How cold hardy is Sabal maritima?

[NC_Palms]

I bought one on impulse lol and i’m debating if I want to plant it in the ground in zone 8 or just keep it in a pot like some of my other palms. Does anyone have any experience zone pushing this palm or have any information on general hardiness?

Thank youuuu

[JohnAndSancho]

I was advised by @Sabal King to keep them in pots in 8b. There's all kinds of conflicting information on the internet, but I think this dude is legit growing every kind of Sabal there is on his property and he's pretty much due west of me in the same zone, so I trust him. 

I mean there's millions of variables and we never know what the weather is gonna do until it does it, and I'm sure you've read all the same info I have. 

[Chester B]

Based on what others have said, it won't survive zone 8.  If its less hardy than causiarum and even less hardy than domingensis that means 25F will likely kill it.

[5am]

I like to point out the cold hardiness data that @kinzyjr compiled. There are only 4 observations of Sabal maritima so it's not a very clear picture, but based on those I would plan on winter protection when there's a chance of temps below 30.

 

[zero]

For what it's worth Jeremy's data seems consistent with what I have experienced.  My strap-leaf maritima seedling has been in the ground since 2022 and has seen 27°F (short duration) each of the last 3 winters with zero damage.  It just now going palmate.  An extended freeze of 25°F would probably cause some damage.

[NC_Palms]

52 minutes ago, Fusca said:

For what it's worth Jeremy's data seems consistent with what I have experienced.  My strap-leaf maritima seedling has been in the ground since 2022 and has seen 27°F (short duration) each of the last 3 winters with zero damage.  It just now going palmate.  An extended freeze of 25°F would probably cause some damage.

This is what mine is. It’s a strap leaf but it’s newest spear looks like it’s starting to divide 

[NC_Palms]

Thanks everyone. I think i’m gonna keep it as a potted palm (which i kinda had in mind when i bought it). There are some spots in the garden where I could probably zone push something but I’ll save that for a different palm. Maybe another Phoenix species since I’ve had luck with them. Or maybe a cat palm since I’ve heard they’re root hardy enough to come back after a hard freeze. 

But for now this one is just gonna be a potted palm. I don’t want to watch it get damaged each winter haha. 

[zero]

2 hours ago, NC_Palms said:

This is what mine is. It’s a strap leaf but it’s newest spear looks like it’s starting to divide 

Looks like about the same size as mine - maybe from the same seed batch.  Did you get it from @Sabal King?  I recognize the HEB grocery bag wrapped around it!

[NC_Palms]

44 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Looks like about the same size as mine - maybe from the same seed batch.  Did you get it from @Sabal King?  I recognize the HEB grocery bag wrapped around it!

I’m pretty sure! I got it on ebay and I also bought a S. bermudana which I planted. 

Sabal King is great. I follow their instagram and see all what they grow. 

[NC_Palms]

And the final result. Let’s hope it does well as a potted palm. 

 

 

[kinzyjr]

While I'm certainly the aggregator of the records in the Cold Hardiness Observation Master Data mentioned by @5am and @Fusca, the credit for the content goes to the individual contributors who shared their observations for each of the species listed.  It continues to be a work in progress.  The latest update to this point was posted on June 9th, 2024.  I have more observations just about ready to add, but there are 8 pages of threads in the FREEZE DAMAGE DATA forums that have been updated since then.  I'll hopefully be able to finish adding the remaining observations by the end of the year, and hopefully no major freeze events for a while that require a bulk observation upload. 🤞

[JohnAndSancho]

7 hours ago, NC_Palms said:

Thanks everyone. I think i’m gonna keep it as a potted palm (which i kinda had in mind when i bought it). There are some spots in the garden where I could probably zone push something but I’ll save that for a different palm. Maybe another Phoenix species since I’ve had luck with them. Or maybe a cat palm since I’ve heard they’re root hardy enough to come back after a hard freeze. 

But for now this one is just gonna be a potted palm. I don’t want to watch it get damaged each winter haha. 

That's kinda how I feel about the Bermudana. I germinated a bunch of them because I read they were super cold hardy and then I saw Sabal King's videos and like, sure, they lived, but they cooked too. I planted out one and I'm really hoping someone a little further south buys the rest of them off of me. 

[NC_Palms]

14 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

That's kinda how I feel about the Bermudana. I germinated a bunch of them because I read they were super cold hardy and then I saw Sabal King's videos and like, sure, they lived, but they cooked too. I planted out one and I'm really hoping someone a little further south buys the rest of them off of me. 

I planted a Bermudana very recently as well. They seem to be much hardy into zone 8b, which I happen to live right on the line of. So I put it in a protected spot where I’ve been able to grow CIDPs without much damage after this winter into the low teens. So this microclimate is giving me trust that this palm will work. 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, NC_Palms said:

I planted a Bermudana very recently as well. They seem to be much hardy into zone 8b, which I happen to live right on the line of. So I put it in a protected spot where I’ve been able to grow CIDPs without much damage after this winter into the low teens. So this microclimate is giving me trust that this palm will work. 

My CIDP finally showed up in the mail today. I'm out running errands but I hope it's ok after an extra 5 days in transit. Anyway I've got a dozen or so Bermudana so maybe I'll scatter them around if they don't sell.