Traveler's Palm Hardiness?

[Little Tex]

I was at Orange Apron Hardware Store and the prices were crazy again, 70 dollars for a 5 gallon Robusta? But something caught my eye, A bunch of pots in the corner with an 8 dollar price tag, Unlabeled, and they were Traveler's palms! I got one, but I know literally nothing about them...  I know they are not true palms, but they are pretty close, how hardy are they? Any Tips? Advice? There is only one newly planted in the neighbor hood and it survived the low thirties this year

[Little Tex]

BTW it had roots busting out of its pot, so I put it an a 1 gallon nursery pot, It might be a GBOP if so, even better but it looks more like a traveler's

[JohnAndSancho]

Can I ask which HD? I'm a little north of you in HuntsVegas, but I want one of these for my office window as I've heard they just eat up full sun. Worth a drive for an $8 plant plus I need an excuse to find a Freebirds or El Rey.  

[kinzyjr]

1 hour ago, Little Tex said:

I was at Orange Apron Hardware Store and the prices were crazy again, 70 dollars for a 5 gallon Robusta? But something caught my eye, A bunch of pots in the corner with an 8 dollar price tag, Unlabeled, and they were Traveler's palms! I got one, but I know literally nothing about them...  I know they are not true palms, but they are pretty close, how hardy are they? Any Tips? Advice? There is only one newly planted in the neighbor hood and it survived the low thirties this year

I've seen them listed as 9a: https://www.allaboutpalmtrees.com/travelers-palm-tree

That said, they typically look their best in milder areas here.  There are a few at Tigertown here.  Cold wind does a number on the foliage.  Either way, good luck with it and hope you get some of the neat blue seeds!

https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1845

[Little Tex]

11 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Can I ask which HD? I'm a little north of you in HuntsVegas, but I want one of these for my office window as I've heard they just eat up full sun. Worth a drive for an $8 plant plus I need an excuse to find a Freebirds or El Rey.  

Summerwood

They are on a cart in 1 qt white nursery pots

[EPaul]

I believe they are not a palm and related to the white bird of paradise. In Florida, and from personal experience, they grow very easily in zone 10. Unless you are in a warm 9B, I don't think they would grow very well as they are somewhat cold sensitive.

[Little Tex]

I think its warm 9b

[Xenon]

2 hours ago, Little Tex said:

I think its warm 9b

It's not very hardy at all, starts burning a ton around 30F. You will probably lose arborescent trunks with more than a few hours below high 20s. 

GBOP is a lot hardier, foliage is usually ok-ish down to ~26F and doesn't die to the ground until low 20s. 

There used to a nice one in Galveston, I wouldn't really try it anywhere else in the area other than directly south of Galveston Bay. 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Xenon

[Little Tex]

I think its a GBOP now the leaves look shorter than a travler’s

[JohnAndSancho]

I found them up here. They're just labelled as Trop Quart. Bought one anyway. Hope my office window doesn't cook it. 

[Little Tex]

3 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I found them up here. They're just labelled as Trop Quart. Bought one anyway. Hope my office window doesn't cook it. 

Exactly like mine!

[Xerarch]

Yeah looks like GBOP

[ck_in_fla]

Yes, GBOP...

[-2 brian]

I agree with the others as that is a strelitzia Nicolai (Giant Bird of Paradise) I have a mature Travellers that I started from a small 1 gallon and the difference in the leaves even at an early stage is pretty evident. But giant bird's look nice especially when the clump is maintained 

[JohnAndSancho]

And Google says that my Office Window of Doom will murder this one. It was brutalizing an Aloe Vera that is much happier on top of my office fridge - she's gone from brown and melty looking to green and throwing 2 pups. 

[ruskinPalms]

Travelers palms are zone 10 and up from my experience, pretty much like most banana species. And, they really look bad if exposed to too much wind. The great bird of paradise is a much better choice for cooler areas and very tropical looking as well if kept under control. 
 

(yes I know travelers’ palms are not bananas lol)

Edited April 13, 2022 by ruskinPalms

[ruskinPalms]

But for the record, great bird of paradise got its foliage roasted in 9B areas this winter which I would say had temps around 25F to 29F. I guess the trunks are more hardy at least and they will come back. I remember a large clump getting nailed to the ground in Sun City Center, FL in 2010 which is a very warm 9B area. 

[EPaul]

9B Florida is probably the most frustrating zone to grow in - you can have extremely tropical weather for years growing just about anything and then a hard freeze for a single day destroying your favorite specimens overnight.  

[Xerarch]

10 hours ago, EPaul said:

9B Florida is probably the most frustrating zone to grow in - you can have extremely tropical weather for years growing just about anything and then a hard freeze for a single day destroying your favorite specimens overnight.  

Same goes for here in S Texas, so close to greatness, until the inevitable. 

[NickJames]

I just picked a 15 gallon one up on clearance at the New Smyrna Beach FL store. It was $10. 

I had an amazing field grown one at my last house in Daytona Beach. It suffered foliage damage at 28 degrees. 

A giant One near my current home outside Osteen FL just took 26 degrees. Half of the foliage died. The trunks survived. I find it better to let them clump in marginal climates so the inner foliage survives.  

[NickJames]

One near my current house. Two years ago, pre-2022 freeze obviously. It was knocked back down to this size following the freeze. 

[D Palm]

They had them at Walmart a month ago on clearance, same size, $1.88. I bought 3 and planted in ground.definitely a white or giant (same) birds of paradise. I wish I could find deals like that on the OBOP.

[bubba]

There is an interesting thread on this topic that was started in 2008. Ironically, Big Tex has questions regarding the hardiness of the Traveler’s. Xenon answered this adroitly on this thread.

in the older thread, it was interesting because a major difference was pointed out between California and Florida regarding hardiness. Specifically, in California, for reasons that I do not fully understand, this specimen vanishes upon anything below 33°F.

Walt delivers his Florida experiences and it is clear that the specimen will take temperatures down to 27°F. Although they may sustain significant damage, they survive. I can only guess that Florida’s high humidity is the contributing factor to survivability at the lower temperatures (warm 9b Florida) for the Traveler’s.