Palms at Lowe's in the North Zone 6A/6B!

[RobustaEnvirons]

Today, I stopped into my neighborhood Lowe's and visited the garden center. I looked at the plant section (since there's no palm section at stores up here) and I expected to find only the typical Majesty palm, Sago palm, Money Tree, Lucky Bamboo, and Dracaena Marginata. But, I was very surprised to find Lowe's selling two rather large palm specimens.

Lowe's had for sale an Adonidia (Christmas Palm) and Queen palm. Both looked kind of sickly (to me) and Lowe's wanted what seems like a lot for them. They don't even have them out in the south-facing sunlight to get all the sun they can. They've got them off to the side and in the shadows. They do both get morning sun (until around noon-1pm), but I'd imagine palms like these need an abundance of sunlight. I can't believe Lowe's is trying to sell these, and for high prices.

Under closer observation, I saw that they were trucked in all the way from Costa Farms in Miami Florida (here to zone 6a/6b, Toledo Ohio). No matter what store I look at, Costa Farms is always the grower that grows all the palms the stores buy around here. It doesn't seem to matter what store either. They seem to be a big super grower or something. But, most people buy these palms up here and have no idea how to care for them and then they die once October rolls around. And they wasted a lot of money at that point too. I kind of got a chuckle out the picture on the tag for the Queen palm; that doesn't look like nearly enough sunlight to sustain a large palm like that! 

[RobustaEnvirons]

[faceyourfaces]

That's interesting; the Lowe's near me doesn't sell a single palm species! The stores in my area that sell palms only sell majesty palms, besides this one family-owned nursery that has a huge selection of palms on display in the front from bottles to bismarcks. While they do sell Trachycarpus fortunei, needle palms and Sabal minor are nowhere to be found despite being on the tiny list of palm species that can reliably survive outdoors in zone 7a.

[RobustaEnvirons]

12 minutes ago, faceyourfaces said:

That's interesting; the Lowe's near me doesn't sell a single palm species! The stores in my area that sell palms only sell majesty palms, besides this one family-owned nursery that has a huge selection of palms on display in the front from bottles to bismarcks. While they do sell Trachycarpus fortunei, needle palms and Sabal minor are nowhere to be found despite being on the tiny list of palm species that can reliably survive outdoors in zone 7a.

I was shocked to see these at Lowe's up here too. Normally, you'd never see these kinds of palms. I think what it is, is that I was in a rich suburb of town (Sylvania Ohio) and they've all got money out there. Lowe's probably thought that these would probably sell in that store. A lot of the people who live there go to Florida every year (they're snowbirds, they can afford it) and so Lowe's probably thought people would recognize them from Florida and want one for their homes up here. I don't know, maybe that could be it. I can't imagine why they'd waste the time and money shipping these here, when they only have a limited quantity of them. Also, other Lowe's don't stock them, I've only seen them at this store. Home Depot doesn't carry anything remotely like this. 

The Lowe's across town (where the average joes like me live), doesn't carry anything like this either.   

[enigma99]

I don't think the prices are that bad. Sure the Queen would be a $49 palm in the warmer areas but they had to ship it up there and there is more risk of people killing them for trying to grow them outside, etc. 

[PalmatierMeg]

Big Box stores sell whatever the market will buy. Queens and Adonidias are sold at least as far north as Washington DC. Back in the 80s I bought a queen from a local nursery in Alexandria VA. I treated it like a coconut - indoors during winter, outdoors in warm weather. Some people treat them as expensive annuals. Uneducated buyers believe that if a store in Nebraska sells tropical palms they must be able to survive there. Despite the wealth of info on the internet, few people take the time to do research. Costa Farms is a major supplier of tropical plants to garden centers. What drives me nuts is they never ID their mdse, i.e., "houseplant" instead of Alocasia reticula, "succulent" instead of Astrophytum asterias. The inference (likely correct) is that they think the customer is too dim to care.

The reverse happens in FL. BBs stock many plants that have no chance of surviving, i.e. hydrangea, junipers, hostas, tulips, daffodils, many cacti, blueberries, raspberries, on and on. Some of them can't take our relentlessly hot & humid summers. Others need many more days of cold weather than they'll ever get here. I've learned to research every unfamiliar plant before I risk buying.

[RobustaEnvirons]

I just thought that they would be a big challenge to the average buyer around here, unless they know about palms. I can't imagine that a buyer could provide enough light to them, maybe in spring/summer, but once fall/winter gets here they'd struggle. We don't really get ANY sunshine once October hits. That last all the way to the beginning of March. The tag says 6-8 hours of direct sunlight a day, so right there its states a big uphill battle! Direct sunlight can't even be achieved once you have the palm indoors, since that's at that point indirect sunlight (since available light is being filtered through a window). So once they bring it indoors in October, it'll no doubt decline. 

I personally wouldn't pay all that money if I didn't have the proper setup to accommodate something like either of those palms. I've read Adonidia die off rapidly once temps even dip below 30F for a short time. Weren't you the one that said all the Adonidia in Cape Coral died a few years ago when the temps dropped into the 20s for a day or something? I think you said once that they aren't tolerant palms.

For $49.99 I'd say "what the heck" and buy either palm and give it a shot, but for $119.98! No way Jose!

[RobustaEnvirons]

11 hours ago, enigma99 said:

I don't think the prices are that bad. Sure the Queen would be a $49 palm in the warmer areas but they had to ship it up there and there is more risk of people killing them for trying to grow them outside, etc. 

I suppose they probably aren't that bad factoring in the expense of shipping and all that. Like you said. But, I don't personally have an extra $119.98 sitting in my back pocket just waiting to be burnt, and I'd imagine other people around here probably don't either. Lol . But, you never know. 

[enigma99]

1 hour ago, RobustaEnvirons said:

I suppose they probably aren't that bad factoring in the expense of shipping and all that. Like you said. But, I don't personally have an extra $119.98 sitting in my back pocket just waiting to be burnt, and I'd imagine other people around here probably don't either. Lol . But, you never know. 

Once you catch the palm bug bad enough instead of hundreds you're spending thousands, sometimes monthly 

[PalmatierMeg]

Adonidias are nearly cold sensitive as coconuts. Both need sun, heat & humidity. Most homes in winter are too cold, dry & dark for survival. Most people don't read the labels on plants they buy. If they did, they'd know a plant that can't take below 40F is a no-go in Ohio. When I read a label that says a plant can survive -30F, I walk on by. That plant is a goner in our 6-month summer. Our vegetable, herb and annual season is Nov. to May. But that doesn't stop the BBs from stocking tomatoes in July because "that's how they do it up north."

[cm05]

Whoa, that's overpriced. I saw slightly smaller Queen Palms at Walmart for $12 back in May/June, they went quickly. And I'm in 7b, warmer than Ohio but no tropical paradise. I only see Majesty's at big box stores so it was a pleasant surprise.

Edited August 8, 2016 by cm05

[PalmTreeDude]

Lowes in VA sells Mediterranean Fan Palms and Needle Palms. Occasionally a Windmill Palm. 

[Silas_Sancona]

Interesting, I have yet to see anything beyond the usual suspects in any of the BBs locally, not even Coconuts which, even here, have a very.. to put it lightly.. slim chance of surviving more than a year or two, especially in the hands of a customer who has done little homework on how to properly care for them. Yet, back in San Jose (CA) id see Coconuts in the House plant section of the neighborhood HD each summer. While certainly one of the warmer parts of the Bay Area,  the neighborhoods in South San Jo are a lot cooler, overall, than anywhere here in the Phoenix area. 

At the other end of the spectrum, i once came across a large Bismarck in an independent Nursery when i lived in Cincinnati several years ago. Didn't know what it was until i saw my first specimens while spending a week driving down the west coast of Florida.

Touching on what Meg had stated, i was also often surprised to see "northern" things offered quite often in the BBs around Bradenton and Sarasota and such a slim selection of Palms. Don't recall even seeing Royals.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Silas_Sancona

[palmsOrl]

If I lived in the far north, I would have a reasonably priced indoor setup (mainly very high output supplemental lighting) to keep a few tropical palms happy over the winter.  I would definitely have Cocos that I would apply some bonsai techniques to, as well as Adonidia, Licuala grandis and Cyrtostachys renda.  Then of course, I would try Sabal minor, needle and Trachys in the ground outside to varying degrees depending on what zone I was in (1-2 if in zone 4-5 and many if in zone 6b-7).  I might also keep a decent sized terrarium for rarer, smaller palm species seeds and seedlings.  That would be the extent of my palm hobby if living up north.  A move I have actually given semi-serious consideration to in the last couple of months due to the intense heat and dryness this summer.  Also, I like 4 seasons, snow, bonsai, conifers, Japanese maple, etc. so I could be happy gardening "up north" too.  As far as orchids, the delicate species I like to keep do OK outside here in general, but are really better off in a climate controlled indoor setup.

[NorCalKing]

That's nuts. I can't imagine why they'd stock these? Surely they are losing their shirt with the typical one year plant gurantee.

[Matthew92]

Wow, what a crazy high price. Lowe's and Home Depot in my area has an abundance of queens (even though 8b is too cold for them), and those about that size are only 20 or 30 dollars.

[Brad Mondel]

Yeah that palm here is $12.00 at Walmart. I didn't bother buying one even though the price was tempting. 

[RobustaEnvirons]

6 minutes ago, Opal92 said:

Wow, what a crazy high price. Lowe's and Home Depot in my area has an abundance of queens (even though 8b is too cold for them), and those about that size are only 20 or 30 dollars.

That's what I would assume. It appears as you head geographically north, the price of palms goes up. And that would make perfect sense as they can't be grown (easily that is) in the north and so the price increases. But, as you've pointed out these BB really have no business selling them in the North due to the cost and probability that they'll never survive long-term here. I would think maybe this is just a business ploy to maybe get people in the door. Or, maybe they just stock these palms so they can say they have actual palms in stock (bragging rights or something). 

I know if I owned my own home up here, and I intended to live here forever I'd buy one. I'd do as some have mentioned and have a full setup.

1. My setup would be a South-Facing room of my house set aside only to growing palms.
2. In that room I'd have a bay window.
3. I'd have a grow tent with grow lamps and with sensors for temperature, humidity level, and light levels.
4. My furnace would be set at 83F all winter long, and I'd have a humidifier in the room.

But, of course I'm not staying here to live forever. I'm moving to Florida, so that all doesn't matter anyhow.  

[RobustaEnvirons]

13 minutes ago, Brad Mondel said:

Yeah that palm here is $12.00 at Walmart. I didn't bother buying one even though the price was tempting. 

I'm not really too into Queen palms, but I do like the looks of Adonidia. I'd go for a Adonidia at $12.00. 

[RobustaEnvirons]

2 hours ago, NorCalKing said:

That's nuts. I can't imagine why they'd stock these? Surely they are losing their shirt with the typical one year plant gurantee.

I'd imagine they are. 

[Brad Mondel]

Just now, RobustaEnvirons said:

I'm not really too into Queen palms, but I do like the looks of Adonidia. I'd go for a Adonidia at $12.00. 

Adonidias do great inside if you have the space. My old house had 20 foot ceilings and I had a tall Adonidia in there for a few years. It got too big to move so I left it outside and it eventually died from the cold. 

[palmsOrl]

35 minutes ago, Brad Mondel said:

Yeah that palm here is $12.00 at Walmart. I didn't bother buying one even though the price was tempting. 

Don't think I've ever seen a queen that size for less than $20-$30, even at Walmart.  I guess I just need to pay attention.  The market value is certainly not more than that in Florida at least.

For $12, if I lived in zone 8 of the Deep South, I would buy one (or several) in early April, plant it out as an annual and enjoy the tropical look until December or January.  You would get some decent growth over 8 months or so, but not so much that it would be a huge ordeal to remove once it froze.  There would even be the off chance it would survive a very mild winter and you could have it for almost 2 years.

 

[palmsOrl]

I took a chance on a $20 triple trunk Adonidia where all three palms were already trunking around this time in 2011.  It was an excellent choice and it is now 15' tall and enjoys a prominent spot in the front yard where it has not even been fazed by the past two winters.  The first winter ('14-'15) I carefully covered it with a massive blue tarp, this year I didn't bother and it looks flawless.  I would have never thought of planting out an Adonidia here when I started palms in the late 90s.  When we have our next forecast into the mid to upper 20s, I plan to wrap the trunks and crown-shafts with heating cables and let the leaves freeze.

[Brad Mondel]

8 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

Don't think I've ever seen a queen that size for less than $20-$30, even at Walmart.  I guess I just need to pay attention.  The market value is certainly not more than that in Florida at least.

For $12, if I lived in zone 8 of the Deep South, I would buy one (or several) in early April, plant it out as an annual and enjoy the tropical look until December or January.  You would get some decent growth over 8 months or so, but not so much that it would be a huge ordeal to remove once it froze.  There would even be the off chance it would survive a very mild winter and you could have it for almost 2 years.

 

Yes, I've done this before when I lived on the coast (8b). The palm lived for two seasons and then finally died from the cold. I now utilize my space for things that are long term since queens are rather boring. 

[cm05]

18 hours ago, cm05 said:

Whoa, that's overpriced. I saw slightly smaller Queen Palms at Walmart for $12 back in May/June, they went quickly. And I'm in 7b, warmer than Ohio but no tropical paradise. I only see Majesty's at big box stores so it was a pleasant surprise.

Forgot to include a pic, not bad for $12. I probably would've got one if I had the space for it.

[sashaeffer]

That is a lot for a queen. There is a nursery here in Omaha that has  9ft tall queens for $60 so bought one to add to the two I already had. They are super tough and easily over winter in the garage.

[RobustaEnvirons]

12 minutes ago, sashaeffer said:

That is a lot for a queen. There is a nursery here in Omaha that has  9ft tall queens for $60 so bought one to add to the two I already had. They are super tough and easily over winter in the garage.

Are you providing artificial light When you overwinter it in the garage? I can't imagine that it'd have enough light in a garage all winter.

My garage is an external garage (not apart of the house) and it gets about as cold as it is outside in there. Where I'm at in zone 6b, it can get as cold as -10F in the dead of Winter. 

[sashaeffer]

I do have additional light "now" but didn't for a while (just windows in garage doors)

 

Now... I have a 14" "suntube" in the 3rd car garage side and also now have 12 can lights that I can leave on during the day.

 

Now...my garage is very well insulated so never drops below 32f unless I would leave doors open for hours in sub freezing temps.

 

Also, I have a wall mounted gas heater that in a prolonged cold spell (below 0f) that I can turn on.

[Ponds & Palms]

On 8/7/2016, 11:15:47, RobustaEnvirons said:

Today, I stopped into my neighborhood Lowe's and visited the garden center. I looked at the plant section (since there's no palm section at stores up here) and I expected to find only the typical Majesty palm, Sago palm, Money Tree, Lucky Bamboo, and Dracaena Marginata. But, I was very surprised to find Lowe's selling two rather large palm specimens.

Lowe's had for sale an Adonidia (Christmas Palm) and Queen palm. Both looked kind of sickly (to me) and Lowe's wanted what seems like a lot for them. They don't even have them out in the south-facing sunlight to get all the sun they can. They've got them off to the side and in the shadows. They do both get morning sun (until around noon-1pm), but I'd imagine palms like these need an abundance of sunlight. I can't believe Lowe's is trying to sell these, and for high prices.

Under closer observation, I saw that they were trucked in all the way from Costa Farms in Miami Florida (here to zone 6a/6b, Toledo Ohio). No matter what store I look at, Costa Farms is always the grower that grows all the palms the stores buy around here. It doesn't seem to matter what store either. They seem to be a big super grower or something. But, most people buy these palms up here and have no idea how to care for them and then they die once October rolls around. And they wasted a lot of money at that point too. I kind of got a chuckle out the picture on the tag for the Queen palm; that doesn't look like nearly enough sunlight to sustain a large palm like that! 

Keep an eye out for needle palms at Lowes or even Walmart.  I picked up a 1 ft. needle palm at Walmart with 3 separate pups for only $24. I planted it in a part sun/shade area in my yard and it has doubled in size just this season alone.  I bet needles would do very well in your neck of the woods!  Thanks for sharing your find with us.  Good luck!