L. chinensis

[ahosey01]

Planted an L. chinensis today.  Was in a 15G pot.  We’re a weird 9A here.  Freezes are short and daytime temps always warm, with low humidity and never any precipitation.  No such thing as a long duration freeze here.  I hear super mixed things about these palms.  Some people say they’re not nearly as cold hardy as expected - others say they’re rock solid.

Whats your experience?

Heres a photo:

Edited August 28, 2021 by ahosey01

[Laaz]

Should be fine, I have a few in the ground & there are many here in the area.

[necturus]

They are bud hardy but not as leaf hardy. Probably best under canopy in marginal areas.

They are also not as hardy as purported. Definitely the hardiest Livistona, but some trunking ones died in Houston this year.

[Jtee]

There are a few trunking ones in zone 8 Dothan AL zone 8, they get leaf burn fairly easy it appears but they look to be doing great. 

[kinzyjr]

11 minutes ago, Jtee said:

There are a few trunking ones in zone 8 Dothan AL zone 8, they get leaf burn fairly easy it appears but they look to be doing great. 

On my way back to Florida from Montgomery, I noticed Dothan seemed to be one of the first places where palms were ubiquitous.

42 minutes ago, necturus said:

They are bud hardy but not as leaf hardy. Probably best under canopy in marginal areas.

They are also not as hardy as purported. Definitely the hardiest Livistona, but some trunking ones died in Houston this year.

How did Livistona decora and Livistona saribus fare in comparison?

[necturus]

9 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

On my way back to Florida from Montgomery, I noticed Dothan seemed to be one of the first places where palms were ubiquitous.

How did Livistona decora and Livistona saribus fare in comparison?

I think nearly all L. decora and L. saribus are dead, but they weren't widely planted. Mercer had big specimens of each and several other Livistona species. Pretty sure they are all dead, some even removed already. There were a lot of L. decora along I-45 just outside the 610 loop. I think @Xenonsaid they didn't look good.

In my yard in SW Houston, all L. chinensis died. I had four, all with about a foot of trunk. Three didn't surprise me because they weren't super healthy before the freeze, but one was very healthy. I had small but healthy L. decora and L. nitida that also died. 

[kinzyjr]

@necturus Thank you for the update.  The results are unfortunate, but better to know ahead of time.

[Xenon]

Healthy trunking Livistona chinensis for the most part had very high survival rate in Houston, even out in the outer burbs where it was 10-12F. Some closer to town have already regrown most of their crown. 

The L. decora along I-45 actually start(ed) just as I-45 exits downtown Houston well within 610. From what I could see, all of them are dead until you get further south (beyond BW8, towards League City) where 20-30% of them were pushing growth in June. No update on their ultimate fate yet. 

[Fusca]

Here is mine after consecutive nights of 9° and 13°F.  Coming back nicely after trunk-cutting.  I did lose one here that was exposed to late afternoon sun - I'd advise giving it some shade.  I have mine on the east side of my house.

[ahosey01]

10 hours ago, Fusca said:

Here is mine after consecutive nights of 9° and 13°F.  Coming back nicely after trunk-cutting.  I did lose one here that was exposed to late afternoon sun - I'd advise giving it some shade.  I have mine on the east side of my house.

That’s what I had thought originally, but the grower I got it from had a giant, healthy pair of them growing in full blazing sun with no shade in the middle of the Phoenix urban heat island.  The one I bought was growing in the pot in full sun.  I went ahead and planted it in a prominent spot in the yard that doesn’t get a ton of shade until around 4:00PM.  Fingers crossed I didn’t choose wrong… lol

[Jcalvin]

23 hours ago, ahosey01 said:

Planted an L. chinensis today.  Was in a 15G pot.  We’re a weird 9A here.  Freezes are short and daytime temps always warm, with low humidity and never any precipitation.  No such thing as a long duration freeze here.  I hear super mixed things about these palms.  Some people say they’re not nearly as cold hardy as expected - others say they’re rock solid.

Whats your experience?

Heres a photo:

It’ll do great. I’ve seen some old, healthy Chinensis here in 9a. I’ve even seen some wonderful look chinensis in 8b, and we’re more humid here than you. 

[Collectorpalms]

I had a better success rate with tall Livistonia Chinese after 4* than expected.