Jubaea chilensis in Seattle - Washington Park Arboretum -

[Banana Belt]

Another video about Jubaea, "hardy to minus 10 degrees C."   The palm in video is 25 years old, and from my experience it is just about ready to start the trunk.  I can't express the astonishment I saw in our palms when they reached 28 years old, the growth just exploded.  Ten years ago our palms looked just like the one in this video, today the trunk is over 10 feet high and the top of our big jubaea is around 25 to 30 feet high.

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by Banana Belt
slow growing

[BeyondTheGarden]

@Banana Belt you know you're an unofficial legend then!  Those Jubaea have been posted several times over the past 2 years since I've been a member of this forum, and there's always been a mystery to them, as to who owns them, when they were planted, etc.   I stumbled across a pic of one of those Jubaea in 2020 and saved it right away and have posted it on here as well.  Thank you for chiming in! Magnificent palms you've got there.  

Edited July 21, 2022 by Jesse PNW

[Banana Belt]

8 minutes ago, Jesse PNW said:

@Banana Belt you know you're an unofficial legend then!  Those Jubaea have been posted several times over the past 2 years since I've been a member of this forum, and there's always been a mystery to them, as to who owns them, when they were planted, etc.   I stumbled across a pic of one of those Jubaea in 2020 and saved it right away and have posted it on here as well.  Thank you for chiming in! Magnificent palms you've got there.  

Thank you very much, especially from someone who likes palms as I do.  Picture of wife standing next to smaller palm in 1921

Edited July 21, 2022 by Banana Belt

[BeyondTheGarden]

2 minutes ago, Banana Belt said:

Thank you very much, especially from someone who likes palms as I do.  Picture of wife standing next to smaller palm in 1921

1921?  Dang she looks great for her age!

Sorry had to jest.  Those Jubaea are incredible.  I don't think there are any like them in the PNW or even on the entire west coast.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Jesse PNW

[Banana Belt]

This is picture in 2021 of bigger Jubaea.  Your right, she has not aged one day since 1921.

[NWpalms@206]

13 hours ago, Jesse PNW said:

I don't think there are any like them in the PNW or even on the entire west coast.

These really are amazing, my goal for my jubaeas! I believe the only place youd find any similar on west side is Mission Bay Park San Diego, google those, there is a park full of trunking jubaeas, i hope to go see them end of summer.

[Collectorpalms]

On 7/20/2022 at 8:38 PM, Banana Belt said:

Thank you very much, especially from someone who likes palms as I do.  Picture of wife standing next to smaller palm in 1921

Growing in Zone 10a along the southern OR coast. Is that like San Francisco weather I assume more than like Vancouver Wa/CAN. Never seen a really hard freeze.

Like Turtles, slow and steady wins the race.

Really where do Jubaea in the USA actually grow with any kind of speed...

[Banana Belt]

55 minutes ago, Collectorpalms said:

Growing in Zone 10a along the southern OR coast. Is that like San Francisco weather I assume more than like Vancouver Wa/CAN. Never seen a really hard freeze.

Like Turtles, slow and steady wins the race.

Really where do Jubaea in the USA actually grow with any kind of speed...

There is a very small agriculture area in Oregon just 5 miles north of California on the Pacific Ocean that is marked on the USDA interactive climate map as 10a.  It is the only 10a zone north of the 42 latitude in North America.  San Francisco is mostly 10a with 10b in the City heat zone created by all the buildings. 

In my opinion the best places to grow Jubaea in North America would be within 10 miles of the Pacific Ocean from Northern California up to Washington State.  Jubaea seem to want lots of rainfall in a mild winter and mild dry summer were temperatures rarely get hot.  They could probably also do fine on the south end of Vancouver Island, Canada.

[BeyondTheGarden]

I know Jubaea are "slow", but those are about 40 years old, and if you think about how much biological mass they have produced over 40 years, it's actually a lot.  You need to zoom out and not focus on how much it can grow in a year or two or ten.  After 40 years, there's probably as much biological mass as a 40 year old oak.  A 40 year old Trachycarpus doesn't have that much mass. 

[Banana Belt]

13 hours ago, Jesse PNW said:

I know Jubaea are "slow", but those are about 40 years old, and if you think about how much biological mass they have produced over 40 years, it's actually a lot.  You need to zoom out and not focus on how much it can grow in a year or two or ten.  After 40 years, there's probably as much biological mass as a 40 year old oak.  A 40 year old Trachycarpus doesn't have that much mass. 

Strange thing observed about our Jubaea was that the first 30 years only limited amount of mass was added each year, but once they started trunking up they would add up that much each year thereafter.  If the first 30 years mass equaled X then the first year of growing trunk would be X + X or 2X.  Second year of trunk growing would be X+X+X or 3X, third year would be 4X and so on each year thereafter.  I would say that the speed of a Jubaea is related to the increase size of the leaves from one year to the next, the faster the leaves increase in size the faster the Palm grows.  So if a person wanted to speed up the growth of a Jubaea the faster they increased the size of leaves the faster the palm would grow, up to the point where the trunk takes off.   This from observation or our Palms.

[Collectorpalms]

23 hours ago, Banana Belt said:

There is a very small agriculture area in Oregon just 5 miles north of California on the Pacific Ocean that is marked on the USDA interactive climate map as 10a.  It is the only 10a zone north of the 42 latitude in North America.  San Francisco is mostly 10a with 10b in the City heat zone created by all the buildings. 

In my opinion the best places to grow Jubaea in North America would be within 10 miles of the Pacific Ocean from Northern California up to Washington State.  Jubaea seem to want lots of rainfall in a mild winter and mild dry summer were temperatures rarely get hot.  They could probably also do fine on the south end of Vancouver Island, Canada.

Very nice, Are there any agricultural areas in the zone you are referring to?

[Collectorpalms]

Santiago Chile has the closest climate I can find to where they are "still" native.

85/53 no rain summer

60/35 with about 6 inches of winter rain. However, they grow higher up and and in valley floor, possible flood plains so they may get extra precipitation than Santiago.

[GregVirginia7]

On 3/31/2021 at 1:45 AM, Trustandi said:

@Chester B it is totally going fatter. 

I think they are growing faster when they have a have a nice size trunk. 

Here I just found the same photo of the jubaea (the third photo) from 2015.

You know

[GregVirginia7]

4 minutes ago, GregVirginia7 said:

You know…I’ll try that again…sent before I was done typing…@ChesterB…you mentioned the trunk getting fatter…I’ve noticed that same thing with my Brazoria…once the trunk began to gain in diameter, it’s frond production expanded as well and it has seeded for the first time after maybe 8 years in-ground.

I mean, it’s a totally different palm starting in year 9!

Would like to grow a pinnate like Jubaea but it’s my goal now to protect as little as possible and that type of palm isn’t there for my zone but I am going to try a Butia Catarinensis that sprouted in my yard…it’s a long story but the seed proved to be a of cold hardy stock.

 

[Moe Exotic]

A few shots from yesterday. One looks to be hurting pretty bad but holding on so far. That one doesn’t appear to get much sun early in the day. The rest look like they are pushing through a year of ugly growth.  

[Chester B]

Glad to see they made it.  Here's hoping for a better winter.

[Moe Exotic]

Stumbled across this the other day. Figured a few people here would be happy to see. It looks like the jubaea on Salt Spring Island is hanging on. Definitely on the ropes but still not down for the count. https://youtu.be/AGI5r2Lj7YE?si=oy0ZVTjsnJyeBXVA

[Las Palmas Norte]

15 hours ago, Moe Exotic said:

Stumbled across this the other day. Figured a few people here would be happy to see. It looks like the jubaea on Salt Spring Island is hanging on. Definitely on the ropes but still not down for the count. https://youtu.be/AGI5r2Lj7YE?si=oy0ZVTjsnJyeBXVA

That thing never grew as it should after It was moved from it's original planting location. It was originally planted in '99 and was moved to a rather poor location a few years later. It never grew as it should while other Jubaea in the region outpaced it many times over.

[Banana Belt]

7 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

other Jubaea in the region

Amazing!  Poor thing.  Cutting the trees down around it might not be a good thing even though they are taking up the nutrients, but they do give it some frost protection.  It needs some care and rich nutrient compost around it, perhaps a bit more sun.

[Banana Belt]

Current picture of same Jubaea pictured in 2021 above.  This picture is looking from the opposite direction, but same palm two years later.  It has about 4 feet new verticle growth in 2 years so growing fast along the South Oregon coast.

[Trustandi]

Finally I had the opportunity to check the cluster of 6 Jubaeas after the January 2024 artic blast with 3-4 days below freezing (day 1: 26.8/16.3F, day 2: 25.3/14.2,day 3: 29.3/ 15.6, day 4: 34.2/ 19.6f) They all suffered some damages. I think one of them is dying. 😥

[Chester B]

Can't seem to catch a break.  Even one reasonable winter in the last 4 would've gone a long way.

[NWpalms@206]

Man that would be sad to lose any of these.  That one is not looking good, but the others hopefully will recover. someone should go and treat them with fungicide/peroxide, if the groundskeeps are not.

[Trustandi]

@NWpalms@206that's a good idea, I am going to email the UW park. 

 

[Trustandi]

@NWpalms@206I received the reply from the UW arboretum manager of horticulture. They have treated them with copper fungicide in the past years after cold snaps and she spoke to the plant health specialist to resume the fungicide treatment.  

Let's hope our spring and summer will be cooperating. 

[Banana Belt]

The Palms are so close to starting their trunks any year now, it would be a shame to loose them now.  Once they get a few years of Adult trunk growing and gain significant weight, they should be better adapted to cold.  These palms will be a great study to show the Cold Hardiness of Jubaea over their baby to juvenile to adult stages.  The Palms will also give people in the region good information about growing Jubaea, what size to purchase, plant, and baby through their tender years.

[NWpalms@206]

On 3/27/2024 at 4:14 PM, Trustandi said:

@NWpalms@206I received the reply from the UW arboretum manager of horticulture. They have treated them with copper fungicide in the past years after cold snaps and she spoke to the plant health specialist to resume the fungicide treatment.  

Let's hope our spring and summer will be cooperating. 

Hey look at that, well done! im glad i mentioned it.  fingers crossed for a warm spring and early summer.

[palmnut-fry]

Sad to report that the North Dallas In & Out parking lot Jubaeas I noted ten years ago long since gone!

After the last 4 winters of Arctic blasts the poor Sabals look pathetic as well! Stop the insanity, momma nature! 

[jwitt]

How cold was this past winter?

[Moe Exotic]

Snapped some pics of the 7 jubaeas yesterday. 2 look dead and there is a lot of damage from the last 2 winters. Unfortunately one of the larger ones is continuing to tip farther. It looks like most are recovering but it’s a bummer to see how hard they’ve been hit. At least this winter was a lot milder. Hopefully they get a good bounce back year. 

[tarnado]

Uff da. Thanks for the update. 

[SailorBold]

On 7/20/2022 at 7:55 PM, Banana Belt said:

This is picture in 2021 of bigger Jubaea.  Your right, she has not aged one day since 1921.

WOW...the fronds alone are huge...

[palmnut-fry]

The weather is crazy all over, maybe a neutral phase over the Pacific will make things better next winter?🙏

[Banana Belt]

On 5/4/2025 at 12:40 AM, SailorBold said:

WOW...the fronds alone are huge...

Current picture of same Palm 4 years later.  I had to stand back a bit more to frame the whole palm.