Is there such thing as a fast growing, water hogging palm that can handle full blasting sun and zone 8 winters unprotected? There's lots of really swampy spots around here, and in a perfect world these palms would grow just tall enough to not get cut down by the power company. 

@JohnAndSancho Sabal minor, although I'm betting you were wanting a more trunking palm. Not sure how high up the power lines are but what about sabal palmetto?

Sabal Louisiana is probably the best fit for your criteria.  Maybe it's "fast" for a Sabal but I wouldn't say it's fast.  Or Sabal mexicana but, again, not so fast.

I have about 87000 Mexicana sprouts, about 20000 palmettos and Louisiana germinating. I just watched the Tomacco episode of The Simpsons and now I think I need some plutonium to make them grow faster. 

John, have you considered the Needle Palm? They are not known for being a fast grower but meet the rest of your criteria...bulletproof in Zone 8, swamp lovers, and can tolerate the full sun of the Deep South. It is also a suckering palm.

Here's a mature specimen...
 

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Sabal Louisiana is probably the best fit for your criteria.  Maybe it's "fast" for a Sabal but I wouldn't say it's fast.  Or Sabal mexicana but, again, not so fast.

I wish I would have known about Sabal Louisianas years ago. Although they probably won’t grow as well in west Texas because of how much hard water I will have to water them with due to only getting 15-20” of rain each year, they should easily handle any winter we throw at them. I’m thinking even 2021 they would have been just fine although with some damage. My other sabals seem to grow just fine even with our crappy water situation though.

47 minutes ago, MrTropical said:

John, have you considered the Needle Palm? They are not known for being a fast grower but meet the rest of your criteria...bulletproof in Zone 8, swamp lovers, and can tolerate the full sun of the Deep South. It is also a suckering palm.

Here's a mature specimen...
 

 

Truthfully.......

9 hours ago, MrTropical said:

John, have you considered the Needle Palm? They are not known for being a fast grower but meet the rest of your criteria...bulletproof in Zone 8, swamp lovers, and can tolerate the full sun of the Deep South. It is also a suckering palm.

Here's a mature specimen...
 

I mean it'd be unphased here for sure, but have you seen the prices on anything other than seeds? I'm literally on here begging for the seedlings people pull out of their gardens lol 

23 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I mean it'd be unphased here for sure, but have you seen the prices on anything other than seeds? I'm literally on here begging for the seedlings people pull out of their gardens lol 

If you ever have a chance to make a trip down to NW FL, theres a local nursery named Pineland's in Milton that has a tree farm location not far from the main nursery. As of May they had 3 gallon Needles and i paid like $36 for it.

Sabal causiarum could work, also direct seeding washingtonias next spring would be a good idea.

3 hours ago, JLM said:

If you ever have a chance to make a trip down to NW FL, theres a local nursery named Pineland's in Milton that has a tree farm location not far from the main nursery. As of May they had 3 gallon Needles and i paid like $36 for it.

I grew up in Pensacola off 9 mile road. I wanna say I know the area but it's grown up so much since the last time I was there. I moved back and moved away again after Hurricane Ivan trashed my house. 

11 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I grew up in Pensacola off 9 mile road. I wanna say I know the area but it's grown up so much since the last time I was there. I moved back and moved away again after Hurricane Ivan trashed my house. 

The best palms to grow are the ones you see in your area.  Before I can name a few species where do you currently live so I can find out how cold it gets? 

29 minutes ago, MarcusH said:

The best palms to grow are the ones you see in your area.  Before I can name a few species where do you currently live so I can find out how cold it gets? 

Lol Trachies and Sabals. I'm in East Mississippi zone 8, but it got down to 9° in January. I'm working on a literal Sabal army from seed. 

On 7/29/2025 at 4:42 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

Is there such thing as a fast growing, water hogging palm that can handle full blasting sun and zone 8 winters unprotected? There's lots of really swampy spots around here, and in a perfect world these palms would grow just tall enough to not get cut down by the power company. 

Trachycarpus. Normally people would advise against planting windmills in full sun, but they can tolerate it just fine as long as they *never* dry out, just like in their native region where there is heavy monsoon rain during summer

18 minutes ago, Slifer00 said:

Trachycarpus. Normally people would advise planting windmills in full sun, but they can tolerate it just fine as long as they *never* dry out, just like in their native region where there is heavy monsoon rain during summer

There's no shortage of sun or moisture here. 

18 minutes ago, Slifer00 said:

Trachycarpus. Normally people would advise against planting windmills in full sun, but they can tolerate it just fine as long as they *never* dry out, just like in their native region where there is heavy monsoon rain during summer

advise against**

1 hour ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Lol Trachies and Sabals. I'm in East Mississippi zone 8, but it got down to 9° in January. I'm working on a literal Sabal army from seed. 

Rhapidophyllum hystrix, sabal minor are some that won't grow tall. Other than that you don't have too many options.  I don't think there's such a fast growing palm in your area.  Me , personally I like the looks of any Sabal palm. I grow two trachycarpus fortunei in the Texas sun.  They're growing but they also need a good amount of water in this heat. If money wouldn't be an issue I would probably replace all my palms with Sabal Palmettos .