Palms In New York!

[OverGrown]

Hey Guys,

I recently moved to NYC, visited the Ikea in Brooklyn and they were selling triple planted foxtails as indoor plants! The only other palms I've seen offered in the NY area are C. cataractum and Majesty palms all sold as indoor for obvious reasons.

The weather here in the summer has more humidity to it, almost tropical if you will. With that in mind, what palms do you think I can get away with here. I will leave them outdoors for the summer and take them in for the winter and provide additional lighting. All will be container grown and I'd like to stay away from the more common varieties. I am willing to start with yearlings and sprouted seedlings.

Thanks,

Peter

Edited July 4, 2009 by OverGrown

[cfkingfish]

Peter-

I was born in Lennox Hill hospital on the upper East Side, and know the city well. Unfortunately there aren't many open areas to plant. The city is one huge microclimate because of the buildings, so you could probably have some potted Trachycarpus on your patio, Rhapidophyllum, Serenoa, and a few others. The hardest part for the plant is fighting the toxic levels of pollution in the city streets!

[epicure3]

Well, if you're doing the indoors/outdoors thing, the list is extremely long. Even for uncommon palms. What I would do is pick up a copy of Robert Lee Riffle's and Paul Craft's book called "Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms". They do a great job of stating which palms do well indoors with what intensity of light. It will be somewhat important where you place them outdoors so they don't burn.

[Jova]

I have seen reports of Needle palms and Windmill palms being grown in the ground in New York City with winter protection... I believe it was the New York Botanical garden that I read of that has several large windmill palms that have been in the ground for several years, protected by a temporary greenhouse structure during the coldest months. If you plan on bringing the palms inside for the winter, then I would think you could keep almost anything, but I wanted to try and provide some insight on a few that you might actually be able to grow for REAL:) I have planted a needle palm and 2 trachys (windmill) here in zone 6a Indiana... We'll wait and see how they fair. Best of luck!

[xerophyte_nyc]

My favorite hands down is Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, the Bottle Palm. It has the "tropical" look, is uncommon around here, and is manageable in a pot for a long time since it gains height relatively slowly.

I've also seen nice big Dypsis decaryi (Triangle Palm) in pots outside of several clubs and restaurants in NYC. I'm almost positive they keep them indoors somewhere during the winter. This species comes from seasonal rainfall areas so they can tolerate poor conditions (cold + dry, low light) during winter storage.

And of course the ubiquitous Phoenix roebellini does well indoors during the colder part of the year, and will grow slowly in a pot.

[OverGrown]

Found a Triangle palm grown as an indoor plant at a local Lowes. Excited about this new experiment!

[SubTropicRay]

I hope Mr. Bobby Savinetti sees this post.

[palmsOrl]

I'd imagine an established needle palm would be fully hardy in downtown NYC (barring 100 year events, though it might even survive these). I know there are multiple specimens thriving in Wash. D.C. so they probably have a shot at doing reasonably well in NYC. If I had the opportunity I would definitely try several Trachycarpus species in the ground there, as well as Sabal minor and Needle (Rhaphidophyllum).

-Michael

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hi Overgrown

try and PM Bobby as he is a real pioneer growing palms in New york area, visited his place and saw them for myself

amazing

regards

Colin

ps puts on a good barby as well (as in Barbecue)

Found a Triangle palm grown as an indoor plant at a local Lowes. Excited about this new experiment!

[DoomsDave]

OG!

You sure GA!

(Get Around!)

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hi Dave

visited him on the way to your place last time

regards

Colin

OG!

You sure GA!

(Get Around!)

[The Germinator]

Wheres Bobby when you need him. Is he MIA

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hi Overgrown

pm'd you Bobby's details

regards

Colin

[OverGrown]

Thanks guys for the input. Since NY is notorious for its cold weather, I was really surprised to see palms even offered for sale. Like Xerophyte mentioned, I have been seeing a few palms in front of restaurants and on rooftop bars.

Dave, I'm just going with the flow! Planting things everywhere I go so that I have something to see when I get back!

Colin, Thanks for the tip!

Edited July 11, 2009 by OverGrown

[OverGrown]

I guess Rockerfeller has so much money they can bring these things in and take em out as often as they please...I also noticed several large D. decaryi but didn't get a picture. They must have been 15 to 20ft with plenty of trunk. Makes me wonder how large you can grow these babies in containers.

[OverGrown]

Also some of the best bromeliad blooms!