From what ive read, their are only hardy to zone 8, when they are a large size... but i could be wrong..

I may be the only one. Too bad, as they have great color.
Photo one is of it in a pot, where I grew it up for a few years. This photo is a year old.
Photo two is of it in the ground, after a rain storm. It clearly shows that I failed to adequately deal with drainage issues. My understanding is that they need well-drained soil.
I'll heat it with heat tape this winter and cover it.
As for mail order, I am also skeptical but I have actually had good experiences. You can ask for recommendations.

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Erik, hope that palm does well this winter. Braheas are becoming a favorite of mine. Im also thinking of trying a robusta or filifera next year.

I have one I got from ebay, but to small to plant in the ground. 🙂

Coltrane, if you like the brahea, mabey think of Chamerops Humulis var. ceifera. Just as hardy as the regular med. fan palms, but are as blue as the brahea! I havnt seen plants, only seeds so fa, but i havnt really looked for it.

Good luck dude:D

Canadianplant, Ive actually have one of those and it over wintered with no problems. Its still young and kinda slow growin'. But I
do like it.

oh awsome, so if and or when you get that brahea you can compare the colour to see if what they say is true

Are they saying the colors are similar? The Armatas look very silvery to me.

Heres what my Med. fan palm looked like in Feb. 2010 (first pic). Second pic was taken about a month ago.

I love Chamaerops humilis. I have a happy green specimen growing well if slowly.
My one C. h. cerifera died, but that is my fault (poor soil drainage...).
Nonetheless, Brahea is much brighter blue. IMO, if you want a zone 8 palm with blue foliage, go with Brahea.
--Erik
P.S. wish me luck in not killing my little Brahea....

Erik, did you move your brahea out of that wet spot?

No.
Do you think I should, before winter?
I'm in a bind. They don't like root disturbance, but don't like wet soil.
It has not been saturated since then, but realistically, it will be a few times each year.
Should I pot it back up and try again next year, or do my best with it in situ?
--Erik

I dont have enough palm wisdom to answer that question. Wish I did. Maybe someone will pipe in some good advice.

Just by looking at that pic with the puddle........risky location. At least in winter anyway. But like I said, I really dont know much.

Erik that (potted) Brahea is gorgeous.
To answer your next question...no they don't like root disturbance, but if you take a huge and deep shovelful (go straight down) all the way around, you'll be able to take it out of the ground without roots being damaged. You'll be convinced when you compare photo of waterlogged Brahea to the earlier potted Brahea pic. I think it would decline further this winter in your heavy clay...gotta be clay if that water stood for...12 hours? the next day?

coltrane, that's sure a lovely Med fan palm, nice growth in a year, too.
I had always heard they grew slowly. Mine's only a little thing, only a few leaves, but more blue than silver.

For a vivid blue color, nothing (except Bismarckia and Copernicia) beats Brahea armata.
And the more sun they get, the more blue they are.

Barb

Oops, forgot to post pics of my two little B.armata, the camera didn't entirely capture how blue they are.

Heat, heat, heat = blue, blue, blue. the hottest, sunniest spot you've got, they'll love it.