Sago "Palm" project Central Maryland

[mdsonofthesouth]

I know I know they aren't palms! But still cold hardy testing none the less lol. So far these have seen 19F, many low to mid 20s for lows at night and even 36 hours bellow freezing! Might as well document these while we are having this well bellow average false winter....errrr Fall. 

 

Here they are right before our first dip in the teens. Filmed around November 20th

 

 

Here they are this AM.

 

ZERO protection from our weather and so surprising that the little guys are still doing so well. Hoping they pull through to spring as Id love to have a set of these in the garden. 

Edited December 13, 2018 by mdsonofthesouth

[NC_Palms]

Sagos will stay green until the temperature reaches 18ºF then they will defoliate. Depending on the winter, they sometimes stay green year round here. 

[mdsonofthesouth]

These are in my worst microclimate as a test. I'll be happy if they survive lol.

[NC_Palms]

3 minutes ago, mdsonofthesouth said:

These are in my worst microclimate as a test. I'll be happy if they survive lol.

If worse comes to worst, they will probably come back from the roots if they die.  

[mdsonofthesouth]

If we truly have an average winter minus a few degrees like they say I have hope they will survive. They took a good mess of mid 20s in pots last winter and did fine save for some burn that I showed in the video. Will be trying at least 1 on my good side to see how it will do. 

[PalmTreeDude]

One of my friends has a pretty good sized one here up against his house and it exfoliates every winter but in the Spring puts out new leaves, and has an instant full crown. 

Edited December 13, 2018 by PalmTreeDude

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

43 minutes ago, PalmTreeDude said:

One of my friends has a pretty good sized one here up against his house and it exfoliates every winter but in the Spring puts out new leaves, and has an instant full crown. 

That must be some very harsh exfoliation. OUCH! LOL!   

 

I forget where in VA you are.

MDSon, where in MD are you located?  I know the area VERY well having grown up in the DC area and in Bowie MD. 

 

[RaleighNC]

If you don't plan on covering these during colder nights, I suggest burying the caudex in mulch. In 7b I keep the caudex of my cycads underground, and have had great luck for several winters. 

[mdsonofthesouth]

 

2 hours ago, PalmTreeDude said:

One of my friends has a pretty good sized one here up against his house and it exfoliates every winter but in the Spring puts out new leaves, and has an instant full crown. 

 

These are right up next to the house, but on the NNW corner so subject to our coldest wind and weather. The great thing about cycads is once they flush once they have a full crown again lol!

 

1 hour ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

That must be some very harsh exfoliation. OUCH! LOL!   

 

I forget where in VA you are.

MDSon, where in MD are you located?  I know the area VERY well having grown up in the DC area and in Bowie MD. 

 

 

Im in Mount Airy, not the city proper but near the limits of the town. Still have yet to protect anything despite our wacky and WELL bellow average cold. Only thing thats showing stress are the bigger cycads as you saw in the second video and the Livistona Chinensis is starting to burn.

 

43 minutes ago, RaleighNC said:

If you don't plan on covering these during colder nights, I suggest burying the caudex in mulch. In 7b I keep the caudex of my cycads underground, and have had great luck for several winters. 

 

I did something like this for the first 2 winters for my palms and worked well! Worried about rot with the wetness though, but in all honesty sagos are so cheap its no big deal to test hence why Im testing these. The lovely thing about these sagos is I put the tiny root balls into pure garden soil with pots way too big and they filled the pots with roots in a few months! Made planting super easy as it fell out of the pot with all the dirt intact.

[PalmTreeDude]

1 hour ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

That must be some very harsh exfoliation. OUCH! LOL!   

 

I forget where in VA you are.

MDSon, where in MD are you located?  I know the area VERY well having grown up in the DC area and in Bowie MD. 

 

I live just south of Richmond in Chester.