hardy palmetto 40 Year Old Palmetto in NW North Carolina

[Palm Man 56]

I planted this palmetto as a seedling about 1979-80 at my parents home in Mocksville, NC in USDA Zone 7b. It has never been protected nor fertilized. It survived the severe freezes in the mid 1908s, but the bud was still underground at that time. The first photo is the palmetto in May, 2018, after the severe winter of 2017-18 in which there were approximately 8 days in which the temperature never exceeded 32F. I'm not sure what the absolute lows were but they were probably in the mid to upper single digits. The fronds were burnt, but not the petioles nor the bud, both of which which remained mostly green. It does have a southwestern exposure with a light, deciduous canopy above. The soil is loam clay typical of piedmont NC. The second photo was taken on December 21, 2020. It has taken better than 2 years to fully recover.

 

 

[Allen 539]

Nice!  I hope my palmetto will look like that one day!

[RaleighNC 275]

This must be the famed source of the Mocksville palmettos that PDN sells. I have an offspring from your tree. It is still small, but is doing well.

[Palm Man 56]

Thanks! Patience is required if starting from a seedling. Hang in there! How old is your palmetto? I would love to see a photo. 

I planted these Sabal minor 'Hatteras' at the same time. They were just small seedlings and now they are huge with a foot or so of trunk. My son-in-law providing the scale. He is approximately 6 feet tall. This photo was taken in 2016, so they are larger now.

 

 

[Palm Man 56]

Yes, this palmetto IS the source for the PDN plants! It's not the fastest, but it sure is cold hardy! Fertilizing will speed it up, but I'm not sure if this would affect the cold hardiness??

[EastCanadaTropicals 96]

2 hours ago, Palm Man said:

I planted this palmetto as a seedling about 1979-80 at my parents home in Mocksville, NC in USDA Zone 7b. It has never been protected nor fertilized. It survived the severe freezes in the mid 1908s, but the bud was still underground at that time. The first photo is the palmetto in May, 2018, after the severe winter of 2017-18 in which there were approximately 8 days in which the temperature never exceeded 32F. I'm not sure what the absolute lows were but they were probably in the mid to upper single digits. The fronds were burnt, but not the petioles nor the bud, both of which which remained mostly green. It does have a southwestern exposure with a light, deciduous canopy above. The soil is loam clay typical of piedmont NC. The second photo was taken on December 21, 2020. It has taken better than 2 years to fully recover.

 

 

Looks like they are long term in warmer 7b zones!

[RaleighNC 275]

2 hours ago, Palm Man said:

Thanks! Patience is required if starting from a seedling. Hang in there! How old is your palmetto? I would love to see a photo. 

Here is a photo I took this fall. The Mocksville baby is on the right, on the left is a Trachycarpus nova.  The nova is a filler palm until the palmetto starts getting big.  I think both were planted in spring 2018.

 

[Allen 539]

2 hours ago, RaleighNC said:

Here is a photo I took this fall. The Mocksville baby is on the right, on the left is a Trachycarpus nova.  The nova is a filler palm until the palmetto starts getting big.  I think both were planted in spring 2018.

 

Yea you can move the Trachy if you want later as those 2 are close.  Nice palms.  Trachy are hard to beat for speed in my garden.  

[RaleighNC 275]

7 hours ago, Allen said:

Yea you can move the Trachy if you want later as those 2 are close.  Nice palms.  Trachy are hard to beat for speed in my garden.  

Too many palms, not enough space! If I had another good spot for the Trachy, I probably would move it. At least the crape myrtle behind them is now gone. My hope is that the Trachy nova will have enough trunk by the time the palmetto starts getting big so that the crowns don't interfere with each other. If that doesn't work out, I'll probably just cut the Trachy. 

[Will Simpson 262]

That is a special palm because I lost 2 of my three palmettos during that 2018 cold spell . Did you say you have seedlings from that palm ? I'd like one if you are selling any . 

Thanks 

[Palm Man 56]

On 1/8/2021 at 1:48 PM, Will Simpson said:

That is a special palm because I lost 2 of my three palmettos during that 2018 cold spell . Did you say you have seedlings from that palm ? I'd like one if you are selling any . 

Thanks 

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[Advective 25]

That palm is a real trooper