Butia in snow in Edmond Oklahoma

(@terdalfarm)

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A cold rain here in Tulsa but snow further west. My friend Chris Butler shared this on Facebook and gave me permission to share it here.
Dr. Butler studies Sabal minor (paper: http://www.biology.uco.edu/PersonalPages/CButler/Butler_et_al_2011.pdf ) in Oklahoma, and grows a bunch at his home. He does minimal protection. Here is his personal estimate of relative cold hardiness in Edmond (a city north of Oklahoma City):

Of the ones palms I've tried in Oklahoma,my listing of cold-hardiness would read Sabal minor --> Rhapidophyllum hystrix --> Sabal palmetto --> Butia capitata --> Sabal mexicana --> Trachycarpus fortueni --> Chaemerops humilis --> Washingtonia filifera --> Brahea armata --> Washingtonia robusta.

Washingtonia robusta and Brahea armata were definitely not cold-hardy. W. filifera lasted for a few years, as did C. humilis but eventually perished in a cold winter.

Here is his Butia capitata today. He covered it with a cardboard box the first few years but no heat. No protection of any sort the past couple of winters. He started it from seed he collected in North Carolina, so presumably hardy seed stock.

Posted : 12/02/2013 4:45 pm

KrisK

(@krisk)

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Interesting read. I'm afraid I'd get banned from the research team for Johnny sabal-seeding anywhere that looked viable! Curious that the author ranks Butia and S palmetto hardiness higher than C humilis, T fortunei, and W filifera. I'd like to see more pics of his palms for sure.

Posted : 12/02/2013 5:40 pm

Cameron_z6a_N.S.

(@cameron_z6a_n-s)

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Erik, this is interesting to see. Do you have any info on his T. fortunei? I wonder if he was trying southern-grown palms vs. tougher cultivars.

Posted : 12/02/2013 8:27 pm

lucky1

(@lucky1)

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trying southern-grown palms vs. tougher cultivars

Occurred to me too.

Nice B. capitata; simply can't fathom it being hardier than a T.fortunei.

Barb

If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.

Posted : 13/02/2013 10:30 am

TimMAz6

(@timmaz6)

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nice read.............I remember Don in OKC stating Trachycarpus is not very hardy in OKC too. Perhaps they are weaker going into winter with all that summer heat? OKC goes from summer to winter.......there is no fall out their. 😆

Posted : 13/02/2013 11:47 am

InsanePalmNinja

(@insanepalmninja)

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What protection level would this be in indiana from 1 - 10? Then again am up for the challenge.

Nobody panics when people plant normal trees because its part of the plan... if someone plants a Palm EVERYONE LOSES THERE MINDS!

Posted : 14/02/2013 11:25 am

Henoh_Croatia

(@henoh_croatia)

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Butia odorata is marginal here with passive winter protection and I live in zone 7b. Rhapidophyllum hystrix, Sabal minor, Trachycarpus fortunei, Trachycarpus wagnerianus, Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera are all hardier here than Butia odorata. That is my experience so far.

Here is my Butia in zone 7b.

June 2010

April 2011

October 2011

April 2012

October 2012

late November 2012

Winter protection is without heating
February 2013

Posted : 15/02/2013 3:56 pm

andym

(@andym)

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Nice little palm Henoh... whats been your lowest temp this Winter? I am finding that starting with small palms seems to help settle the palm in easier. Some of the big Butias I have had come supplied in a premix cement but is actually soil. They stand no chance in my cooler conditions and the roots have rotted. Many people now jet blast this heavy claggy soil off to free up the roots and replant in more friable soil. Probably will set the palm back for a season but a small price to pay compared to losing it to root rot. In my neck of the woods Trachycarpus is easily the hardiest, then Chamaerops, Butia and lastly Washingtonia which isn't hardy except in that concrete jungle that is London and even then it needs a good microclimate.

<span style="display: block !important; width: 180px; text-align: center; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=IOXFORD1" title="Oxford, United Kingdom Weather Forecast" target="_blank"><img src="http://weathersticker.wunderground.com/weathersticker/cgi-bin/banner/ban/wxBanner?bannertype=wu_bluestripes_metric&pwscode=IOXFORD1&ForcedCity=Oxford&ForcedState=United Kingdom&language=EN" alt="Find more about Weather in Oxford, United Kingdom" width="160" /></a><br><a href="http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=IOXFORD1" title="Get latest Weather Forecast updates" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px" target="_blank">Click for weather forecast</a></span>

Posted : 15/02/2013 7:35 pm

Henoh_Croatia

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Hi Andy,

there is no whether station so I don't know exactly what the lowest temperature was. My weekend house is cca 20-30 km east from nearest whether station. According to the official measuring lowest was -15.9 C on December 13th 2012.

http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/Zagreb_Maksimir/12-2012/142400.htm

Posted : 16/02/2013 12:31 pm

lucky1

(@lucky1)

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Nice butia, Henoh.

Barb

If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.

Posted : 16/02/2013 2:57 pm

TimMAz6

(@timmaz6)

Posts: 2788

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yes......that is a beautiful Butia! 😀

Posted : 16/02/2013 8:02 pm

InsanePalmNinja

(@insanepalmninja)

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Nicely Done. What size should I get for a larger Pindo. Going to be Throwing some Pindos in there as well. Right now I have some seedling in the Ground. They didn't even burn until the Really cold week back in January. Even then they didn't burn that must even then. I think in the Rose Cone it was still maybe 8 degrees Am guessing.

Nobody panics when people plant normal trees because its part of the plan... if someone plants a Palm EVERYONE LOSES THERE MINDS!

Posted : 17/02/2013 10:34 am