Alkaline Soils

[bananaman]

Hello everyone!

I'm fairly new to palms, and I'm wondering what palms like alkaline soils and can withstand the cold.

The house I'm in right now is essentially on top of a giant rock. We have 1/2-1" of nice, rich topsoil, followed by 1-2" of very hard caliche mixed with large pieces of limestone, then there is just solid limestone and chalk.

Austin has hot summers and cold winters. In the summer, the average temperature is probably about 95 for the highs, with lots of days over 100. In the winter, it is not too cold, at least at my house. In the past 12 years, we have not gotten below 19 here, and 19° only happened twice. Usually, our ultimate low is 23-ish. The part of Austin I'm in was upgraded to 9a from 8b in the most recent zone map. This little 9a area is only about a square mile.

Anyway, I've got some date palm seedlings going. Can you recommend any other palms for this area?

I was thinking, aside from the Washingtonia that are everywhere, that Butia, Livistona, mules, xJubutia, Sabal, and maybe Brahea would do well here. Do you have any other suggestions?

[Umbrae]

just going through my own notes,

everglades palm could work, it likes water though

arenga pinnata is another one, these two I like because often times even though they get burnt to the ground on occasion, they tend to come back.

i would look for a brahea decumbens.

caryota mitis in a big pot, nothing ventured nothing gained, another suckering palm that can regenerate after a harsh freeze.

some of the bamboo palms may be worth looking into. Metallica would be a good one to try and radicalis too seifrizii is another. tepejilote

Med fan is another cold hardy one.

copernicia has worked for me as well as it handled those last two ice events like a champ

needle palms are a no brainer for you as are the serenoas and sabal minors.

Rhapis can take some cold too though may work better as a container plant for you..

s

[sonoranfans]

Hello everyone!

I'm fairly new to palms, and I'm wondering what palms like alkaline soils and can withstand the cold.

The house I'm in right now is essentially on top of a giant rock. We have 1/2-1" of nice, rich topsoil, followed by 1-2" of very hard caliche mixed with large pieces of limestone, then there is just solid limestone and chalk.

Austin has hot summers and cold winters. In the summer, the average temperature is probably about 95 for the highs, with lots of days over 100. In the winter, it is not too cold, at least at my house. In the past 12 years, we have not gotten below 19 here, and 19° only happened twice. Usually, our ultimate low is 23-ish. The part of Austin I'm in was upgraded to 9a from 8b in the most recent zone map. This little 9a area is only about a square mile.

Anyway, I've got some date palm seedlings going. Can you recommend any other palms for this area?

I was thinking, aside from the Washingtonia that are everywhere, that Butia, Livistona, mules, xJubutia, Sabal, and maybe Brahea would do well here. Do you have any other suggestions?

Brahea armata likes alkaline soils and will take the heat and cold, no problem. the others you have mentioned also look good, though the livistonas will probably have a rougher go of it, defoliating in 8b winters. sabal mexicana, uresana, causiarum and riverside would fare well, more tender sabals like domingensis, yapa, and mauritiiformis will either struggle or die in the cold. mules would be fine in the heat and cold, as would x jubutia.