Bismarkia nobilis

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

3 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Once they are established, a specimen with good genes appears to max (min?) out in the high teens to low 20s.  There is significant variability in their cold hardiness, however.  Almost all of them around here breezed through Jan. 2010.  At one time they were considered a 10a palm, but it appears that the right ecotypes are more 9a/8b.

Your prolly spot on as I am 8b , that was just bad timing for those palms. Both of the winter events I have been thru with losing palms weren't just cold but freezing rain to top it off. Hoping its a decade or more before another 1 like it

[Xenon]

16 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

Your prolly spot on as I am 8b , that was just bad timing for those palms. Both of the winter events I have been thru with losing palms weren't just cold but freezing rain to top it off. Hoping its a decade or more before another 1 like it

You're not 8b if you have queen palms all around you. Just some bad luck planting before the biggest freeze in 30 years. Not representative of an average winter. 

This one is on I-10 W (just a few exits east of SH 99) in a much colder spot than you. It's been there since at least 2007 and saw upper teens in 2010, 2011, 2017, and 2018. It never looks great, but it's still kicking. 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

Your right about being 8b literally half or so of the queens totally defoliate every year not sure why people keep planting them other then size and cost haha. The last 2 winters have made me treat my garden as 8b for now =) I told my wife who love Bizzies that we can grow them just may need some help every now and them during winter

[Xenon]

17 minutes ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

Your right about being 8b literally half or so of the queens totally defoliate every year not sure why people keep planting them other then size and cost haha. The last 2 winters have made me treat my garden as 8b for now =) I told my wife who love Bizzies that we can grow them just may need some help every now and them during winter

Where are you in League City where half the queens are defoliating every year?That doesn't even happen in most of Houston (which is mostly the same or colder than you). How long have you been here? Feel free to be as conservative as you like, but it's wrong to paint 2017 and 2018 as being remotely average winters. They were both some of the coldest in decades. Just to give you some perspective, your area probably never saw below 25F from 1997-2009 (records from Hobby Airport). Galveston did not drop below 30F in the same time period. 

What was your low this winter? 32F? 

Edited May 17, 2019 by Xenon

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

I 100% agree on the weather here im just gun shy to spend good money on palms that SHOULD be ok for our area. I have been here 5 years now 2017 & 2018 destroyed every palm ive planted. Im sure it will be a decade or more before we get another winter like 2018 which im really hoping is the case. 

[Tropicdoc]

On 5/17/2019 at 9:47 AM, Xenon said:

You're not 8b if you have queen palms all around you. Just some bad luck planting before the biggest freeze in 30 years. Not representative of an average winter. 

This one is on I-10 W (just a few exits east of SH 99) in a much colder spot than you. It's been there since at least 2007 and saw upper teens in 2010, 2011, 2017, and 2018. It never looks great, but it's still kicking. 

Yuck! If a bizzie will look like that here in 9a I may stick with my sabal bermudana. Kind of same look.

[Xenon]

1 hour ago, Tropicdoc said:

Yuck! If a bizzie will look like that here in 9a I may stick with my sabal bermudana. Kind of same look.

It looks much better now, I'll try to get an updated pic soon. This is cold 9a anyways (kind of fringe for queen palms long term). The bizzies closer to town have always fared better. 

[Tropicdoc]

Where’s that one? I’m familiar with Houston.... I used to live in Galveston and worked in Houston 

[ahosey01]

A very dry 25F this morning here in Wickenburg.  No damage to the Bismarckia.