What Palms are the most hardy to least?

Edited June 7, 20233 yr by Banana Belt

Without splitting hairs,

1. Rhapidophyllum hystrix

2. Sabal minor

3. Trachycarpus fortunei

4. Sabal palmetto

Among members of groups 3 & 4, there is enough variation that there are no guarantees below 10°F.

There is a single anecdotal case of (1) surviving -20°F in the late 1980s or early 1990s. I would give it -5° to -10° Fahrenheit. They dont like wet sites in winter. (2) is reliably hardy to 0°F.

Not in order but washingtonia filifera survives very cold temps when dry. 
 

All the Sabal variants Birmingham, Louisiana, Brazoria

Med fan palm

Crazy how many Sabal mexicana survived in the pics I’ve seen from the bad winter Texas had in 2021
 

 

1 hour ago, teddytn said:

Not in order but washingtonia filifera survives very cold temps when dry. 
 

All the Sabal variants Birmingham, Louisiana, Brazoria

Med fan palm

Crazy how many Sabal mexicana survived in the pics I’ve seen from the bad winter Texas had in 2021
 

 

W.filifera is a good example of dry vs. damp hardiness. Probably 10F° difference. 

Chamaerops humilis approx the same as B.odorata, although I think the latter is more reliable at 10°F. Perhaps the former does better in a desert winter.

11 hours ago, SeanK said:

W.filifera is a good example of dry vs. damp hardiness. Probably 10F° difference. 

Chamaerops humilis approx the same as B.odorata, although I think the latter is more reliable at 10°F. Perhaps the former does better in a desert winter.

Chamaerops has the advantage of suckering. Seems like a lot of people have lost main trunks to cold weather and the palm still live and push new growth through the suckers. For sure better in dry cold like you said

13 hours ago, SeanK said:

W.filifera is a good example of dry vs. damp hardiness. Probably 10F° difference. 

Exactly. That's why the numbers and zone rating say one thing, but real world experience says another. W. filifera is just another on a list of palms I can't grow because of our damp PNW winters.

Sabals are incredibly hardy based on what survived that big freeze here in Texas, maybe more than Trachycarpus, at least in this climate. Brahea armata's another I see going through these freezes with little damage, but you rarely see them unfortunately. They're very attractive palms. 

Trithrinax campestris is supposedly very hardy, but I've only ever seen one mature plant and it was in San Diego. It's close to impossible to find for sale.  

19 hours ago, teddytn said:

All the Sabal variants Birmingham, Louisiana, Brazoria

I assume that you are only talking about the species that you listed and not all Sabal species.  Sabal mauritiiformis, for example, is much less hardy than mexicana, palmetto and those you listed and is probably a zone 9 palm.

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

I assume that you are only talking about the species that you listed and not all Sabal species.  Sabal mauritiiformis, for example, is much less hardy than mexicana, palmetto and those you listed and is probably a zone 9 palm.

More like a 9b/10a palm along with Sabal yapa. The leaves seem even more tender than a royal palm, crispy with any significant duration in the upper 20s. Some of the Caribbean Sabal spp. will get leaf burn in the low-mid 20s. 

2 hours ago, Fusca said:

I assume that you are only talking about the species that you listed and not all Sabal species.  Sabal mauritiiformis, for example, is much less hardy than mexicana, palmetto and those you listed and is probably a zone 9 palm.

Yes sir, the commonly known cold hardy mixed breeds is what I meant. The ones I listed, maybe a few others tamaulipas, etonia are pretty cold hardy. Absolutely right, most true trunking sabals shouldn’t be on the cold hardy list. 

On 6/8/2023 at 3:38 PM, Xenon said:

More like a 9b/10a palm along with Sabal yapa. The leaves seem even more tender than a royal palm, crispy with any significant duration in the upper 20s. Some of the Caribbean Sabal spp. will get leaf burn in the low-mid 20s. 

Really?  Good to know.  I've got a couple of yapa seedlings I was planning on planting here and didn't think would ever have issues with cold.

2 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Really?  Good to know.  I've got a couple of yapa seedlings I was planning on planting here and didn't think would ever have issues with cold.

Assuming your still in Rio Hondo they shouldn’t really

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Really?  Good to know.  I've got a couple of yapa seedlings I was planning on planting here and didn't think would ever have issues with cold.

There's one in Weslaco that got wrecked (~100% defoliation) by the 2021 freeze, same as S. mauritiformis. IIRC there are several forms of yapa that may vary in hardiness. Both species are much more bud hardy though, there's a S. mauritiformis in Brownsville thay survived 1989 on the south side of a building. I passed by the big old S. mauritiformis in Laguna Vista last week that literally sits on the Laguna Madre and it looks pretty beat up, worse than the mostly fine royals around LOL. Seem to really dislike frost. It was unusual freeze though, think the coast dropped into the upper 20s last December while there is hardly any damage in McAllen. 

Edited June 10, 20232 yr by Xenon