Newly acquired from the HD

[feef706]

Found this from a fresh shipment at the local Home Depot. I had seen pics posted on here and was quite interested in finding one and then they just appeared. I read they have the cold hardiness of a p. robellini so Im thinking about leaving it in a pot so I can drag it into the garage for the winter. Id love to see it in the ground but with the cold damage my roebs got this past winter Im sort of nervous.. Anyone have much experience with these in 9a? Thanks James

[TikiRick]

James,

Quite a find that far north! Ft. Walton Beach gets some cold from time to time as you well know. I think that keeping it in a pot is a great idea...unless you have some microclimate on your property. This palm is from subtropical India. I have had some trouble keeping mine happy....they are heavy feeders--especially iron.

I would use some potting soil that drains easily, but keeps some moisture in (MoistureMax). I eventually lost mine. Not sure what eventually killed it. I should take a picture of a mature one not far from me. It is spectacular when fed well and cared for. It must be about 30 foot overall. It looks like fireworks!

[feef706]

Yea I was shocked when I saw it, it was actually one of the plants I was hoping to find when I head down south next week so I can cross that off of my list. I really like how gracefull the fronds are, they seem similar to that of a cocunut with the way they arc. Id sure like to be able to leave it outside. How do you find microclimates in your yard?

[redbeard917]

(feef706 @ Jul. 25 2007,20:31)

QUOTE

How do you find microclimates in your yard?

Thought I'd throw my two cents in on this... Overhead protection is good, because it will keep frost off of the tender plant in question. I first noticed this when a sago had been burned brown one cold night, but the part of it under the eave of the house was still green. Also, when I would leave for work early in the morning, I would notice frost on the grass, but there was none under the dripline of large trees. In the case of a phoenix palm, planting under the eave of your house is obviously out of the question but under some tall pines for example would give it plenty of room to grow.

Also sheltered nooks and crannies around your house are probably warmer because they are protected from cold wind, not to mention your house probably warms the surrounding area a bit. Hills are usually a bit warmer, I believe because cold air tends to sink. My brother has several chinese fan palms (Livistona chinensis) which look ok, but mine turned completely brown last winter. We live in the same town, but he lives up in a hilly area, although I also live farther outside of town. And if you live near the water, that is a warm spot too. Lastly, I would protect any tender plant until it is well established. I'm no expert, just a few things I've noticed through trial and error.

[gsytch]

Great find My HD in New Port Richey is still full of Foxtails, Coconuts and Adonidias..barely a cold hardy palm to be found! Greg in dry Tampa Bay

[fastfeat]

I also saw a P. rupicola, along with other nice palms and Ficus petiolaris at the Home Depot off Gateway Bl (?) in Palm Beach Co. Very reasonably priced, good quality. Sounds like HD got a statewide contract with, I think Sunnyside Nursery (??-check the tag--they're in Goulds, FL). Good variety of unusual palms and trees at reasonable prices; glad to see some more uncommon plants at the Depot.

This palm was never common (painfully slow) in SoCal, though it grew well. Probably hardy to at least upper 20's. Probably gains hardiness with age, and bud gets farther from the ground.

I'd buy two; one for the ground, and one as a back-up in case of a freeze. Good luck!

[ghar41]

I have two very small ones in the ground here that survived our January freezes.  They seemed to do just slightly LESS well when  compared with P roebellini.  

I have two.  One planted close to the robellini's burned more than they did.  The other is planted against a North facing fence....it was really cold there.  The spear burned and pulled out in the spring...but it now has a new spear and is continuing growth.

Slow?  Dog gone slow.  I don' think I own a palm (over 100 species) slower than this devil.  I never seem to notice any new fronds...but at the end of the growing season it always appears to have one or two.

[palmislandRandy]

HD got me hooked on palms. So far I've found (all 7 gals or more). L. Grandis, L. Spinosa, C. Macrocarpa, Areca Vestiaria, D. Rubrum, S. Beguinii, P. Coronata, A. Tiandra, C Metallica, and my prize, a double D. Lanceolata (marked as a Cabada!) I also bought 6 L. Grandis at Lowes, marked "Palm Grass". I know they all are considered common by all you palm freaks, but it's a start!                                                Thanks for your help, Randy

[osideterry]

Welcome to the IPS forum!

I wouldn't consider a single palm on your list common, and would buy any of the 10a types at first site if the price was right. Your Home Depot is a different animal than mine. The rarest things I've ever seen here are Chamaedora hooperiana. I've heard of people finding a Macarthur Palm and Phoenix sylvestris in SoCal as well. You are off to a great start.

[palmislandRandy]

All the HD palms are from Morningstar Nursery. I stop at every HD I pass, you never know what you'll find!  Randy

[DoomsDave]

That is quite a find, indeed!

Rupies are the tenderest of the Phoenix, be warned.  I had one that died outright (in a 15-gallon) this past January of Death.  Three others have bounced back well in the heat of summer, however.  

I'll be curious to see how it does for you.  Overhead protection is advisable, though that's going to get tough to give it as it grows, and they will get tall, though that will take time.  Here in Cali, I've been told 30 feet (10 m) in 30 years.

Keep us apprized!

dave

[Logolight]

(palmisland @ Jul. 31 2007,11:22)

QUOTE

HD got me hooked on palms. So far I've found (all 7 gals or more). L. Grandis, L. Spinosa, C. Macrocarpa, Areca Vestiaria, D. Rubrum, S. Beguinii, P. Coronata, A. Tiandra, C Metallica, and my prize, a double D. Lanceolata (marked as a Cabada!) I also bought 6 L. Grandis at Lowes, marked "Palm Grass". I know they all are considered common by all you palm freaks, but it's a start!                                                Thanks for your help, Randy

Welcome from me as well.

It looks like someone at that HD is a palm fan and is ordering the good stuff.  The garden center manager at one of the  Wal-Mart stores here in Jacksonville is a palm fan and he stocks up on some good stuff too.

[palmislandRandy]

Only the HD's in the better neighborhoods seem carry anything considered exotic, although they don't seem to sell very well. After a few months they seem pretty burnt and beat up. I hope the managers don't get discouraged, and stop ordering them. I guess most people feel 70 bucks is high for a plant they've never seen!                      Randy

[The Germinator]

Geez what Home Depot are you guys going to, the one on Mars. All we ever find here in So-Cal are Washies Queens, Kings, Windmills, and now Foxtails and Bizzies.

I always envy you guys in Florida, you do not know how lucky you are; L. Grandis, L. Spinosa, C. Macrocarpa, Areca Vestiaria, D. Rubrum, S. Beguinii, P. Coronata, A. Tiandra, C Metallica... I would take any one of these.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

I have a rupie in the ground here in Jacksonville, FL and there are Pygmy dates close enough to compare.  Last winter we had two subfreezing nights, as well as 8-12 nights with some frost.  The roebelenii lost about 40% of the green tissue and required quite a bit of cleanup.  In my yard, both species have a touch of overhead protection but frost did form on both plants.  The roebelenii had quite a bit of dead foliar tissue, but the rupicola showed only bronzing.  The lowest temps I recorded on my questionable thermometer was 27-28F.   One night the temp fell to 30, but it stayed below freezing for nearly 14 hours which caused some very thick ice to form on the tonneau of the pickup.  When I planted the rupie last year, it had a very healthy colony of root mealy bugs, one of Florida's insect scurges.  This summer the plant looks much better but as others have noted, the growth is quite slow.  One more piece of info.  When a friend gave me the rupi, he thought it was P sylvestris.  I left it outside in an 8" clay pot one night  when it went below freezing for 14-16 hours and the minimum was around 24f (I was still living in NC at the time).  I was quite dissappointed in the severe damage that occurred to my "sylvestris".  At least 80% of the green tissue died and the spear pulled.  It took most of the following summer here in FL to recover.

[Kris]

Dear James  

that palm looks very healthy and nice and the cycas revoulta at the back looks great.

thanks & Love,

Kris  

[osideterry]

I'll keep this going a bit. I picked up a 5-gallon Rupi in April. I know all phoenix hybridize easily, and if I had to guess on mixed genetics, mine looks about 20% pygmy (if that's possible). Can I expect slightly faster growth?

I've also been looking at a 25 gallon Rupi at a local nursery. It's clumping, which is making me think it has to be a reclinata cross. I have to think it has the potential to be a great palm.

[fastfeat]

Terry--

P. reclinata seems to be the biggest slut in a genus of skanks...Maybe it's the multiple, spreading heads, like a medusa...If it's branching in a 25g can, I'd figure it to be mostly, if not all, reclinata. If you've got room and time, go for it.

As for the smaller one, if you've really got some roebelenii  in it, it may not be bad--growing a little faster to a lower height? PS--why do you suspect the pygmy hybrid? Does it vary much from the pics that started this post?

Post some pics of both if you can.

[osideterry]

Here' s the dainty-looking rupi when I first picked it up. It's added a few more leaves. I can sit it next to a small roebelini, and it looks the same only stretched and single-trunked. I still haven't committed it to the soil yet.

[gsytch]

Geez which HD do you go to? All mine here in New Port Richey get are Foxtails,. Coconuts, Queens, Adonidias and a rare Canary...and the obligatory roeb's. I did, however, find some overpotted Windmills at Lowes, for $3999 but they were very small so I passed, but big deal anyway. I got a tall one at a nursery in Tampa two weeks ago underpotted in a 3gal, 4' high for 999. Greg in newley WET New Port Richey

[fastfeat]

Terry--

Thanks for the pic. In my humble opinion, based on buying several "P. rupicolas," from several sources (expert and otherwise) and always getting hybrids, I'd concur that you've got some, if not all, roebelenii  in there. Looks most like a stretched roebelenii  to me. Was it sold as a rupicola ? Hopefully you didn't pay a premium for it. Could still surprise though...

Gregory--

Ask you're HD if they can order plants from Morningside Growers (Goulds, Dade Co). That's who's growing and supplying us on the Right Coast. Palms, cool woody tropicals as well.

[osideterry]

I bought it as a P. rupicola from South Coast Palms, as reputable as they get. Placement is a tough issue when you don't know what it will look like mature, probably why it's still in a pot.

Once you start looking for them, the hybrids are everywhere. In my neighborhood their's a roebelini/reclinata cross (Giant Pygmy) and another roebelini that's leaves are firmly upright. 2 blocks from my work is 50-50 canary/dactlyl cross 40ft tall with a curved trunk.

[fastfeat]

"Pushing proximities, phanatical Phoenix phans, plus persistent pollinators, permanently pollute planet's palm pollen pool..."

[SubTropicRay]

Nice plant but I hope you didn't pay what they were asking at my local Home Depot.

Ray