hardy palmetto 40 Year Old Palmetto in NW North Carolina

[Palm Man]

I planted this palmetto as a seedling about 1979-80 at my parents home in Mocksville, NC in USDA Zone 7b. It has never been protected nor fertilized. It survived the severe freezes in the mid 1908s, but the bud was still underground at that time. The first photo is the palmetto in May, 2018, after the severe winter of 2017-18 in which there were approximately 8 days in which the temperature never exceeded 32F. I'm not sure what the absolute lows were but they were probably in the mid to upper single digits. The fronds were burnt, but not the petioles nor the bud, both of which which remained mostly green. It does have a southwestern exposure with a light, deciduous canopy above. The soil is loam clay typical of piedmont NC. The second photo was taken on December 21, 2020. It has taken better than 2 years to fully recover.

 

 

[Allen]

Nice!  I hope my palmetto will look like that one day!

[RaleighNC]

This must be the famed source of the Mocksville palmettos that PDN sells. I have an offspring from your tree. It is still small, but is doing well.

[Palm Man]

Thanks! Patience is required if starting from a seedling. Hang in there! How old is your palmetto? I would love to see a photo. 

I planted these Sabal minor 'Hatteras' at the same time. They were just small seedlings and now they are huge with a foot or so of trunk. My son-in-law providing the scale. He is approximately 6 feet tall. This photo was taken in 2016, so they are larger now.

 

 

[Palm Man]

Yes, this palmetto IS the source for the PDN plants! It's not the fastest, but it sure is cold hardy! Fertilizing will speed it up, but I'm not sure if this would affect the cold hardiness??

[EastCanadaTropicals]

2 hours ago, Palm Man said:

I planted this palmetto as a seedling about 1979-80 at my parents home in Mocksville, NC in USDA Zone 7b. It has never been protected nor fertilized. It survived the severe freezes in the mid 1908s, but the bud was still underground at that time. The first photo is the palmetto in May, 2018, after the severe winter of 2017-18 in which there were approximately 8 days in which the temperature never exceeded 32F. I'm not sure what the absolute lows were but they were probably in the mid to upper single digits. The fronds were burnt, but not the petioles nor the bud, both of which which remained mostly green. It does have a southwestern exposure with a light, deciduous canopy above. The soil is loam clay typical of piedmont NC. The second photo was taken on December 21, 2020. It has taken better than 2 years to fully recover.

 

 

Looks like they are long term in warmer 7b zones!

[RaleighNC]

2 hours ago, Palm Man said:

Thanks! Patience is required if starting from a seedling. Hang in there! How old is your palmetto? I would love to see a photo. 

Here is a photo I took this fall. The Mocksville baby is on the right, on the left is a Trachycarpus nova.  The nova is a filler palm until the palmetto starts getting big.  I think both were planted in spring 2018.

 

[Allen]

2 hours ago, RaleighNC said:

Here is a photo I took this fall. The Mocksville baby is on the right, on the left is a Trachycarpus nova.  The nova is a filler palm until the palmetto starts getting big.  I think both were planted in spring 2018.

 

Yea you can move the Trachy if you want later as those 2 are close.  Nice palms.  Trachy are hard to beat for speed in my garden.  

[RaleighNC]

7 hours ago, Allen said:

Yea you can move the Trachy if you want later as those 2 are close.  Nice palms.  Trachy are hard to beat for speed in my garden.  

Too many palms, not enough space! If I had another good spot for the Trachy, I probably would move it. At least the crape myrtle behind them is now gone. My hope is that the Trachy nova will have enough trunk by the time the palmetto starts getting big so that the crowns don't interfere with each other. If that doesn't work out, I'll probably just cut the Trachy. 

[WSimpson]

That is a special palm because I lost 2 of my three palmettos during that 2018 cold spell . Did you say you have seedlings from that palm ? I'd like one if you are selling any . 

Thanks 

[Palm Man]

On 1/8/2021 at 1:48 PM, Will Simpson said:

That is a special palm because I lost 2 of my three palmettos during that 2018 cold spell . Did you say you have seedlings from that palm ? I'd like one if you are selling any . 

Thanks 

Check your message inbox.

[Advective]

That palm is a real trooper

[MrTropical]

On 1/10/2021 at 3:54 PM, Palm Man said:

Check your message inbox.

If you have any seeds for sale, I would be interested. I live to your west, over in the mountains. Just let me know!

Thanks.
3-1-2023

[Palm Man]

I do have some seeds still. I used to live in the mountains of NC at an elevation of 2700'. I planted one palmetto at my home from the same batch of seed as the Mocksville palmetto. It defoliated the first winter. I don't want to discourage you though. I also planted a needle palm, Rhapidophyllum histrix and also a Sabal minor, both of which survived negative temperatures without serious damage. The Sabal minor produced seeds but not the needle palm. There are some other hardy Sabals that would probably be more successful there, such as Sabal minor Louisiana, Sabal tamaulipas and Sabal 'Birmingham'. Trachycarpus "Bulgaria' might be a good palm to try also.  Please message me. 

[Drew N Carolina]

Do you still have seeds available?

[Palm Man]

Yes.

Please message me.

[Las Palmas Norte]

I don't have enough time to see those results, unless of course I live to 105.

[Palm Man]

At a previous residence I planted a 10 or 15 gallon container grown Sabal palmetto.  It established readily and in a couple of years it was growing a trunk at the rate of about a foot per year. So if you can find a large container grown palmetto, you may have a chance! I am in the same boat age-wise too!

[ryjohn]

Does not surprise me to see this in a warm-summer zone 7B.  Would even believe they could take more cold than Trachycarpus.  Along the zone 8a border (Dallas-Shreveport-Jackson-Montgomery-Macon-Augusta-Columbia), this size can be achieved from a five gallon in 10 years given full sun, no root competition, and no major droughts.

[knikfar]

On 4/5/2023 at 5:35 PM, ryjohn said:

Does not surprise me to see this in a warm-summer zone 7B.  Would even believe they could take more cold than Trachycarpus.  Along the zone 8a border (Dallas-Shreveport-Jackson-Montgomery-Macon-Augusta-Columbia), this size can be achieved from a five gallon in 10 years given full sun, no root competition, and no major droughts.

I hope you're right. I'm in Raleigh, also a 7b along the 8a line. And I have 8 regular sabal palms planted in my yard that I grew from seed and four sabal birmingham that I grew from seed. I know the birminghams will be slow no matter what. But I'm hopeful for the regular sabals. 

[WSimpson]

Those fronds look a little different than most Palmettos I see . Kind of straight and a little spiky looking . My fronds bend downward .

I still want one of yours .

Will

[jwitt]

Nice fronds!

There's a palm too!