Zone Pushing with Large Palms

[ahosey01]

Hey guys,

Wanted to hear from anyone who has had success zone-pushing with large palms.

My town (Wickenburg, AZ) is technically in 9a - but I am near a body of water, in the central (more urbanized) part of town, at a lower elevation than the local weather station.  Dec-Jan lows at that station average 32-34 degrees, with a few nights down to 25 per year and every few years (5-10) a low around 18-20.  It is difficult to find good data for my part of town - but I will collect it this year to figure out exactly where I stand.

I am new to growing palms, but not new to gardening.  I planted a Madagascar-themed garden in the front, growing Alluaudia procera, Aloidendron vaombe and Pachypodium lamerei - which are all relatively frost-intolerant.  However, all three grow more vertically than horizontally and should max out at 8-15 feet in my climate without much diameter.  This should make them easy (relatively speaking) to protect.

The reason I write this is that I also planted a young (2ft trunk, 6-7ft total height) Bismarckia nobilis.  I intend to get creative to protect this palm in the winter on the coldest nights, and I have some ideas. for what I can do to get this to work (some of which came from a friend of mine)  However, after googling a while looking for some inspiration, I couldn't find many stories of people zone-pushing with large palms.  There was some cooky guy in North Dakota who was apparently able to get some decent-sized Washingtonia specimens to survive several winters with rigorous protection.  Does anyone else have any stories of trying this?

Just wondering if anyone had any out-of-the-box ideas that I hadn't thought of.

[Allen]

Large palms can be somewhat protected with high wattage spotlights on poles aimed at spears,etc.  Christmas lights can be wrapped on most any palm trunks and wrtapped in burlap to retain heat.

[Allen]

Many large palms can't be zone pushed much because the fronds are so massive they can't be easily wrapped or boxed in.  If you can't wrap or box the palm you can't zone push much more than 1/2 to 1 zone and get away with it for long.  Like I tell all the people in zones where many palms will grow I humbly suggest you plant hardy varieties to your area primarily in your prized spots and use leftover planting areas to plant experimental palms.

[Fusca]

5 hours ago, ahosey01 said:

The reason I write this is that I also planted a young (2ft trunk, 6-7ft total height) Bismarckia nobilis.

If you got a very silver Bismarckia it should be able to handle temps down to the low 20's if short in duration and dry.  If you just planted it this year I'd give it some protection if you get that low this winter however.  There are multiple specimens around San Antonio not much larger than yours that have survived 20° and 26° on consecutive nights in Jan 2018 although some of these were in favorable microclimates.

[VA Jeff]

For starters, don't attempt to zone push more than 1 zone.  It's a losing battle, even with protection and siting.

[ahosey01]

This is all good input. I am currently pushing at most a half a zone, and potentially not at all depending on the climate around my house.

Any other suggestions from anyone?

[mnorell]

You may get away with it for some years...if the weather gods are feeling charitable...but one night at 10-15F could ruin your whole project, and you have to make sure you are comfortable with the pain of removing a big dead Bismarckia. I can see a lot of those low teens historically looking at Wickenburg's day-by-day climate data, though most of those killer lows seem to be 50 years ago or more,  so perhaps the town has grown and has somehow become warmer at the official station? But you have to go with your exact location, and topography will make the difference. Wickenburg is about 2000' elevation, so slightly lower than Tucson (their official elevation is 2300' or so), though you're northwest of Phoenix, which knocks you back a little due to higher latitude. The Sunset book has you at zone 12, which is the same zone as Tucson, and I'm sure people are growing Bismarckia in Tucson; and you are warmer than Vegas, where people may also be experimenting with Bismarckia (I think the last truly devastating freeze they had there was in 1989 when the brand-new Mirage lost all of its gazillion brand-new palms due to an 8F temperature!).

If you're confident that your climate is good enough for such things as Alluaudia and Pachypodium, you could probably get away with it. You won't need protection while it's young because the growing-point (meristem) will be below ground level and will not see the same cold that the leaves experience. The leaves may burn but will be replaced relatively quickly (with irrigation) in the heat of the spring/summer/fall. Once the palm is trunking you will be able to protect it from any possible terrible cold for a while, but eventually it will get out of your reach and you are at the mercy of the elements. I personally would suggest you go ahead and do it if you have that level of confidence and are comfortable with a bad outcome...I did it when I lived in southern Mississippi but knew I would lose it, so I backed it up with a Sabal causiarum nearby, which will handle low teens. The Bismarckia lasted a few years until 18F (long, wet freeze) killed it. The Sabal powered through and became a beautiful, huge palm very similar in effect to Bismarckia, but with greener leaves. You might try the same tactic; and if it's the blue/white color you want, you might use Brahea armata, though that is a much smaller palm. But if your freezes are dry enough you may skirt by in the mid-teens, especially if you are lucky enough to get a genetically hardier individual.

If I were in your shoes, I would go ahead with it but also plant the hardier backup nearby. You can't make up those lost years, and you will be that much older and very possibly regretful you didn't plan for such a loss...having to start over from scratch can be a trifle depressing. Good luck with it if you proceed!

[ahosey01]

I think that’s a good plan.

Youre right about all the older data showing some devastating lows. Since 2001 though, the lowest I have found was 18F for one night, but the weather station is 500 feet higher than me 3 miles from the river - whereas I am right by the river. There is also a significant tree canopy in my neighborhood, although only partially over my yard and not directly above the Bismarckia. The Bismarckia is also planted as close to the house as you can reasonably plant a Bismarckia.

I’m looking forward to seeing the results!

[SailorBold]

Planting at larger size works.... it should be able to handle more cold than a smaller palm anyway..   if you want to wrap a larger palm in your climate.. you would only need to protect for a handful of nights..  same goes for a smaller palm too.. which may establish faster ultimately.. and also be easier to cover.  I say go for it either way...  Xmas lights work... and a quick balloon cover to trap rising warmth.

Here in ABq there are palms.. but there would be thousands more if we didnt have those few nights a winter that drop below 15 and kill smaller plants.  The filibustas that do ok here were all planted as large trees...they handle our colder wintrers and recover quickly.. The ones Ive observed over the years however.. id say they still took10 years to fully establish.

[Dimovi]

There are several large palms you can grow that have no problem with temperatures in the teens and don't need protection.

Sabal mexicana will not even have foliar damage at those teeratures. Washintonia filifera will also do great in dry teens. Butia Odorata is not bothered by temps in the teens, but perhaps it won't be considered large.

None of these are from Madagascar, but only palm guys would know that

I push stuff, but protecting gets old after a while.