks before the roads could be cleared. 

96c559b3-11cc-456e-b917-a5a09a2bb4ec-0.j

 

I remember those winters in the DC  area too.  I DO NOT MISS THEM! 

Those kinds of winter events anywhere north of VA Beach, or maybe up to DE, along the immediate coast, are likely to kill any unprotected Trachycarpus palms.  They need to be at least wrapped  and have Xmas lights (incandescent) in / around the wrapping. and the crown likely needs to be protected as well.   The two tried and true palms that I had while living up in the DC area that never failed in spite of some very harsh winter conditions at times, were the Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, and the Sabal Minor.  Nothing else comes close to being as bullet proof as those two when you are away from the coast with no protection.  Granted, being on the south side of a building is the best in those conditions. 

Im very curious about the Spanish moss you say that is growing in woods near you. Do you have photos of it?  If that is in fact a native population, that is a pretty big deal as the farthest north known native population is at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach.    Id love to see photos of what you describe and where it is located on a map.

Keep up the great work!  I remember how much I enjoyed my palms when I was up north. My biggest success is a Sabal Minor I planted in front, south facing side of my home in Alexandria VA, back in 2010.   It is still there to this day and has grown significantly and fruits regularly.   I still go on google street view to check on it from time to time.

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1 hour ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

 

I remember those winters in the DC  area too.  I DO NOT MISS THEM! 

Those kinds of winter events anywhere north of VA Beach, or maybe up to DE, along the immediate coast, are likely to kill any unprotected Trachycarpus palms.  They need to be at least wrapped  and have Xmas lights (incandescent) in / around the wrapping. and the crown likely needs to be protected as well.   The two tried and true palms that I had while living up in the DC area that never failed in spite of some very harsh winter conditions at times, were the Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, and the Sabal Minor.  Nothing else comes close to being as bullet proof as those two when you are away from the coast with no protection.  Granted, being on the south side of a building is the best in those conditions. 

Im very curious about the Spanish moss you say that is growing in woods near you. Do you have photos of it?  If that is in fact a native population, that is a pretty big deal as the farthest north known native population is at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach.    Id love to see photos of what you describe and where it is located on a map.

Keep up the great work!  I remember how much I enjoyed my palms when I was up north. My biggest success is a Sabal Minor I planted in front, south facing side of my home in Alexandria VA, back in 2010.   It is still there to this day and has grown significantly and fruits regularly.   I still go on google street view to check on it from time to time.

No, I don't have pictures of the spanish moss and I haven't been seen the woods myself, but IIRC it's somewhere near Eastville. Whether the population still survives there or not IDK.  I might could find out from a nurseryman I know who lives in the northern end of the County in Temperanceville. He might even have some spanish moss growing in his woods on a damned branch but not sure if he planted it there or not. He may have been the person who told me about the native population down near Eastville. 

The spanish moss growing in First Landing State Park is awesome. Heard that it carries chiggers so when I'm jogging in the park I admire it from afar. 

RE, my Trachy, in retrospect I do wish I had protected the crown, but severe winters are really rare here and there are several large Trachys which did survive the extreme winters. Mine just wasn't big enough yet I guess.  

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just to throw my 2 cents in, I'm in central NJ (zone 7a) and have several Sabal minors planted for well over 15 years.  The first few winters I protected them but then they got too wide and left them unprotected.  For well over 10 years now, I never protect them and they are totally fine!  Aside from the fronds bending over in heavy snow/ice, they stay deep green and ALWAYS produce lots of flower/seed stalks in the summer.   Unfortunately I now prune them off after they start to grow but still have some seeds left over.    Also, I have a nice Chamaerops 'cerifera" and has proven to be equally hardy here in NJ!  I believe we are becoming a solid zone 7b with global warming.

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@ESVA Those photos are giving me post-living-above-the-Mason-Dixon-Line stress syndrome.  Much like @DCA_Palm_Fan, I couldn't get out of that stuff fast enough.

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 10/20/2020 at 9:20 PM, kinzyjr said:

@ESVA Those photos are giving me post-living-above-the-Mason-Dixon-Line stress syndrome.  Much like @DCA_Palm_Fan, I couldn't get out of that stuff fast enough.

Right?  Ugh I DO NOT MISS IT AT ALL!   i love my tropical paradise in St. Petersburg, FL! haha. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 9/21/2020 at 7:28 PM, ESVA said:

Just thought I'd share my experience here in Accomack County on Virginia's Eastern Shore growing palms and cycads. We are  at the colder end of Zone 8a with average winter minimum temps of 10-15°F but we do get a few winters every half decade or so where we might get a few days or a week of temps down into the single digits or below (-5°F).  We are colder up here than down in Cape Charles or Virginia Beach. Roses in Cape Charles will still be blooming at Thanksgiving when up here all the trees including the pecans have already dropped their leaves.  In Virginia Beach there's lots of spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) growing on the trees but here I only know of one woods near Eastville with a surviving population of the airplant. Been meaning to plant some on some bald cypress trees and see how it does. 

Needle palms do fine here, but I don't know of any specimens with trunks. Mine is typical:

Needle Palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix)

 

I tried a miniature chusan palm "waggie" (Trachycarpus wagnerianus). It got big enough to bloom but two back to back cold winters finally killed the growing spear :-( 

Miniature Chusan Palm (Trachycarpus wagnerianus)

Blooming waggie

 

I had hoped the waggie would be more cold hardy than the ubiquitous chinese windmill palm (T. fortunei) but maybe mine wasn't large enough. I do know of quite a few larger T. fortunei which survived the winter(s) which did mine in.. 

 

I did set out a dozen or so Cycas panzhihuaensis and two survived. I planted them in a very hot spot with powder-dry soil and think I lost most of them to drought rather than cold. Most years the leaves are killed come January/February but resprout come spring like a die-back perennial. The past winter was warm and the leaves survived. Very slow growing for me. 

Cycas panzhihuaensis

 

I planted a sack of a thousand Jubaea chilensis seeds "coquitos" and about a 100 germinated for me. I raised them in an unheated greenhouse/coldframe and over the years lost some due to either cold, too much water not enough water, etc and was down to three 5-gallon size plants. Then I lost 2 more and was then down to a lone survivor. Wasn't root-bound but wasn't producing new fronds so decided it was time to plant outside to dp or die a couple years ago.  Grew quite a lot this summer. Had read somewhere these didn't grow on the East Coast (too hot in Florida and the Deep South and too cold in the Northeast).  Our summers here are hot and muggy with hot, muggy nights. I've tried other plants from Chile that do well until they succumb to the hot summer nights.  So far the J. chilensis appears to be happy. I know someone on Chincoteague who plants out pindo palms (Butia capitata) for the summer season. Occasionally they'll make it through a winter but eventually they'll get frozen much like oleanders.  So fingers crossed. Would like to try the JubaeaxButia hybrid if I could find the spot for it. 

Chilean Winepalm (Jubaea chilensis) in foreground. Sabal minor "McCurtain" in background

Chilean Winepalm

I grew some Sabal minor "McCurtain" and Sabal minor var "Lousiana" from seed. The Louisiana has grown quite large and has been fruiting for several years and lots of volunteers around its base which is probably a foot in diameter but can't yet be cconsidered a trunk.

Sabal minor Lousiana

Sabal minor var. Lousiana

 

I planted out a couple dozen dwarf palmettos  grown from seed from McCurtain County, OK which is Zone 8a like here. Planted a half dozen on either side of a walkway on the south side of the house where I thought they'd be protected. The ground is very sandy, powder dry so kept them watered when little, but now they don't need supplemental water but have probably grown too big for their location and are probably too big to try to move.  

Sabal minor "McCurtain"

Getting about a 5-gallon bucket of seeds off  7 of the bigger plants every year now.

Fruiting Sabal minor

The mockinbirds and other song birds feast on the fruit all winter/spring and spread the seeds everywhere.

Volunteers growing under a Snowball viburnum (V. opulus 'sterile')

The seedlings are perfectly cold hardy here surviving -5°F winter temps with no protection. Drought hardy as well. I planted some seed out beside a walkway last year where some volunteers had sprouted the prior year and they germinated mid-July when temps reached  upper 90's°F

https://zot.shorehub.com/photo/4ca9cee5-c086-4196-98e4-2e6dbd01dc31-0.jpg

We had a sev

On 9/21/2020 at 7:28 PM, ESVA said:

Just thought I'd share my experience here in Accomack County on Virginia's Eastern Shore growing palms and cycads. We are  at the colder end of Zone 8a with average winter minimum temps of 10-15°F but we do get a few winters every half decade or so where we might get a few days or a week of temps down into the single digits or below (-5°F).  We are colder up here than down in Cape Charles or Virginia Beach. Roses in Cape Charles will still be blooming at Thanksgiving when up here all the trees including the pecans have already dropped their leaves.  In Virginia Beach there's lots of spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) growing on the trees but here I only know of one woods near Eastville with a surviving population of the airplant. Been meaning to plant some on some bald cypress trees and see how it does. 

Needle palms do fine here, but I don't know of any specimens with trunks. Mine is typical:

Needle Palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix)

 

I tried a miniature chusan palm "waggie" (Trachycarpus wagnerianus). It got big enough to bloom but two back to back cold winters finally killed the growing spear :-( 

Miniature Chusan Palm (Trachycarpus wagnerianus)

Blooming waggie

 

I had hoped the waggie would be more cold hardy than the ubiquitous chinese windmill palm (T. fortunei) but maybe mine wasn't large enough. I do know of quite a few larger T. fortunei which survived the winter(s) which did mine in.. 

 

I did set out a dozen or so Cycas panzhihuaensis and two survived. I planted them in a very hot spot with powder-dry soil and think I lost most of them to drought rather than cold. Most years the leaves are killed come January/February but resprout come spring like a die-back perennial. The past winter was warm and the leaves survived. Very slow growing for me. 

Cycas panzhihuaensis

 

I planted a sack of a thousand Jubaea chilensis seeds "coquitos" and about a 100 germinated for me. I raised them in an unheated greenhouse/coldframe and over the years lost some due to either cold, too much water not enough water, etc and was down to three 5-gallon size plants. Then I lost 2 more and was then down to a lone survivor. Wasn't root-bound but wasn't producing new fronds so decided it was time to plant outside to dp or die a couple years ago.  Grew quite a lot this summer. Had read somewhere these didn't grow on the East Coast (too hot in Florida and the Deep South and too cold in the Northeast).  Our summers here are hot and muggy with hot, muggy nights. I've tried other plants from Chile that do well until they succumb to the hot summer nights.  So far the J. chilensis appears to be happy. I know someone on Chincoteague who plants out pindo palms (Butia capitata) for the summer season. Occasionally they'll make it through a winter but eventually they'll get frozen much like oleanders.  So fingers crossed. Would like to try the JubaeaxButia hybrid if I could find the spot for it. 

Chilean Winepalm (Jubaea chilensis) in foreground. Sabal minor "McCurtain" in background

Chilean Winepalm

I grew some Sabal minor "McCurtain" and Sabal minor var "Lousiana" from seed. The Louisiana has grown quite large and has been fruiting for several years and lots of volunteers around its base which is probably a foot in diameter but can't yet be cconsidered a trunk.

Sabal minor Lousiana

Sabal minor var. Lousiana

 

I planted out a couple dozen dwarf palmettos  grown from seed from McCurtain County, OK which is Zone 8a like here. Planted a half dozen on either side of a walkway on the south side of the house where I thought they'd be protected. The ground is very sandy, powder dry so kept them watered when little, but now they don't need supplemental water but have probably grown too big for their location and are probably too big to try to move.  

Sabal minor "McCurtain"

Getting about a 5-gallon bucket of seeds off  7 of the bigger plants every year now.

Fruiting Sabal minor

The mockinbirds and other song birds feast on the fruit all winter/spring and spread the seeds everywhere.

Volunteers growing under a Snowball viburnum (V. opulus 'sterile')

The seedlings are perfectly cold hardy here surviving -5°F winter temps with no protection. Drought hardy as well. I planted some seed out beside a walkway last year where some volunteers had sprouted the prior year and they germinated mid-July when temps reached  upper 90's°F

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We had a severe drought this summer from June to July, but it didn't affect the sabals seedlings which made good growth:

2-year old seedlings (and some 3-year olds with fans)

I also planted some sabal minors on the NE side of the house  among the azaleas, rhododendrons and mountain laurels. The neighbor has some large 50+ year old loblolly pines which suck all the water out of the ground but provide light dappled shade. I think the leaf color of the sabals is improved with the shade.

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Grew some Cretan Island date palms (Pheonix theophrasti)  from seed and they were easy to germinate. Grew them in pots in an unheated coldframe and they survived a couple seasons before I eventually lost them all. Not sure if they might have survived if planted in the ground or if I had brought them inside till they were larger. 

Anyhow, I'm really pleased with how the sabals do here. I'd like to try Sabal etonia. I like the look of the costa palmate leaves and the shorter flower spikes are tidier. Found a forestry/native plant site in Florida offering them but have procrastinated. Maybe next year. 

ere drought this summer from June to July, but it didn't affect the sabals seedlings which made good growth:

2-year old seedlings (and some 3-year olds with fans)

I also planted some sabal minors on the NE side of the house  among the azaleas, rhododendrons and mountain laurels. The neighbor has some large 50+ year old loblolly pines which suck all the water out of the ground but provide light dappled shade. I think the leaf color of the sabals is improved with the shade.

https://zot.shorehub.com/photo/bb00bb78-d5a0-4647-994e-87be7a84d1b3-0.jpg

https://zot.shorehub.com/photo/b462cb59-7902-4318-ba49-015ffda38dc9-0.jpg

https://zot.shorehub.com/photo/ce42ad45-0502-4fb9-a085-edf149c3f2d7-0.jpg

 

Grew some Cretan Island date palms (Pheonix theophrasti)  from seed and they were easy to germinate. Grew them in pots in an unheated coldframe and they survived a couple seasons before I eventually lost them all. Not sure if they might have survived if planted in the ground or if I had brought them inside till they were larger. 

Anyhow, I'm really pleased with how the sabals do here. I'd like to try Sabal etonia. I like the look of the costa palmate leaves and the shorter flower spikes are tidier. Found a forestry/native plant site in Florida offering them but have procrastinated. Maybe next year. 

Do you know any palm growers in Crisfield, Md? Because I think that's the northern limit for unprotected sabal palmetto.

Nothing to say here. 

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  • 2 years later...

Jubaea chilensis Update

Looks like I haven't posted here in 5 years I see. And I also see that my links got broken. Ah well ...

Here's an update on my chilean wine palm growing in Accomack County, VA. 

First a picture from 5 years ago in September and 3 taken this January. The leaves have gotten bigger and longer. The leaves were about waist tall 5 years ago and now are chest tall.  The trunk has gotten fatter as well and is now about a foot in diameter. The past 5 years have been warm and we have not had any challenging winters like the winter of 2018. This year's East Coast blizzard just missed us. We got 2 days of wind and temps in the low 20's

 

I see on davesgarden that someone was growing a chilean wine palm in Centreville MD back in 2014 but it eventually succumbed to a couple days of temps at 5 degrees F. 
 

By and by I'll update about my other Sabal minors and louisanas when I get a chance. 

 

 

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For future reference, I'm posting a couple more pictures of this Jubaea chilensis taken this morning January 2023.  Grown from seed to about 5- or 7-gallon size then set in the ground 5 years ago. Hopefully, it will soon be entering the teenage growth spurt of which I've read about on here.  Hoping that this summer it will reach shoulder height, but will see.

Winters are generally mild here on Virginia's Eastern Shore in Accomack County, but we still have to get through February and March. The last few blizzards we've had have always struck in January, though. Winters with temps getting down into the teens or single digits (°F) are rare here, but do happen. We had a couple years of back to back blizzards which saw -5°F in the wee morning hours before the sun got up. So I do plan on protecting this palm if we get visited by another polar vortex. 

This past summer we had a drought severe enough to turn an 8-foot rhododendron brown. Once the spring rains quit it was bone dry and I think I only remember one thunderstorm all summer long. Summers here are notoriously hazy, hot and humid. Hurricanes are rare, but usually the remnants bring welcome rain at summer's end.  Fall and Spring are rainy seasons here, but late winter can be wet, too. In 2021, it rained from mid-January to mid-March and rained every day of February but 4. 

I haven't watered or fertilized this Jubaea since planting and I think it still made good progress last summer.  Heat and humidity don't seem to be a big issue for it at least here in Accomack County.  Years ago I remember trying seed for an exotic ornamental from Chile. They germinated and grew well until probably August when the summer nights remained hot, after which they just went down hill rapidly. So I wonder whether the issue with the Jubaeas might be muggy night temps as well?  Summers days are hot and humid but generally nights cool off, but we do usually get about a 2-week spell of insufferably hot muggy nights in August or late July. 

 

Measured last summer's round of fronds at 45-inches in length from the petiole.  Measured overall height somewhat over 3-1/2-feet. I guess growth would be faster if we had a longer growing season. Soil here is about a foot to 18-inches of rich top soil followed by clay and sand layers. This particular spot though had some buried asphalt and gravel from a drive which I had to bust up with a mattock, so maybe the palm's roots needed time to fight through the gritty gravel and asphalt. The bed is slightly raised and gets lots of runoff rain from the driveway and garage roof.  The garage also partially blocks the North winds so snow drifts on the leeward side here have gotten to maybe a couple feet deep in the last couple blizzards.  

 

So the last 5 years of mild winters have almost lulled me into chancing another Jubaea. I've seen someone on the West coast has a bumper crop of 15-gal Jubaeas with roots busting through and splitting the pots. 

 

 

 

 

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Edited by ESVA
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Nice healthy Jubaea, even the lower leaves are a good color. I fight with alkaline soil and well water so my  Jubaea seem happier when we get our winter rains.  I have lots of newly germinated Jubaea so I plan to plant a small one beside each of the other palms I have that may succumb to our very rare hard freezes. I think Jubaea can handle weather that might someday kill my other palms and if that were to happen I will still have something survive. 
Good to see healthy Jubaea on the East Coast , maybe your area is a sweet spot for them. 

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24 minutes ago, bruce Steele said:

Nice healthy Jubaea, even the lower leaves are a good color. I fight with alkaline soil and well water so my  Jubaea seem happier when we get our winter rains.  I have lots of newly germinated Jubaea so I plan to plant a small one beside each of the other palms I have that may succumb to our very rare hard freezes. I think Jubaea can handle weather that might someday kill my other palms and if that were to happen I will still have something survive. 
Good to see healthy Jubaea on the East Coast , maybe your area is a sweet spot for them. 

I haven't done a pineapple trim yet, as I figure every working leaf might help the palm to grow. I also figure the liriope and lower leaves might help protect base from cold.  We get some blizzards once every decade or so with temps dipping down into the teens or single digits or even slightly below zero.  We had a blizzard in 2018 and another the year or so before, both of  which left me snowed in for a week because of the 5-ft snow drifts.  I do see some reports of Jubaea surviving down to 5°F or even -1°F (but for how long?). 

I had a Waggie with 5-ft of trunk which had flowered for a couple years and survived an early snowstorm, recovered, made it through another snowstorm the next year, then succumbed to a freezing rain winter storm the next year, but some large nearby Trachycarpus fortunei  (up to the rooftops of ranchers) made it through all those winters without problems. 

Northampton County is considerably warmer than up here in Accomack.  I see roses blooming in November down in Cape Charles along with oleanders. I've had oleanders survive for a number of years here, one even got about 8-ft tall and was getting ready to get whacked back when it succumbed to just an ordinary winter.  Maybe the town of Cape Charles should try lining the  sidewalk along Bay Avenue next to the dune  between it and the Chesapeake Bay with chilean wine palms. The sidewalk is about 3 furlongs.  Not sure about the salt tolerance of Jubaea though. 

CapeCharles_BayAve.png

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1 hour ago, ESVA said:

I haven't done a pineapple trim yet, as I figure every working leaf might help the palm to grow. I also figure the liriope and lower leaves might help protect base from cold.  We get some blizzards once every decade or so with temps dipping down into the teens or single digits or even slightly below zero.  We had a blizzard in 2018 and another the year or so before, both of  which left me snowed in for a week because of the 5-ft snow drifts.  I do see some reports of Jubaea surviving down to 5°F or even -1°F (but for how long?). 

I had a Waggie with 5-ft of trunk which had flowered for a couple years and survived an early snowstorm, recovered, made it through another snowstorm the next year, then succumbed to a freezing rain winter storm the next year, but some large nearby Trachycarpus fortunei  (up to the rooftops of ranchers) made it through all those winters without problems. 

Northampton County is considerably warmer than up here in Accomack.  I see roses blooming in November down in Cape Charles along with oleanders. I've had oleanders survive for a number of years here, one even got about 8-ft tall and was getting ready to get whacked back when it succumbed to just an ordinary winter.  Maybe the town of Cape Charles should try lining the  sidewalk along Bay Avenue next to the dune  between it and the Chesapeake Bay with chilean wine palms. The sidewalk is about 3 furlongs.  Not sure about the salt tolerance of Jubaea though. 

 

Mind me asking what your soil is like? Sandy, loam, clay ….

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47 minutes ago, RJ said:

Mind me asking what your soil is like? Sandy, loam, clay ….

 

Mostly loam,, I would say. I used my 16-in  King of Spades to dig a hole in the strawberry bed across from the Jubaea near the well head  visible near the red, white and blue painted garage side door.. Didn't hit any clay yet but if I go down deeper - maybe 2 feet - there's probably a 6-in layer of yellow clay, then some sand, then more clay.  Once I wanted to try some lupines which don't grow well here because of the heat. I dug out a pig weed with a 2-ft long tap root, so decided that area would make a good lupine bed and then double dug a bed for them. The hummingbirds loved the lupines which survived for about 6 years. 

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On 9/28/2020 at 1:10 AM, ESVA said:

Might give the 'Bald Head Island' palmetto a try. We do get some wintry conditions here, though. I think it was the winter of 2014 that did in my miniature chusan. This is the last photo I have of it and its leaves look dessicated:

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Anyhow, by the winter of 2017 it was gone. We were snowed in for a week with VDOT's snowplows unable to break through the snow drifts up to 12 feet deep. Eventually they had to bring in a snow blower to clear the road.  The Sabal minor in this pic survived perfectly fine, as well as the Louisiana and needle palms. 

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And the following winter of 2018 was memorable as well with overnight temps below zero. We were lucky and only got  snowed in for a few days by the drifts but those on the secondary roads were snowed in for weeks before the roads could be cleared. 

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Can't edit this old post but here are some of the missing pics. 

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Palms/Cycads grown in Accomack County, VA

 

Well, I can't go back and edit the old post to provide the pics for the broken links.

So here are a couple pics of palms and cycads I've grown in Accomack County, VA, including a needle palm, some Sabal minors and Sabal minor var. Louisiana, and a snow-covered Waggie, and a couple Cycas panzhihuaensis. 

And also a pic of the Jubaea from Dec 2019. I set out in ground in summer 2018. The 3-gal pal gives a sense of scale. 
 

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  • 7 months later...

September 2023 Update

Needle palm division and seedlings

This weekend I decided to try taking some divisions off my needle palm clump  shown here next to a gingko:

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I used a King-of-Spades shovel to pry loose 3 offsets from the backside so it wouldn't be so noticeable.:

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I think 2 of theem will do OK, but on the 3rd one I got no feeder roots, just the white fleshy stump. Maybe it will grow some roots. I potted them up in 3-gal pots and set them next to a bigger pot of sabal minor straplings. 

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While I was digging out the offsets, I discovered a clump of about a dozen seedlings which I then moved to a shallow mum pan and buried in the ground in a strawberry patch:

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There were also about a dozen fist-sized fruit clusters, so I decided to harvest them and spread them out in 3 seed flats. I didn't soak them in water or remove the fruit.  As needle palm seedlings are apparently very slow growing, this method of propagation isn't a high priority for me.  If they don't germinate, nothing ventured nothing gained. If they do, I'll set them somewhere out of the way. 

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Since it's now September, I don't know if they'll germinate this fall or wait till spring. They probably wouldn't have time to harden up before winter. Not sure what animals spread the fruit in the wild, but nearly all the fruit clusters were still held in among the needles. Why some fell to the ground and germinated, I don't know. 

 

Sabal 'Louisiana'

My Sabal Louisiana is still growing well:

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and the seedlings too:

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Its trunk is 16 inches in diameter at the base:

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For scale, the top of the washline pole  crossbar is 6.5 feet.:

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Jubaea chilensis

This past winter was another mostly mild one, but we did have a short cold spell at the end of Jan beginning of Feb in which the temps got down in to the teens for a couple of cloudless nights. Not sure how cold it got. I checked the weather history and the calendar says it got down to 0 deg F, but that's nonsense.  It maybe got that cold just before sun up. But  on average probably just mid-teens F. 

There was some damage on the newest spear being pushed up:

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Here's another picture taken June 4th when Hypericum blooming and  Sabal minor  getting ready to bloom on 8-ft stalks. 

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But the wine palm produced another flush of leaves, the latest of which are 44 inches in length shown here in a picture taken Sep 4th:

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Here's another picture of the same  leaf damaged last winter topped by this summer's new flush of leaves:

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I was hoping this jubaea would be nearing the end of its teenage years and be shoulder height this summer, but I think that will take another year. Its trunk at the base is 1-ft in diameter, 52-inches in height with 6.5-ft spread. Eventually,  I will trim up the trunk, but for now I'm leaving every leaf on the plant so it gets as much energy as possible to grow and put on some size. 

 

Cycas panzhihuaensis  and Cycas pectinata

This past winter was colder than the last 2 and my pair of cycas panzhihuaensis got killed back to the ground but sprung back this summer.  This bed needs overhauling as it's being strangled by vinca major. 

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I had 3 cycas pectinata  with 6- to 8-in caudices potted up in 10-gal pots which I would drag onto an enclosed porch every fall when we got frost warnings.  Then a day  or two later, temps would be back up in the 40's or 60's and I might drag the cycads outside again for some sun. But eventually I'd slip up and misjudge how cold a night would get and  the leaves would get burned. So I'd drag them back inside and water anyhow  over the winter occasionally just to keep roots from drying out.. Come springr they would set out a new flush of 3-foot leaves. However, I decided I needed the porch space for a home gym and didn't want  to hassle with the cycads anymore, so I planted them out in the garden last summer. Not surprisingly, they didn't winter over as this winter was harsher than the last years, but I just noticed this week that the smallest caudex has sent up a flush of very small leaves.   Maybe as this was one of the smaller caudexes it got buried and protected more from the freezing weather. Wasn't sure if burying the caudexes would make them susceptible to winter rot so I hedged and buried them half way. Anyhow, it's an end of summer surprise.

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On 9/28/2020 at 3:24 PM, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

 

I remember those winters in the DC  area too.  I DO NOT MISS THEM! 

Those kinds of winter events anywhere north of VA Beach, or maybe up to DE, along the immediate coast, are likely to kill any unprotected Trachycarpus palms.  They need to be at least wrapped  and have Xmas lights (incandescent) in / around the wrapping. and the crown likely needs to be protected as well.   The two tried and true palms that I had while living up in the DC area that never failed in spite of some very harsh winter conditions at times, were the Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, and the Sabal Minor.  Nothing else comes close to being as bullet proof as those two when you are away from the coast with no protection.  Granted, being on the south side of a building is the best in those conditions. 

Im very curious about the Spanish moss you say that is growing in woods near you. Do you have photos of it?  If that is in fact a native population, that is a pretty big deal as the farthest north known native population is at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach.    Id love to see photos of what you describe and where it is located on a map.

Keep up the great work!  I remember how much I enjoyed my palms when I was up north. My biggest success is a Sabal Minor I planted in front, south facing side of my home in Alexandria VA, back in 2010.   It is still there to this day and has grown significantly and fruits regularly.   I still go on google street view to check on it from time to time.

Haven't seen the patch of spanish moss near Eastville in Northampton County, but others have found it surviving but struggling. 

Eastville spanish moss

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On 9/17/2023 at 12:22 PM, Will Simpson said:

I'm impressed by the Jubaea . 

Will

I think it's been almost 20 years old grown from seed which I ordered from RarePalmSeeds. IIRC, I ordered a sack of coquitos which I soaked in a tube for a couple days, then spread out in a couple seed beds I made from pallets. About a 100 germinated which I then planted in tall styrofoam drink cups and then grew in an unheated greenhouse (coldframe hoophouse).  Over the subsequent winters I lost a lot of them during winters in the coldframe, either from too little or too much water or too cold. I had 3 survivors which I planted  up in 8 inch terracotta pots which I then no longer left in the coldframe during winter, but brought inside on an unheated enclosed porch which usually stayed about 40F during winter but could get down to upper 20's occasionally.  I'd put them outside for some sun during spring-fall. Then I lost one during a winter and was down to just 2 which I potted up  in 7-gal nursery pots. Then lost another one during another winter so was down to just a lone survivor which seemed to be hardly growing even though it was potted in a 7-gal pot. So I decided to put it in the ground come spring 2018 as I had nothing to lose.  It has survived 5 years so far in the ground, but our winters have been mild since with no blizzards like that of 2017/2018. 

 

I might give some thought to giving it some protection should we get an extreme winter with blizzards. There's a youtube channel "bestpalms.pl" by somebody in Poland who grows a variety of palms including a Jubaea chilensis. I don't speak polish and there's no subtitling, but I see he does have to build boxes wrapped in greenhouse polyethylene to protect his more tender palms during the winter.  BTW, there's another youtube channel showcasing palms in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware, primarily dwarf palmettos and needle palms but also some chinese windmill palms. 

 

BTW, in addition to the couple patches of wild spanish moss down around Eastville in Northampton county, VA, I just learned from Terry Thomas (owner of Thomas Gardens in New Church, VA) that there are a couple trees up here in Accomack county with spanish moss growing on them  The current owner of one of the trees near Onancock didn't plant the spanish moss  and doesn't know where it came from. Maybe a previous owner planted it or maybe it a bird brought it from somewhere.  It's not invasive in this colder climate.  Anyhow, I may try planting some spanish moss this spring on some bald cypresses and crepe myrtles. 

Edited by ESVA
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