Q: Best Sources For Mail Order Cold Hardy Palms (USA)

[Collectorpalms]

It changes through the years, but I am curious who has Zone 8b cold hardy palms and has:

1) most professional website 

2) best selection of healthy plants 

3) best price and shipping for medium size palms. 
4) Hybrid Palms. 
5) best customer service. 
6) unrelated but are there scammers out there now.
......PM me of you prefer. 

THANKS

Edited August 31, 2020 by Collectorpalms

[Collectorpalms]

Second picture is of my Queen. First picture is of some other more hardy palms. Both pictures from March 2020.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Collectorpalms

[Collectorpalms]

[Collectorpalms]

[Allen]

Jungle music palms can ship to you by the pallet or up to 15g size via UPS.   Not cheap but that's the way to get mail order palms like you want of any size.  

[Collectorpalms]

Isn’t he a middleman, I have visited while I was in CA. I picked an unlabeled Phoenix that appeared to be a Theophrasti. It has done well about 13 years old and about 13ft if trunk. It never clustered however. Not sure I have anything else left. 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Collectorpalms

[necturus]

Wow dude, that Phoenix sylvestris is rocking! How long has that been there? I know they're pretty tough, but I didn't know they were College Station tough.

Also, you don't see the combination of tulips and palms too often. That's some nice tulipomania.

Texas Cold Hardy Palms has a great selection, but I don't think their website works for ordering. I've got stuff from them through Ebay and by texting him.

[Collectorpalms]

The Sylvestris looking Phoenix was planted with 2 ft of trunk maybe 15 years ago. Yes it is about 30ft now? It’s very cold hardy for me. It just lost its nice orange leaf bases. It’s never been protected but it is south facing and has a live oak on its north side. They are same age. I also rarely give my palms supplemental water. Our water is too high in saline. 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Collectorpalms

[Allen]

13 minutes ago, Collectorpalms said:

Isn’t he a middleman, I have visited while I was in CA. I picked an unlabeled Phoenix that appeared to be a Theophrasti. It has done well about 13 years old and about 13ft if trunk. It never clustered however. Not sure I have anything else left. 

He is the only mail order I know of where you can get larger palms of all varieties.  I'm not sure what you mean by middleman.  He may sell exotic collections of specialty plants for people like that sometimes.  He has a large nursery.  Only other places I know with a website and legit plants are Mule palms of MS and The Texas Cold Hardy Palm guy.    There are several people which sell seeding size plants of all kinds.  Steve in AL sell plants about 3-7g size via email list.  People on Ebay and Etsy have different palms you can look at from time to time.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Allen

[DAVEinMB]

@Collectorpalms I'm sorry, what was the question? Your landscaping has me distracted haha

But like @Allen posted above - those are all solid vendors. Great products and great to deal with

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

On 8/31/2020 at 7:57 AM, Collectorpalms said:

Isn’t he a middleman, I have visited while I was in CA.

Hes definitely not a palm broker. He grows plenty of palms from seed and usually has an amazing selection of shippable seedlings usually much bigger then there pots. Question him on a Phoenix palm isn't fair as we all know most are hybrids. He does aquire alot of palms from locals to broaden his inventory. He use to not sell many palms that weren't bulletproof for SoCal but I have noticed he is getting many more zone pushes. I have been buying palm from them for years now. Im always ecstatic when the palms show up at my door. You still have to chat on the phone with them to make an order tho , which isn't a bad thing =) 

T J 

[Swolte]

Fantastic garden! That's in College Station? I must have never drove by as I surely would have noticed! I would love to drop by sometime?! Tulip combo looks great (being Dutch, I have tried tulips but didn't get much out of them). 

I mostly get my palms from TCHP. Prices are very, sometimes beyond, reasonable. Good quality with a broad and unique selection. If he wants more business, he should really invest in getting a professional website and streamline the ordering process (I remember talking to him about that and he was aware).

Phil @ Jungle Music is great too but I am always shocked when shipping costs are added. I regularly order plants from the west-coast but I feel I am paying a hefty price here for some reason. I try to avoid ordering from them for those reasons when I can. I do like their selection and quality so sometimes it is just... inevitable (I basically get something from them once a year).

Once in a blue moon, Plant Delights N offers unique variations of palms. Their website and ordering process is so superb that you barely notice the price at times. Great quality. These people know their stuff. Unfortunately, they only offer palms sporadically. 

Mule palms of Mississippi is a bit on the pricey side for me but good quality. I got my first hybrid from them (still alive).

Finally, I have also ordered plants from various growers on Etsy or eBay. Never had any issue ordering but I do conduct some research and/or ask some questions to see whether its legit (insofar that is possible). Thus far, my experiences have all been very positive. 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Swolte

[Collectorpalms]

18 hours ago, Swolte said:

Fantastic garden! That's in College Station? I must have never drove by as I surely would have noticed! I would love to drop by sometime?! Tulip combo looks great (being Dutch, I have tried tulips but didn't get much out of them). 

I mostly get my palms from TCHP. Prices are very, sometimes beyond, reasonable. Good quality with a broad and unique selection. If he wants more business, he should really invest in getting a professional website and streamline the ordering process (I remember talking to him about that and he was aware).

Phil @ Jungle Music is great too but I am always shocked when shipping costs are added. I regularly order plants from the west-coast but I feel I am paying a hefty price here for some reason. I try to avoid ordering from them for those reasons when I can. I do like their selection and quality so sometimes it is just... inevitable (I basically get something from them once a year).

Once in a blue moon, Plant Delights N offers unique variations of palms. Their website and ordering process is so superb that you barely notice the price at times. Great quality. These people know their stuff. Unfortunately, they only offer palms sporadically. 

Mule palms of Mississippi is a bit on the pricey side for me but good quality. I got my first hybrid from them (still alive).

Finally, I have also ordered plants from various growers on Etsy or eBay. Never had any issue ordering but I do conduct some research and/or ask some questions to see whether its legit (insofar that is possible). Thus far, my experiences have all been very positive. 

Yes. I am a mile from The University.  Very warm zone 8b. The short time the tulips are in bloom get more complements than the palms. I use to plant palms and old folks say you cant grow those here. Or a real estate agent told me they belong only at the beach. Well after mine lived the city turned quite palmy! Copy cats. Lol I never would tell landscapers my secrets. 
my two big inspirations were Moody Gardens 9a/b and San Antonio botanical gardens 9a/8b. After the director took over SABG they got rid of a lot of there palms. I still love to visit The river Walk. Zone 9a/b microclimate. Now Dallas Botanical Garden Zone 8a is my next favorite. It’s more a mix of traditions and well funded. 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Collectorpalms

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Our website sucks but we sell mostly large orders to contractors and other nurseries.  We only sell to individuals because we wanted to give people an option that live in remote areas of the country.  Truth is we dont make much money when we sell a few small plants to individuals but do it because we know how hard it is to get a variety of cold hardy plants in Texas and the south.  If you need something a phone call/text or visit works best. We grow 75+ species of palms, 80+ species of cycads and countless xeriscape plants that will live in texas zone 8.  99%  we personally grew from seed.  We will focus on planting out a substantial amount of our 50 acre field grown operation in 2021. 

Jungle music buys most of their palms from other growers. I know guys that sell directly to him. 

[CodyORB]

On 9/3/2020 at 5:32 PM, Collectorpalms said:

Woah, is that a Jubaea!? Or maybe a JxB?

[Fusca]

1 hour ago, CodyORB said:

Woah, is that a Jubaea!? Or maybe a JxB?

Yes, that's the Jubaea at the San Antonio riverwalk.  There was discussion about it being a possible hybrid but it's not flowered yet.

[Xenon]

I'm really digging the multicolored tulips and palms. Looks like some kind of fantasy land. 

Nothing about Moody is 9a haha, easily half of their landscape choices are zone 10. Last time I checked they planted a bunch of Ficus and Tipuana tipu at the golf course. The shrubbery is all schefflera, sea grape, jatropha, calliandra, etc. The royals and triangle palms are still there too. I'm actually impressed with how willing they are to zone push. 

[palmhort]

I have wondered the same thing.  While I like Junglemusic, the shipping costs to the East Coast are crazy!  I would think that there would be  tons of growers in FL that would ship small palms but doesn't seem the case, unless someone knows of one that I'm missing.