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Zone 9b Palm List Expands Again


_Keith

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(sonoranfans @ Mar. 28 2008,21:33)

QUOTE
Nice sabal minor TJ, is that lousiana?  It seems to have some blue in the color, like a lousiana.  I had read those were good to 5 F, one of the most cold tolerant sabals.  I have one in a 3 gallon grown from bare root seedling, its also very tough in the heat as a strap leaf palm.

Keith, I had also read one source where sabal bermudana was good to 8F, the most cold tolerant of the large sabals.

Thanks.  You know, I've had them so long I don't even remember.  I know I had never heard of a 'Louisiana' variety when I got them.  I probably either grew them from seed I got from Texas, or ordered them as seedlings from HI (Kahopo?).  I should really keep better notes.  :P

Tom

Bowie, Maryland, USA - USDA z7a
hardiestpalms.com

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  • 4 years later...

Keith,

Old thread....any new findings after the winters of 09,10,11?

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

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Yes, after the Zone 8 winter of 2010, in my Zone 9 yard, I found over 30 dead palms. Scratch most of that list, lol.

In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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Beccariophoenix alfredii 24 - 3 years in a row

Chambeyronia marcocarpa 24 - 3 years in a row

Howea forsteriana and belmoreana - same

John Case

Brentwood CA

Owner and curator of Hana Keu Garden

USDA Zone 9b more or less, Sunset Zone 14 in winter 9 in summer

"Its always exciting the first time you save the world. Its a real thrill!"

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Yes, after the Zone 8 winter of 2010, in my Zone 9 yard, I found over 30 dead palms. Scratch most of that list, lol.

Cmon Keith, you have over 260 plus palms on that list....time to update with your new knowlege after the big freezes of 09 and 10 . I would imagine a big factor in the survivability is size.....and also whether or not a palm is in the ground or not. I know Bizmarkia does not like frozen roots that come from being in a pot below freezing....In the ground they survive.

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

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The late Winter freeze (actually just barely a freeze, but a wet one with no daytime warming for a week) of 2010 eventually took everything except the Washingtonias, Queens, Chamerops H., Kentiopsis oliviformis and Roystonia regia. Lost Veitchias, Euterpes, Dictospermas, a very large Bottle, all Dypsis, Chamadoreas, Archontophoenix maxima and cunninghamia, Adonias, Chambeyronias, and foxstails. It was a debacle. I haven't had the heart to plant a new palm since. It took the Triangle a year to die, but I am sure the pink rot got it because it was weakened by the 2010 event.

Jim Robinson

Growing in:

San Antonio, TX Z9a

Key Allegro, TX Z10a

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The late Winter freeze (actually just barely a freeze, but a wet one with no daytime warming for a week) of 2010 eventually took everything except the Washingtonias, Queens, Chamerops H., Kentiopsis oliviformis and Roystonia regia. Lost Veitchias, Euterpes, Dictospermas, a very large Bottle, all Dypsis, Chamadoreas, Archontophoenix maxima and cunninghamia, Adonias, Chambeyronias, and foxstails. It was a debacle. I haven't had the heart to plant a new palm since. It took the Triangle a year to die, but I am sure the pink rot got it because it was weakened by the 2010 event.

OUCH!
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The late Winter freeze (actually just barely a freeze, but a wet one with no daytime warming for a week) of 2010 eventually took everything except the Washingtonias, Queens, Chamerops H., Kentiopsis oliviformis and Roystonia regia. Lost Veitchias, Euterpes, Dictospermas, a very large Bottle, all Dypsis, Chamadoreas, Archontophoenix maxima and cunninghamia, Adonias, Chambeyronias, and foxstails. It was a debacle. I haven't had the heart to plant a new palm since. It took the Triangle a year to die, but I am sure the pink rot got it because it was weakened by the 2010 event.

Jim, indeed the biggest issue on the Gulf Coast is that our freezes, like our winters, are wet. In California's dry climate, palms and many other plants handle the cold much better. A zone to zone comparison is not valid.

In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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I am very glad that also others use the distinction between wet and dry freeze. I thought untill now that I was the only one using this terminology, since other member by freeze or frost mean only the went one. In 2004 I lost to wet freeze (two consecutive days of snow also and registered an absolut min. of -2C) among other palms also all my Phoenix roebeleni. Same plants in the November 2003 dry freeze (the whole day long the water in the trays remained stone-ice) got absolutely no damage.

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Florida's dry freezes are nasty enough. It's weird to see a wind map of the peninsula on such a night, with southward wind inland and cold air "drainage" from the cold land to the warmer ocean on both coasts.

I have a purported Cryosophila warscewiczii that was undamaged by the last freeze (officially 26 F) at the airport a mile or so north of here.

Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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The late Winter freeze (actually just barely a freeze, but a wet one with no daytime warming for a week) of 2010 eventually took everything except the Washingtonias, Queens, Chamerops H., Kentiopsis oliviformis and Roystonia regia. Lost Veitchias, Euterpes, Dictospermas, a very large Bottle, all Dypsis, Chamadoreas, Archontophoenix maxima and cunninghamia, Adonias, Chambeyronias, and foxstails. It was a debacle. I haven't had the heart to plant a new palm since. It took the Triangle a year to die, but I am sure the pink rot got it because it was weakened by the 2010 event.

Kentiopsis made it?! Maybe I'll try putting one in the ground... Anyone around Orlando have them in the ground? Experiences?

Jason

Skell's Bells

 

 

Inland Central Florida, 28N, 81W. Humid-subtropical climate with occasional frosts and freezes. Zone 9b.

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The late Winter freeze (actually just barely a freeze, but a wet one with no daytime warming for a week) of 2010 eventually took everything except the Washingtonias, Queens, Chamerops H., Kentiopsis oliviformis and Roystonia regia. Lost Veitchias, Euterpes, Dictospermas, a very large Bottle, all Dypsis, Chamadoreas, Archontophoenix maxima and cunninghamia, Adonias, Chambeyronias, and foxstails. It was a debacle. I haven't had the heart to plant a new palm since. It took the Triangle a year to die, but I am sure the pink rot got it because it was weakened by the 2010 event.

Kentiopsis made it?! Maybe I'll try putting one in the ground... Anyone around Orlando have them in the ground? Experiences?

Jason

Me too! I have a Kentiopsis Oliviformis in a pot right now and am debating whether to put it in the ground this upcoming spring. I am in Houston and I think the 2010 freeze should be as bad as it would get over here.

I can't believe that yours made it. That is very encouraging. Did it have any protection or something?

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I put my KO in the ground here in Houston hidden between a plum tree and a huge chinese fan palm, Ill see if the cover is good enough to let it survive this winter, It was one of the winners from the last few winters in a pot in my garage so they DO have some cold tolerance. If it survives I'll transplant it to a better spot in a few years.

Edited by palmsnbananas
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The late Winter freeze (actually just barely a freeze, but a wet one with no daytime warming for a week) of 2010 eventually took everything except the Washingtonias, Queens, Chamerops H., Kentiopsis oliviformis and Roystonia regia. Lost Veitchias, Euterpes, Dictospermas, a very large Bottle, all Dypsis, Chamadoreas, Archontophoenix maxima and cunninghamia, Adonias, Chambeyronias, and foxstails. It was a debacle. I haven't had the heart to plant a new palm since. It took the Triangle a year to die, but I am sure the pink rot got it because it was weakened by the 2010 event.

Kentiopsis made it?! Maybe I'll try putting one in the ground... Anyone around Orlando have them in the ground? Experiences?

Jason

Me too! I have a Kentiopsis Oliviformis in a pot right now and am debating whether to put it in the ground this upcoming spring. I am in Houston and I think the 2010 freeze should be as bad as it would get over here.

I can't believe that yours made it. That is very encouraging. Did it have any protection or something?

My KO (juvenile in the stage of a Kentia usually sold in multi stores) outplanted under the canopy of a citrus tree litterally melted during the above mentioned freeze of 2004.

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Found This interesting list

Matt's Palms

Matt Encinosa has been growing palms for many years in St. Johns County, Florida, zone 9a. His garden is in a warm area on the southeast side of the St. Johns River and receives some protection from a high oak and pine canopy so it is a little warmer than most of Jacksonville, Florida. In 2012, he offered me his record book so I could post the results of his trials of over one hundred palm species. Some of his successes may surprise zone 9a gardeners.

Matt and I have talked numerous times about the difficulty of describing cold sensitivity. As an example, palms died in a recent winter that had nearly two weeks of freezing and sub-freezing temperatures. These same palms had survived lower temperatures in previous winters when the duration of the cold was much shorter. Regardless, I believe that Matt's records will be useful for other gardeners and palm enthusiasts in zone 9a.

Plant names in bold below indicate plants that are alive as this is written in 2012. The others have died. Where Matt lists multiple plants of a species, I list the oldest individual.

Acoelorrhaphe wrightii - survived for nineteen years, still alive

Acrocomia aculeata (purchased as A. media) - survived for twenty years, still alive

Allagoptera arenarius - survived for twelve years, still alive

Allagoptera caudescens (syn. Polyandrococos caudescens) - survived for two years, still alive

Archontophoenix cunninghamia 'Illawara' - one survived for nine years (notes: foliage damaged at 24 degrees F, plants killed at about

22 degrees)

Archontophoenix maxima - survived for five years (notes: killed by an extended cold spell)

Archontophoenix purpurea - survived for two years (notes: killed by a winter low of 28 degrees)

Archontophoenix tuckeri - surived for six years (notes: killed by an extended cold spell)

Arenga australasica - survived for seventeen years, still alive in a protected courtyard

Arenga brevipes - survived for ten years, still alive

Arenga engleri - survived for eighteen years, still alive

Arenga micrantha - survived for ten years, still alive

Beccariophoenix madagascariensis - survived for two years (notes: killed by winter low of 25 degrees F)

Bismarckia nobilis - survived for twelve years (notes: slight leaf damage at 22 degrees F)

Brahea armata - survived for ten years, still alive (notes: another died after a period of very heavy rains)

Brahea edulis - survived eleven years, still alive

Burretokentia hapala - survived for four years (notes: killed by a winter low of 25 degrees F)

Butia x Jubaea hybrid - survived for eighteen years, still alive

x Butyagrus nabonnandii - survived for nineteen years, still alive

Caryota cumingii - survived for ? years (notes: thirty feet tall)

Caryota gigas - survived for five years (notes: killed by 24 degrees F)

Caryota maxima 'ko chang' - survived for one year, still alive

Caryota mitis - survived for eighteen years, still alive (notes: foliage damaged at 27 degrees F)

Caryota obtusa - survived for eighteen years, still alive (notes: foliage damaged at 22 degrees F)

Chamaedorea adscendens - survived for three years, still alive

Chamaedorea benziei - survived for four years (notes: killed by extended cold spell)

Chamaedorea costaricana - survived for two years

Chamaedorea microspadix - survived for twenty-five years, still alive

Chamaedorea oblongata - survived for four years (killed by winter low of 24 degrees F)

Chamaedorea plumosa - survived for less than one year (notes: killed by a winter low of 24 degrees F)

Chamaedorea radicalis - survived for twenty-two years, still alive

Chamaedorea tepejilote - survived for one year (notes: killed by 24 degrees F)

Chamaerops humilis - survived for fifteen years, still alive

Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera - survived for eight years, still alive

Chambeyronia macrocarpa - survived for five years (notes: killed by a low of 24 degrees F)

Chuniophoenix hainanensis - survived fifteen years, still alive (notes: severe leaf damage at 22 degrees F)

Chuniophoenix humilis - survived for five years, still alive

Coccothrinax borhidiana - survived for one year, still alive

Coccothrinax crinita var. crinita - survived for two years, killed by an unusually long, cold winter (2010)

Coccothrinax sp. (purchased as Zombia antillarum) - survived for three years (notes: killed by winter low of 25 degrees F)

Copernicia alba - survived for eighteen years, still alive

Cryosophila staurocantha - survived for less than one year (notes: killed by winter low of 24 degrees F)

Daemonorhops jenkinsiana - survived for seven years, still alive (notes: longest stem killed by extended cold spell)

Dictyospermum album var. album - survived for four years (notes: never prospered, killed by a winter low of 25 degrees)

Dypsis ambositrae - survived for 2 years (notes: killed by a winter low of 25 degrees F)

Dypsis ankaizinensis - survived for nine years, still alive (notes: main stem killed by a winter low of 25 degrees but a "pup" survived)

Dypsis cabadae - survived for two years (notes: killed by cold)

Dypsis decaryi - survived for seven years (notes: killed by winter with extended cold spell)

Dypsis decipiens - survived for twelve years, still alive

Dypsis lastelliana - survived for two years (notes: killed by a winter low of 25 degrees F)

Dypsis madagascariensis - survived for less than one year (notes: killed by its first winter)

Elaeis guineensis - survived for one year (notes: killed by second winter)

Euterpe edulis - survived for one year (notes: never prospered)

Guihaia argyrata - survived for nine years, still alive

Howea belmoreana - survived for five years (notes: killed by winter cold, temperature not specified)

Hyphaene coriacea - survived for sixteen years, still alive (notes: moderate leaf damage at 22 degrees F)

Kerriodoxa elegans - survived for twelve years, still alive (observation: leaf damage most winters)

Licuala spinosa - survived for eighteen years, still alive

Licuala sumawongii - survived for seven years, still alive

Linospadix monostachya - survived for seventeen years in a protected courtyard

Livistona australis - survived for twenty years, still alive

Livistona decipiens (syn. L. decora) - survived for twenty years, still alive

Livistona fulva - survived for thirteen years, still alive (notes: very minor leaf damage at 22 degrees F)

Livistona jenkinsiana - survived for six years (notes: no cold damage due to extended cold spell)

Livistona mariae - survived for nine years (notes: cause of death uncertain)

Livistona muelleri - survived for twenty years, still alive

Livistona rigida - survived for twenty years, still alive

Livistona saribus - survived for twenty-three years, still alive

Lytocaryum weddellianum - survived for ten years, still alive in a protected courtyard

Nannarhops ritchiana - survived for twenty years, still alive (notes: won't grow, won't die)

Parajubaea cocoides - survived for nine years (notes: died during the summer, seemingly not due to cold damage)

Phoenix canariensis - survived for twenty years, still alive

Phoenix reclinata - survived for twelve years, still alive

Phoenix rupicola - survived for fifteen years, still alive

Phoenix sylvestris - survived for fourteen years, still alive

Prestoea montana - survived for four years (notes: killed by winter low of 26 degrees F)

Rhapis excelsa - survived for sixteen years, still alive

Rhapis laoensis - survived for seven years, still alive

Rhapis subtilis - survived for five years, still alive

Rhopalostylis sapida - survived for five years, died

Ravenea rivularis - survived for nineteen years, still alive (notes: leaves browned by 24 degrees, spear leaf and plant survived)

Ravenea xerophila - survived for four years, still alive

Rhapidophoenix hystrix - survived for eight years, still alive

Reinhardtia simplex - survived for seven years in a protected courtyard, still alive

Roystonea species - survived for six years (notes: six plants died)

Sabal bermudana - survived for fourteen years, still alive

Sabal causiarum - survived for eighteen years, still alive

Sabal mauritiiformis - survived for eleven years, still alive

Sabal maritima - survived for thirteen years, still alive

Sabal minor - survived for sixteen years, still alive

Sabal rosei - survived for eighteen years, still alive

Sabal uresana - survived for a few years (notes: always struggled)

Serenoa repens "blue form" - survived for twenty years, still alive

Syagrus coronata - survived for seven years, still alive

Syagrus flexuosa - survived for twelve years, one still alive (notes: one plant killed by a winter low of 22 degrees F,

leaves of the other were browned at that temperature but it survived)

Syagrus oleracea - survived for eight years, still alive

Syagrus romanzoffiana - survived for over thirty years, still alive (notes: some leaf damage at 22 degrees F)

Syagrus sancona - survived for two years, still alive

Syagrus schizophylla - survived for twelve years (notes: considerable leaf damage at 22 degrees F)

Syagrus species (acquired as S. amara) - survived for seven years, still alive

Synecanthus fibrosus - survived less than one year (notes: killed by 24 degrees F)

Trachycarpus fortunei - survived for twenty-six years, still alive

Trachycarpus martianus - survived for twelve years, still alive (notes: no damage at 22 degrees F)

Trachycarpus takil - survived for thirteen years, still alive

Trithrinax acanthacoma - survived for nineteen years, still alive

Trithrinax biflabellata - survived for a few years (notes: never flourished, died slowly)

Trithrinax brasiliensis - survived for seventeen years, still alive

Trithrinax campestris - survived for two years, still alive

Wallichia densiflora - survived for nine years, still alive (notes: heavy damage by winter lows of 24 degrees F)

Wallichia disticha - survived for ten years, still alive

Washingtonia robusta - survived for nineteen years, still alive

Wodyetia bifurcata - survived for five years, (notes: killed by 29 degrees F)

  • Upvote 4

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

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That's it! Very realistic report, and apart from some exceptions, that have to do with Florida's specific climate (the curve of temperarature during the whole day, on which frost occured, not to forget the latitude) all that is what I would also expect to survive in a 9a zone.

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Very consistent with my past experience here in La. zone 9a. Big surprise for me was the Copernicia alba, and the Trithrinax to a lesser degree.

In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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  • 1 year later...

The list is now expanded to 263 palms, and many have a temperature they been know to live through with minimal damage. Help me fill in some of the missing ones, or correct. Remember, this is the minimum temperature through which the palm will live through with minimal damage.

Cocos nucifera 26

Unlikely.. :hmm:
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That list is a great resource. Thanks for keeping it alive.

Thanks Bob. I put that together years ago. Been a lot of learning since then.

In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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  • 7 months later...

The late Winter freeze (actually just barely a freeze, but a wet one with no daytime warming for a week) of 2010 eventually took everything except the Washingtonias, Queens, Chamerops H., Kentiopsis oliviformis and Roystonia regia. Lost Veitchias, Euterpes, Dictospermas, a very large Bottle, all Dypsis, Chamadoreas, Archontophoenix maxima and cunninghamia, Adonias, Chambeyronias, and foxstails. It was a debacle. I haven't had the heart to plant a new palm since. It took the Triangle a year to die, but I am sure the pink rot got it because it was weakened by the 2010 event.

Jim, indeed the biggest issue on the Gulf Coast is that our freezes, like our winters, are wet. In California's dry climate, palms and many other plants handle the cold much better. A zone to zone comparison is not valid.

When one speaks of "wet" winters, does that mean that generally, the entire winter season receives some precipitation, or does it mean that sub-freezing temperatures occur (immediately before, during or immediately after) with precipitation?

Also, what's so bad with a little precipitation during the winter season if the temperatures immediately after the rain/precipitation don't fall to below freezing? ...Hope all of that makes sense.

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The late Winter freeze (actually just barely a freeze, but a wet one with no daytime warming for a week) of 2010 eventually took everything except the Washingtonias, Queens, Chamerops H., Kentiopsis oliviformis and Roystonia regia. Lost Veitchias, Euterpes, Dictospermas, a very large Bottle, all Dypsis, Chamadoreas, Archontophoenix maxima and cunninghamia, Adonias, Chambeyronias, and foxstails. It was a debacle. I haven't had the heart to plant a new palm since. It took the Triangle a year to die, but I am sure the pink rot got it because it was weakened by the 2010 event.

Jim, indeed the biggest issue on the Gulf Coast is that our freezes, like our winters, are wet. In California's dry climate, palms and many other plants handle the cold much better. A zone to zone comparison is not valid.

When one speaks of "wet" winters, does that mean that generally, the entire winter season receives some precipitation, or does it mean that sub-freezing temperatures occur (immediately before, during or immediately after) with precipitation?

Also, what's so bad with a little precipitation during the winter season if the temperatures immediately after the rain/precipitation don't fall to below freezing? ...Hope all of that makes sense.

I think it must mean different things in different regions. Here in Norcal, our precipitation events generally mean it is relatively warm. It's when we get clear skies that things drop.

Ben Rogers

On the border of Concord & Clayton in the East Bay hills - Elev 387 ft 37.95 °N, 121.94 °W

My back yard weather station: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=37.954%2C-121.945&sp=KCACONCO37

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A lot of rain and humidity reduces plant hardiness especially for desert palms like brahea. That phenomenon is different from the occurrence of a freeze right after it rains. That kind of event comes with its own set of problems.

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Wet winters here mean that it is very raining all winter, and that cold fronts are almost always immediately preceded by rains as well. This is caused by arctic air hitting warm moist gulf air upon arrival. So, going into a freeze it will always be wet and more times than not the crown will be full of water which and that water will freeze even in light freezes. The ability to handle this is probably the deciding factor in whether a plant is cold hardy here on the northern gulf coast, not necessarily absolute lowest temperature. It is also why you see many people stating cold hardiness as 9a south to differentiate between 9a in the west.

In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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Palm hardiness is a very local thing, it really has little to do with USDA zones. Many California gardens sustain a number of 10a or even 10b palms yet coconuts that make it in parts of USDA 9b don't stand much of a chance in California. Dean and Geoff tried to come up with a palm hardiness rating, it's not bad, but it still lacks enough resolution to handle all areas.

At a high level, for the US, these zones do not overlap in hardiness ratings, i.e. a palm rated 9a in one of these areas doesn't mean it's 9a in the rest:

1) Coastal California: dry freezes, but less Summer heat, good for lots of higher elevation tropical palms.

2) Desert Southwest: Dry freezes but extreme Summer heat, fantastic for a lot of heat lovers that turn out much hardier thanks to the scorching hot Summer sun. Hopeless for higher elevation species.

3) Coastal PNW: Too much cloud cover and wet humid conditions causes palms to loose hardiness and therefore they can't survive the extreme cold events that would be routine somewhere else. Add to that the much higher likelihood of water in the spears when a freeze occurs, makes palms more prone to secondary fungal infection and increased damage

4) Coastal Southeast (Houston, down coastal Louisiana to North Florida to South Carolina): hard freezes that tend to be combined with wetness, but long hot humid Summers makes for quick recoveries.

5) Subtropical Southeast (Far Southern Texas, Central and Southern Florida): much lighter and generally drier freezes but long hot and humid growing seasons, and more pronounced dry Winters.

Brahea are the perfect example, many brahea can take 8b freezes in parts of the South but in the PNW they're dead from a 9a freeze. We have king palms that make it through 9a freezes in California (complete defoliation) but they croak in a comparable 9a freeze in the South. There are so many more examples of these sorts of differences.

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Well put, Axel and it's the reason we must do our own experimenting even if it is sometimes costly. After a while, we can get a good feeling for our individual growing conditions. Palms and many other plants are complex living things that adapt to different combinations of growing situations. You may get a fringe marginal to thrive in one part of your property where it would fail miserably anywhere else on the same property. This hobby is so much more than just collecting and admiring.

  • Like 1

Jim in Los Altos, CA  SF Bay Area 37.34N- 122.13W- 190' above sea level

zone 10a/9b

sunset zone 16

300+ palms, 90+ species in the ground

Las Palmas Design

Facebook Page

Las Palmas Design & Associates

Elegant Homes and Gardens

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Hi :greenthumb:

My climat is 10a whit some degrees of frost,and my experience tells ,if you do not want wasting money or wasting your time,you can remove seventy species of this list! :)

sm

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One more time, this list was compiled from many list found on the web including PalmTalk. There was no attempt to remove any palms, but to include all of those that were found on more than a single website. And this was compiled several years ago. No distinction was attempted to differentiate between Zone 9 in the west, south, or east, all of which have their differences. No attempt was made to take microclimates into account. It was and is an experimenters list. If you want a safe and sound list, look around your neighborhood and town and you will know what is safe. If you want something no one else has and don't mind a loss if you fail, give one of them a go.

In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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Great insight as usual, Axel. After being involved with palm growing the last 2 years or so I've learned a lot and I've certainly learned how to use the USDA cold hardiness zones as a general guide, rather than worship it. There are microclimates and even distinct subtropical zones (using subtropical term very loosely here for zones where I live, for example) like #4 and #5 which have deeper characteristics that need to be looked at. If it weren't for these zone characteristics that you list above, I would be much less apt to "zone push" with palms like wash. robustas/filibustas. Yeah, the crown might get fried in a decent freeze, but will largely grow back by May with the long hot and humid growing seasons that you noted.

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