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Northern Gulf Coast - Palm Thriving vs Surviving Ugly


_Keith

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As we have yet another Polar Vortex in December which has become all too common in the last 13 years, I look out at a garden full of damaged palms.  They will survive but be unsightly for a couple of years,  AGAIN.  They were just growing out of the last damage 2 years earlier.  I will have to look at that and pick up endless fronds while cursing them.  Take my advice, even though we are classified at Zone 9a plant palms safe for Zone 8a like Mules, Chamaerops, Chamaedorea, etc and save yourself from the ugliness.

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In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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Yea I know what you mean.  And you're right it seems like everyone in every zone likes to push to marginal palms.  I'd say mules are 8b/9a and the other 2 are more 8b palms but like we have discussed on here before palms are super sensitive to absolute lows/duration and plant zones can be deceptive.  I show Baton Rouge with a record low of 8F-10F which would likely kill most 8b-9a palms.  You just never know when mother nature will set another record.  

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YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@tntropics - 60+ In-ground 7A palms - (Sabal) minor(7 large + 27 seedling size, 3 dwarf),  brazoria(1) , birmingham(4), etonia (1) louisiana(5), palmetto (1), riverside (1),  (Trachycarpus) fortunei(7), wagnerianus(1),  Rhapidophyllum hystrix(7),  15' Mule-Butia x Syagrus(1),  Blue Butia capitata(1) +Tons of tropical plants.  Recent Yearly Lows -1F, 12F, 11F, 18F, 16F, 3F, 3F, 6F, 3F, 1F, 16F, 17F, 6F, 8F

 

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Care to share info on how cold you got, what palms you have that experienced what kind of damage, and what part of the state you are in?

 

 

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The old stand-by Needle is seemingly pulling through a second Midwestern winter. Arctic blast at Christmas down to about -9F with high winds. Leaves mulched in and a blanket for the extreme cold nights. On the other hand we had about 30 days through Jan that were above normal, making it the 10th warmest January on record in the Indy metro area. The Needle seems to be pushing a spear up (upper right). We'll know better in the spring

20230203_180911.jpg

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I complain a lot about my lack of choices here in zone 7, Northern Virginia…unprotected Needles and Sabals are the most consistent, regardless of winter lows here. Add to that the Needle will “trunk” sort of, if you dare to trim up and expose it but it IS a little bit impressive though and a no protection trooper! My Sabal Brazoria, I think, seems to be one of those unprotected troopers and it will, over time, get a much more impressive trunk than the Needle. Trachy F’s, at least the older one of the two I have, I got lucky on the genes with that one…someone calls them Trashies and that makes me laugh because they really can get that ugly and mine has gotten a little trashy because of squirrel damage, frond old age and wind…I tend to trim well before the fronds are brown and sucked dry of all their nutrients, but it’s no worse the wear and tends to look more Trachy than Trashy…😄 but this is the first winter I’ve seen it get ready to shed lower fronds (Trashy phase)…all in all though, it’s been through a lot of my zone’s winter variables and luckily, seems well suited for my backyard microclimate. And that’s about as far as I can go with my unprotected palm selections to avoid that long term winter damage ugliness…sadly, my Chamaerops, after 9 years in ground and even though protected, had a complete defoliation after our Christmas freeze…a first but I’m excited to feed it back to health this spring and even though it will be sparse on the fronds, it has a nice 3’ trunk with a couple other 1-2’ trunks, so nice to look at anyway…those are my limits since I don’t want to get too deep into protection…if you can find that cold, genetic Trachy that will add real height to your palm garden, you’re golden! Even in zone 7.

 

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19 hours ago, Sabal_Louisiana said:

Care to share info on how cold you got, what palms you have that experienced what kind of damage, and what part of the state you are in?

 

 

5 morning in a row waking up to 21 degrees.  40 consecutive hour below freezing between the first 2 mornings.

In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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  • 2 weeks later...

These are some Queens located in a community halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, photo taken in early Feb. They look pretty fair considering temps there got down to 22F in late December.

20230205_163603_2.jpg

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On 2/4/2023 at 4:32 PM, _Keith said:

5 morning in a row waking up to 21 degrees.  40 consecutive hour below freezing between the first 2 mornings.

Oof.. Ouch.. I'm in a colder zone 9 in California that acts more like an 8, but it warms up a lot in the day. My condolences..

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