Best Species of Livistona for Phoenix Arizona

[ando.wsu]

Hello Fellow Palm enthusiasts,

Just wondering what species of Livistona work best for hot Desert climates. I have a chinensis growing in the backyard on a north facing wall. It seems to do well, but when its hot, it has some drying up of fronds. In the winter time, it is shaded all day, then when spring hits, it begins pushing out new fronds and looks great. I bought it as a house plant in college from a grocery store, and decided to plant it three years ago. It is developing a trunk now, biggest about 3 inches in diameter and "seems" to be happy. There are five or six growing together, but pulling them apart was not possible, as it was one big mass of roots bound up in the pot for about 8 years. It even survived outside in Washington state on a very cold night, low 20's. It didn't even defoliate, however, it was underneath a large overhang which saved it from frost collecting on the leaves. Anyhow, if anyone has some other great ideas for livistona that perhaps can survive in more or less full sun that'd be great. Trying to plant some more palms throughout the yard. Along the fence is getting full of other things growing. Thanks in advance!

Ando

I added a photo if anyone was curious. It was taken at night, but this is what it looks like. About two feet tall. The dried up fronds were from last summer, beginning to push out some nice lush green new ones. I like that they look different from the normal common palms. They seem to stay smaller longer, almost like ground cover. Would be cool to have a bunch of these growing in front of bigger palms. But i read that these still get big.

[Dave-Vero]

Livistona mariae might be perfect. It has a small range in the southern Northern Territory "along creek lines and watercourses" according to John Dowe's "Australian Palms". Maybe also L. victoriae from farther northwest. Dowe doesn't provide information on cold tolerance.

[ando.wsu]

Livistona mariae might be perfect. It has a small range in the southern Northern Territory "along creek lines and watercourses" according to John Dowe's "Australian Palms". Maybe also L. victoriae from farther northwest. Dowe doesn't provide information on cold tolerance.

since you mentioned that species of palm, i found a grower on this board who is growing one in full sun, and it looks good. Thanks for the suggestion! I think i want lots of them

[Walter John]

Water is the key as per usual. You could select a few different Livistonas, so long as water is provided.

[DoomsDave]

You might want to consider L. carinensis, which is native to the deserts of Somalia, and Yemen. Tough.

They definitely like the heat.

[sonoranfans]

Many livistona can be grown in the az desert, but some are more sensitive to late day desert sun than others. I found chinensis was the most sensitive of those I had, it preferred the east side of the house, up against it. Next most sensitive were decora and austrailis, tougher than chinensis, but not really a desert palm. I found carinensis to be pretty good, but not the best. Mariae and rigida were very tough, these are the best bets for livistonas in arizona. Rod Anderson in north phoenix has these and more livistonas like fulva. Perhaps he has some seedlings of these as he is an avid grower. I would take his advice on any palm you might want to grow in arizona.

Here is a link to some pics I took at Rods house a few years ago

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=15006&st=0&p=252727&hl=+%20+desert%20+jungle&fromsearch=1&#entry252727

Edited March 17, 2012 by sonoranfans