Surprising finds in SE North Carolina

[NCFM]

I spent spring break down in the Sunset Beach/Ocean Isle area with some of my buddies and I saw a surprising number of large Washingtonias and even a few CIDP. I didn’t get pictures of everything but here are a few examples. My friends thought I was crazy for stopping to take pictures of random palm trees lol 

 

Big hybrid:

 

CIDP:

 

A more robusta dominant hybrid:

 

Possibly pure filifera? 
 

 

These aren’t uncommon at all but this was one of the tallest butias I saw around. Obviously very old:

 

Bonus pictures - pittosporum in bloom, loquat, and some really old palmettos by Thalian Hall in Wilmington:

 

[Jtee]

I wonder if those are the most northern most robustas, other than the ones that use to be in Dallas. 
 

and those filiferas look great, makes me feel better about growing one in wet and humid southern Alabama. 

[DreaminAboutPalms]

9 hours ago, Jtee said:

I wonder if those are the most northern most robustas, other than the ones that use to be in Dallas. 
 

and those filiferas look great, makes me feel better about growing one in wet and humid southern Alabama. 

There used to be robustas at an apartment complex in Denison tx right next to Oklahoma border. 
 

there was also a guy in Tulsa who kept a trio of robustas alive for like 15 years and got them 20+ feet tall and just wrapped in winter 

[Chad king NC]

Wow, amazing what grows just a few hrs away.

[Alex Zone 5]

Nice pictures, happy palms...

[Honez]

There are lots of happy palms in that area back home.  Southport and some other areas in coastal Brunswick are just as full of palms.  We have property over by bull creek on sunset with some healthy sabals on it too.

[Phassett]

On 4/23/2022 at 10:21 PM, Jtee said:

I wonder if those are the most northern most robustas, other than the ones that use to be in Dallas. 
 

and those filiferas look great, makes me feel better about growing one in wet and humid southern Alabama. 

There are quite a few established robustas in the Charlotte area

[Jtee]

9 hours ago, Phassett said:

There are quite a few established robustas in the Charlotte area

Really?? I would’ve thought Charlotte was too cold. 

[Phassett]

9 hours ago, Jtee said:

Really?? I would’ve thought Charlotte was too cold. 

Watch palms r kool on YouTube.  He lives in the area and has a nice palm collection in his yard.  Here’s his videos of 2 big Washingtonia on the lake 

 

[knikfar]

On 4/23/2022 at 10:21 PM, Jtee said:

I wonder if those are the most northern most robustas, other than the ones that use to be in Dallas. 
 

and those filiferas look great, makes me feel better about growing one in wet and humid southern Alabama. 

There's the filibusta in Fayetteville NC. Its been there since at least 2007. Never been protected or particularly cared for. 

[knikfar]

On 4/24/2022 at 8:27 AM, Chad king NC said:

Wow, amazing what grows just a few hrs away.

Crazy, awesome and a little annoying to, right? Wilmington is less than 2 hours from me but a world away when it comes to growing palms. 

[DAVEinMB]

52 minutes ago, knikfar said:

Crazy, awesome and a little annoying to, right? Wilmington is less than 2 hours from me but a world away when it comes to growing palms. 

Same here, you get into solid 8a territory quick once you get away from the coast. That half a zone adds more flexibility than you would think

[Jtee]

6 minutes ago, DAVEinMB said:

Same here, you get into solid 8a territory quick once you get away from the coast. That half a zone adds more flexibility than you would think

Totally! I’m 1.5 hours from Panama City Beach Florida and even there it changes quickly when you get into the panhandle further from the coast. The livistonias look great in PCB but up here we get the burnt tips. 

[knikfar]

11 minutes ago, DAVEinMB said:

Same here, you get into solid 8a territory quick once you get away from the coast. That half a zone adds more flexibility than you would think

Look at the attached 2012 hardiness zone map. The red star is my house, frustratingly close to 8a. 

[DAVEinMB]

7 minutes ago, knikfar said:

Look at the attached 2012 hardiness zone map. The red star is my house, frustratingly close to 8a. 

Yea, that is painfully close. My stubborn ass would prolly have a remote garden if I was that close to zone 9 

[DreaminAboutPalms]

2 hours ago, knikfar said:

Look at the attached 2012 hardiness zone map. The red star is my house, frustratingly close to 8a. 

I feel like that’s close enough where an area next to a southern facing wall in your yard protected from north would be a solid 8a

[knikfar]

43 minutes ago, DreaminAboutPalms said:

I feel like that’s close enough where an area next to a southern facing wall in your yard protected from north would be a solid 8a

Agreed. Funny thing is, I have plants labeled zone 8 out away from my house that have never had a problem and have been growing for years. I have a HUGE osmanthus fragrans that's probably 20+ years old. I also have pineapple guava, loquat, hydrangea febrifuga. None of these are close to my actual house and they've all done great for years. 

[NCFM]

4 hours ago, knikfar said:

There's the filibusta in Fayetteville NC. Its been there since at least 2007. Never been protected or particularly cared for. 

There's a pretty large filibusta in Avon, NC too which may be the slightly further North than those on Lake Wylie

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

On 4/26/2022 at 3:20 PM, NCFM said:

There's a pretty large filibusta in Avon, NC too which may be the slightly further North than those on Lake Wylie

You probably saw the same one I saw, theres also a few big ones on Ocracoke and one on Hatteras too

[knikfar]

On 4/26/2022 at 3:20 PM, NCFM said:

There's a pretty large filibusta in Avon, NC too which may be the slightly further North than those on Lake Wylie

True. But the outer banks are mostly in zone 8b, I suppose because they're bordered by large bodies of water on two sides. So I'd expect to see a Washy do ok there.  

[NCFM]

21 minutes ago, knikfar said:

True. But the outer banks are mostly in zone 8b, I suppose because they're bordered by large bodies of water on two sides. So I'd expect to see a Washy do ok there.  

Yeah it's unfortunate that palms aren't as common in the OBX as elsewhere along the coast.  Lots of potential there. 

Lake Wylie must have a great microclimate for there to be 40 foot washies and even sylvester dates growing along the shore.  

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

On 4/29/2022 at 10:40 AM, NCFM said:

Yeah it's unfortunate that palms aren't as common in the OBX as elsewhere along the coast.  Lots of potential there. 

Lake Wylie must have a great microclimate for there to be 40 foot washies and even sylvester dates growing along the shore.  

Zone maps are misleading in the OBX, the harsh windchill plays its part, prolonged lows too...  Hatteras is surprisingly warm,  more so than many more southern areas on the NC coast, but it has more maritime forest to shelter from the Atlantic....  Location plays its role, a number of Sabals and Pindos were severely damaged in 2018 on Hatteras, while some CIDP in other parts of the island seemed to have less severe damage....  

[Little Tex]

On 4/23/2022 at 9:21 PM, Jtee said:

I wonder if those are the most northern most robustas

There are a few in 7b Harrisburg PA

[WSimpson]

Thanks for sharing . It's good to see what can grow in certain places in NC . 

Will

[DAVEinMB]

1 hour ago, Little Tex said:

There are a few in 7b Harrisburg PA

Really? You got any pics? I grew up not far from there

[Little Tex]

18 minutes ago, DAVEinMB said:

Really? You got any pics? I grew up not far from there

I used to live 3 miles from here

 

[DAVEinMB]

6 minutes ago, Little Tex said:

I used to live 3 miles from here

 

That's some dedication to keep them going that long in pa. Where there's a will...