Hello, I am open to suggestions for interesting palms and plants for my yard, zone 9b. My bamboo (bambusa gracilis, bambusa maligensis, bambusa eutuldoides) and mule palm (x butyagrus nabobandii) did well during our winter freeze. My Beccariophoenix Alfredii had extensive frond damage but is growing well now. Looking to add a number of palms and plants and would be interested to learn of some new options, thank you.

If you want to try a palm with a crownshaft, then I think Archontophoenix cunninghamiana MIGHT be OK, with occasional damage, like your B. alfredii. There might be some Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus options too. Hopefully some of our many Florida members will comment further.

Edit: How big was your B. alfredii, when it got bitten?

Butia Oderata , Rhapidophylum Hystix ( Needle Palm) , Trachycarpus Fortunae , Arenga Engleri , Sabal Palmetto(?). There are more , I’m sure. Harry

6 minutes ago, awkonradi said:

If you want to try a palm with a crownshaft, then I think Archontophoenix cunninghamiana MIGHT be OK, with occasional damage, like your B. alfredii. There might be some Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus options too. Hopefully some of our many Florida members will comment further.

Yes, I would love to have any palm with a crownshaft. Unfortunately, several neighbors have lost king palms and one royal over the past year. The royal was 20 foot when planted and my neighbor acknowledged he was pushing. He did a great job protecting it over a few years time but after he sold his home last year it was done in by the cold.

Dypsis decipiens (manmade palm) could be high on my list. I will look further, thank you!

8 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Butia Oderata , Rhapidophylum Hystix ( Needle Palm) , Trachycarpus Fortunae , Arenga Engleri , Sabal Palmetto(?). There are more , I’m sure. Harry

Thank you, excellent choices. I do have a couple sabals and they are rock solid. I may put a cluster in the back near our marsh.

Pindo is excellent, still working out where it would fit. Needle, windmill and arenga are great choices I can work into some natural looking areas.

@SeaLaVie If you haven't been there, a trip to St. Johns Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve in Hastings, FL will help you picture how the plants will look in your landscape. A few of the CFPACS Members from the area ( @Lou-StAugFL , @Kekoanui , @ChristianStAug , @CodyM, @PalmJuan ) can also share some of their experiences.

A few other links of interest:

• St. Johns Anniversary Celebration

• St. Johns 2nd Anniversary Celebration

• CFPACS Summer 2025 Meeting/Tour in St. Augustine, FL

• The Garden of Dr. John Rossi - Before it Became St. Johns Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve

47 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

@SeaLaVie If you haven't been there, a trip to St. Johns Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve in Hastings, FL will help you picture how the plants will look in your landscape. A few of the CFPACS Members from the area ( @Lou-StAugFL , @Kekoanui , @ChristianStAug , @CodyM, @PalmJuan ) can also share some of their experiences.

A few other links of interest:

• St. Johns Anniversary Celebration

• St. Johns 2nd Anniversary Celebration

• CFPACS Summer 2025 Meeting/Tour in St. Augustine, FL

• The Garden of Dr. John Rossi - Before it Became St. Johns Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve

Outstanding, Kinzyjr. I have not been to the Botanical Garden here, thank you for the idea and links. Lou was kind enough to give me a tour of his garden a couple years ago. It was wonderful and I was happy to see pictures of the tour of homes here last summer as I was on vacation during that time. I will reach out to the other members. It seems I have good deal more to find which is why I asked the forum. I may need a larger yard!

1 hour ago, SeaLaVie said:

Outstanding, Kinzyjr. I have not been to the Botanical Garden here, thank you for the idea and links. Lou was kind enough to give me a tour of his garden a couple years ago. It was wonderful and I was happy to see pictures of the tour of homes here last summer as I was on vacation during that time. I will reach out to the other members. It seems I have good deal more to find which is why I asked the forum. I may need a larger yard!

It's a little bit of a haul, but our Fall Meeting is in Orlando near Leu Gardens. A bunch of us are going to head to Leu after the meeting. That will give you more ideas and a few of the St. Augustine folks will be there. There will be people the entire length of the state there, so you'll get a pretty wide variety of climates and experiences.

CFPACS 2026 Fall Meeting - Orlando, FL

1 hour ago, kinzyjr said:

It's a little bit of a haul, but our Fall Meeting is in Orlando near Leu Gardens. A bunch of us are going to head to Leu after the meeting. That will give you more ideas and a few of the St. Augustine folks will be there. There will be people the entire length of the state there, so you'll get a pretty wide variety of climates and experiences.

CFPACS 2026 Fall Meeting - Orlando, FL

Thank you, that is quite the home garden. I'll know if I am able to attend once my kids' school and sports calendar gets set this next month.

New tropicals, I have been going out on limb in that department, and have found a few new varieties of tropical palms that could be worth having a try. Although you’re a little colder than my climate it’s it’s food for thought and worth trying some of them. Especially some of the licuala varieties and lanonias, definitely try lanonia varieties. Iam sure @tim_brissy_13 could steer you in the right direction!

1 hour ago, SeaLaVie said:

Thank you, that is quite the home garden. I'll know if I am able to attend once my kids' school and sports calendar gets set this next month.

You're welcome. My personal garden experiences low temperatures similar to what your location could expect annually. The heat during the day is a little oppressive. Feel free to grab ideas from here: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/52296-palms-and-others-of-interest/

42 minutes ago, happypalms said:

New tropicals, I have been going out on limb in that department, and have found a few new varieties of tropical palms that could be worth having a try. Although you’re a little colder than my climate it’s it’s food for thought and worth trying some of them. Especially some of the licuala varieties and lanonias, definitely try lanonia varieties. Iam sure @tim_brissy_13 could steer you in the right direction!

Licuala sp would all be out of the question if you’ve got Beccariophoenix alfredii getting damaged. Lanonia dasyantha in a very protected spot under canopy up against a house or something…maybe but marginal at best I’d say.

Chamaedorea radicalis and C microspadix should work well under some protection. Butia sp. Trachycarpus sp although summer heat might be a struggle for some of them. Maybe give Guihaia argyrata a go if you can find one. Chamaedorea humilis shouldn’t have a problem and some varieties like var argentea and ‘Vulcano’ are quite attractive. Rhapidophyllum, Sabal sp, Nannorrhops and some Brahea species should do well too.

1 hour ago, happypalms said:

New tropicals, I have been going out on limb in that department, and have found a few new varieties of tropical palms that could be worth having a try. Although you’re a little colder than my climate it’s it’s food for thought and worth trying some of them. Especially some of the licuala varieties and lanonias, definitely try lanonia varieties. Iam sure @tim_brissy_13 could steer you in the right direction!

Thank you, it's evening here so I will look them up now.

1 hour ago, kinzyjr said:

You're welcome. My personal garden experiences low temperatures similar to what your location could expect annually. The heat during the day is a little oppressive. Feel free to grab ideas from here: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/52296-palms-and-others-of-interest/

I was in Lakeland the last two years for my son's cross county championships. Seems like a great place to grow palms but you're correct that it has the heat of South Florida but certainly gets colder in the winter.

1 hour ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

1 hour ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Licuala sp would all be out of the question if you’ve got Beccariophoenix alfredii getting damaged. Lanonia dasyantha in a very protected spot under canopy up against a house or something…maybe but marginal at best I’d say.

Chamaedorea radicalis and C microspadix should work well under some protection. Butia sp. Trachycarpus sp although summer heat might be a struggle for some of them. Maybe give Guihaia argyrata a go if you can find one. Chamaedorea humilis shouldn’t have a problem and some varieties like var argentea and ‘Vulcano’ are quite attractive. Rhapidophyllum, Sabal sp, Nannorrhops and some Brahea species should do well too.

Licuala sp would all be out of the question if you’ve got Beccariophoenix alfredii getting damaged. Lanonia dasyantha in a very protected spot under canopy up against a house or something…maybe but marginal at best I’d say.

Chamaedorea radicalis and C microspadix should work well under some protection. Butia sp. Trachycarpus sp although summer heat might be a struggle for some of them. Maybe give Guihaia argyrata a go if you can find one. Chamaedorea humilis shouldn’t have a problem and some varieties like var argentea and ‘Vulcano’ are quite attractive. Rhapidophyllum, Sabal sp, Nannorrhops and some Brahea species should do well too.

Awesome, thank you. I will research all of these now, all are new to me.

1 hour ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Licuala sp would all be out of the question if you’ve got Beccariophoenix alfredii getting damaged. Lanonia dasyantha in a very protected spot under canopy up against a house or something…maybe but marginal at best I’d say.

Chamaedorea radicalis and C microspadix should work well under some protection. Butia sp. Trachycarpus sp although summer heat might be a struggle for some of them. Maybe give Guihaia argyrata a go if you can find one. Chamaedorea humilis shouldn’t have a problem and some varieties like var argentea and ‘Vulcano’ are quite attractive. Rhapidophyllum, Sabal sp, Nannorrhops and some Brahea species should do well too.

I've seen Copernicia Alba in St.Augustine although it's been a couple of years. Large Livistonas near the college.

Phoenix Rupicola can take some cold and, in my opinion, has a tropical look. I have one and wish I planted a second. My yard saw 28 degrees this February and it was completely unscathed. A little more cold sensitive, but my Dictyosperma Album var. Conjugatum did great with maybe 20% damage and recovering faster than most of my other palms. The conjugatum variety did significantly better than the standard form.

I'm up in Jacksonville and am growing many species of Butia (Odorata, paraguayensis, catarinensis, archeri), many Syagrus (Romanzoffiana, cearensis, campylospatha, hoehnei, schizzophylla, lorenzoniorum, weddellianum), many Chameadorea (Radicalis, microspadix, geonominformis) Sabal domingensis, Trachycarpus fortunei, Chamaerops humilis, Caryota maxima, many Livistona (Saribus, Mariae hyrbid, chinesis, decora), Rhapis var., Chuniophoenix (nana and hainanensis), Butigrus, Jubautia, and probably am growing the only pure Jubaea chilensis in the state.

That's just the palms....am growing over a dozen types of cycads as well.

If you're interested in a visit shoot me a DM.