Smaller clustering palm for Phoenix

[Leo in Phoenix]

Must be willing to ship to metro Phoenix, Arizona.

A friend here is looking for a small clustering palm to plant near the sidewalk at the corners of his front yard. He had pygmy date clumps with 4-5 stalks there (Phoenix roebellini) but the past few winters have been too cold for them; only one stalk remains at each corner. There were a lot in his neighborhood and almost all died in the past 2-3 winters. (Must be global warming.) Until recently pygmy dates were just fine here.

My first thought was Chamaerops, but he's open to suggestions. He wants to leave the existing palms until they likely freeze. The only Chamaerops we can find locally are in 5 gallon or larger containers, and we wouldn't be able to plant them without taking out the pygmy dates.

So we're looking for approximately 1 gallon size or smaller, that someone would be willing to ship to Phoenix, Arizona. As mentioned, he's open to other palms as well, but he wants smallish clustering palms. They have to be able to tolerate alkaline water, blazing hot summer sun and overnight frosts to the mid 20s. Rhapis doesn't look good with our water.

[aztropic]

Other than the Phoenix species,Chamaerops is probably the only other palm that will fit your criteria.(Blazing summer sun is a Very limiting factor) I have a 15 gallon community pot of Chamaerops seedlings that are 2 years old and average 18" planted height.Not sure how well they will transplant for you with our 100 degree days but if you'd like to give it a try,I will open up the pot for $5 per plant.Shipping is unnessary as I live in Mesa.Second pic is the mother palm.It keeps trying to clump but I am maintaining it as a single trunk.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

Another interesting Chamaerops possibility is the 'vulcano' variety.These are in 2 gallon pots but may already be too big for your project.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Leo in Phoenix]

Sounds like a great solution. I think we might pot up the seedlings right into small liners at your place and grow them until things cool down next fall, then plant. My friend lives in Gilbert and is traveling on business so it probably wouldn't be until next weekend. My E-mail is leo at possi dot org.

[aztropic]

One other species of palm worth considering,although not a clumper,is Coccothrinax.They do very well in our climate and grow very slowly,so would maintain a short bushy appearance for the next decade or two. Problem is locating a size suitable for your project.Here is one of my Coccothrinax borhidiana thats been in the ground 4 or 5 years now without any freezing issues from our past cold spells.It is less than 2 feet tall and is already a teenager!!!!!

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[quaman58]

Allagptera arenaria. Becoming much more available. Inland palms is growing them in Beaumont, CA.; cold in winter, hot in summer. When they were young they occasionally almost died back to the soil level, then roared back quickly with Spring. Once they're pinnate, they're pretty dang quick..