Pushing the palm boundaries in Oregon.

[Chester B]

I’ve never posted or spoke about these palms before as I wanted to provide the proof. I have seen these for at least 3 years and they don’t always look so good after winter. The other thing that complicated it is that I couldn’t remember where they were precisely located. Today I just happened to drive by them and had to turn around to shoot these videos on at a very busy intersection.  
 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by Chester B

[nick206]

There are a handful of young Washingtonia's near me I have been meaning to get pictures of. I have a few from the spring but after this summer they have grown so much I want to get some up to date ones. Nice Vids Chester.

[teddytn]

That’s really cool. There’s some parts of Oregon that aren’t as wet as on the coast, but they do get colder temps is that right? What kind of weather do those washingtonia see in winter?

[Chester B]

6 minutes ago, teddytn said:

That’s really cool. There’s some parts of Oregon that aren’t as wet as on the coast, but they do get colder temps is that right? What kind of weather do those washingtonia see in winter?

Yes the coast gets a lot more rainfall but lacks proper heat.  On the flipside they have much higher minimum temps in winter.

These palms would most likely see a little bit colder weather than me as these are further down the Willamette valley, but still rated zone 8B.  Most winters a few nights into the mid 20's, daytime highs almost always above freezing.  It's not the temperatures that are too cold, it's the constant damp from endless drizzle mixed with the cold.  It's hard to see from the video but there were some even bigger Washies right up against the house.

@Fallen Munk and @PlantDad would be able to comment as well.  These are roughly halfway between Portland and Salem, just west of Donald.

[Fallen Munk]

Here's an update of my neighbor's filifera.  They fared the ice storm better than my trachys.

[Fallen Munk]

I think those are planted straight into the clay too.  I took the recommended approach and put mine in sandy loam and didn't water them as much as my other palms and they are growing in reverse and look bad.  If they survive the winter, I'll have to make some changes.

[Chester B]

21 minutes ago, Fallen Munk said:

I think those are planted straight into the clay too.  I took the recommended approach and put mine in sandy loam and didn't water them as much as my other palms and they are growing in reverse and look bad.  If they survive the winter, I'll have to make some changes.

I found with the filifera that they are super thirsty palms.  Go a week without watering them and the fronds start to brown out, seems counter intuitive.

[Fallen Munk]

2 hours ago, Chester B said:

I found with the filifera that they are super thirsty palms.  Go a week without watering them and the fronds start to brown out, seems counter intuitive.

Good to know.  Mine never went brown other than damage to a few fronds during the ice storm.  I figured no big deal, it will grow out fast this summer.  Wrong.  It still has those bad leaves because they only grew one leaf total all season.  They were growing like gangbusters in pots, but as soon as I planted them in the ground they stopped dead in their tracks.  I think it's the sandy loam soil that I used.  The potting mix was really heavy and dark and they loved that.  It was wetter than I thought it should be, but they did great in it.

[Chester B]

Mine had put out 3 maybe 4 fronds in the pot. I went away for a week and it didn’t get watered and came back to 2/3 of the fronds brown. I stuck it in the ground and it has resumed growing again. Planted in crappy dry clay on a hillside so I will have to water it regularly. 

[Paradise Found]

Amazing photo's.  I don't dare try!

thanks for sharing. 

[Jubaea_James760]

5 hours ago, Chester B said:

Mine had put out 3 maybe 4 fronds in the pot. I went away for a week and it didn’t get watered and came back to 2/3 of the fronds brown. I stuck it in the ground and it has resumed growing again. Planted in crappy dry clay on a hillside so I will have to water it regularly. 

Once the Filifera gets established ( 2-3 years) it'll be able to go weeks without water no problem.  Being the palm nuts we are, this usually doesn't get tested  

[PlantDad]

10 hours ago, Fallen Munk said:

Here's an update of my neighbor's filifera.  They fared the ice storm better than my trachys.

Are those true filifera? If so then how are they doing so well through winter moisture?

 

10 hours ago, Fallen Munk said:

Here's an update of my neighbor's filifera.  They fared the ice storm better than my trachys.

Are you sure those are filifera? I've walked up and asked if I could take pictures of those two palms and I had made a post about them I would say around a year ago. They have robusta traits and can tolerate our winter cool moisture. Filibusta I'm thinking. 

[PlantDad]

12 hours ago, Chester B said:

Yes the coast gets a lot more rainfall but lacks proper heat.  On the flipside they have much higher minimum temps in winter.

These palms would most likely see a little bit colder weather than me as these are further down the Willamette valley, but still rated zone 8B.  Most winters a few nights into the mid 20's, daytime highs almost always above freezing.  It's not the temperatures that are too cold, it's the constant damp from endless drizzle mixed with the cold.  It's hard to see from the video but there were some even bigger Washies right up against the house.

@Fallen Munk and @PlantDad would be able to comment as well.  These are roughly halfway between Portland and Salem, just west of Donald.

Those two Washingtonia are incredible and I do not think they are ever given winter protection. I'm excited to see how they look in the future.

[teddytn]

15 hours ago, Chester B said:

I found with the filifera that they are super thirsty palms.  Go a week without watering them and the fronds start to brown out, seems counter intuitive.

That’s very counter intuitive, in their native habitat I’m sure seedlings go months sometimes without rainfall. Weird

[Chester B]

3 hours ago, teddytn said:

That’s very counter intuitive, in their native habitat I’m sure seedlings go months sometimes without rainfall. Weird

It was a in a very large pot so not sure if that made a difference.  If the soil ever felt dry the palm would start to brown.  In the beginning I didn't water much because I thought it would kill it, but learned that when I watered it a few times a week the browning stopped and it would put out nice green fronds.  It's only one data point, so my experience may not be representative.

[teddytn]

31 minutes ago, Chester B said:

It was a in a very large pot so not sure if that made a difference.  If the soil ever felt dry the palm would start to brown.  In the beginning I didn't water much because I thought it would kill it, but learned that when I watered it a few times a week the browning stopped and it would put out nice green fronds.  It's only one data point, so my experience may not be representative.

I’ve got a filifera in a pot also. The mix it’s in is super fast draining. Watered it almost daily with all my potted sabals during the summer. Been dialing the water back lately. Definitely a bunch of people that have lost them due to too much moisture especially during winter. I bought it as a filifera “Oregon” by the way. 

[Fallen Munk]

10 hours ago, PlantDad said:

Are those true filifera? If so then how are they doing so well through winter moisture?

 

Are you sure those are filifera? I've walked up and asked if I could take pictures of those two palms and I had made a post about them I would say around a year ago. They have robusta traits and can tolerate our winter cool moisture. Filibusta I'm thinking. 

They were probably purchased through a big box nursery, so most likely filibusta.  Doesn't explain how mine are doing so bad compared to theirs though.  Only a few blocks from me.

[PlantDad]

45 minutes ago, Fallen Munk said:

They were probably purchased through a big box nursery, so most likely filibusta.  Doesn't explain how mine are doing so bad compared to theirs though.  Only a few blocks from me.

Those two are doing surprisingly well! Yeah filibusta especially through big box store. 

[Jtee]

I have 4 robustas here in South Alabama. We are zone 8b, we get 55 inches of rain a year. Winters dip into mid 20’s several times a year. I’m guessing it’s because day time temps are probably sunnier and warmer than the 8b Oregon areas that they do better. There are not many around town but are commonly sold in big box stores. Here’s my 3 yo robusta and then a pic I took today of some older robustas in a neighborhood. 
 

I’m enjoying the Oregon you tube videos btw

[Fallen Munk]

15 minutes ago, Jtee said:

I have 4 robustas here in South Alabama. We are zone 8b, we get 55 inches of rain a year. Winters dip into mid 20’s several times a year. I’m guessing it’s because day time temps are probably sunnier and warmer than the 8b Oregon areas that they do better.

We get all of our rain in the winter.  Most years it is just solid drippy rain for three or four months straight and we may not see the sun for weeks at a time, it's just solid grey.  The summer hits and it's like a desert.  No rain, even summer thunderstorms are very rare, sometimes years apart.  Basically our plants get drowned and cold for most of the year and cook and starve for water the other part.  Usually that cold rain gets into the crown and just rots these Washingtonia from the inside out.

Edited October 5, 2021 by Fallen Munk

[Chester B]

1 hour ago, Fallen Munk said:

We get all of our rain in the winter.  Most years it is just solid drippy rain for three or four months straight and we may not see the sun for weeks at a time, it's just solid grey.  The summer hits and it's like a desert.  No rain, even summer thunderstorms are very rare, sometimes years apart.  Basically our plants get drowned and cold for most of the year and cook and starve for water the other part.  Usually that cold rain gets into the crown and just rots these Washingtonia from the inside out.

Spot on.  It can be tough to find plants that can tolerate these extreme opposites.  I find most of the thunderstorms occur in March/April often accompanied by hail, but we had none this year.

[Jtee]

4 hours ago, Fallen Munk said:

We get all of our rain in the winter.  Most years it is just solid drippy rain for three or four months straight and we may not see the sun for weeks at a time, it's just solid grey.  The summer hits and it's like a desert.  No rain, even summer thunderstorms are very rare, sometimes years apart.  Basically our plants get drowned and cold for most of the year and cook and starve for water the other part.  Usually that cold rain gets into the crown and just rots these Washingtonia from the inside out.

Totally understand now, I just had no idea about the weather in that part of OR. 

[Hutch]

It's possible Oregonians......nice vid ...ive seen things even crazier in Roseburg..!!

[Chester B]

1 hour ago, Hutch said:

It's possible Oregonians......nice vid ...ive seen things even crazier in Roseburg..!!

I’ve been told there are trunking Jubaea around there. I didn’t see the pictures but I know someone who has firsthand. 
 

What have you seen?

[Fallen Munk]

Found a photo of filibusta online that looks like the ones in front of that yellow house.   About the same size even.   Photo: wctrees.com

[PlantDad]

On 10/6/2021 at 2:42 PM, Fallen Munk said:

Found a photo of filibusta online that looks like the ones in front of that yellow house.   About the same size even.   Photo: wctrees.com

I want to get a filibusta like that

[JLM]

One thing about the eastern US is that, while it may get cold, the sky is usually clear. Frost can form with no wind, but unless the temperature is extremely low we start warming as soon as the sun comes up. I dont know if i would be able to stand cold and clouds with rain for the entire winter.

[Las Palmas Norte]