One of the banks here left one planted in the ground all winter. I was surprised how much cold it took before finally turning completely brown. I'd say it took down to the teens pretty easily.

Was he saying "Pyro"??

Hmmm.

I thought he was saying pirate but i think it's Piru

anyone have any ideas on where to get this "piru" queen palm and how to identify it over a "regular" queen palm?

Found this: " CoolGayDad says:
January 18, 2011 at 8:14 am

We lost 9 mature queen palms during the ’09-’10 winter. We purchased replacements from a local tree nursery that are supposed to be cold hardy down to 13 degrees. They are called Piru Queens Palms and so far they seem to be doing just fine this year withstanding temperatures down into the mid 20s here in Spring."

from somewhere on here: http://blog.chron.com/lazygardener/2011/01/palms-and-winter/

Barb

I found a nursery in Arizona that sells them but it looks like they don;t ship much outside that area..sure wish they did they have some large ones for about 60 bucks..thats worth it to me to test there cold hardy.

Never heard of piru queen palms but I have heard of Syagrus Romanzoffiana "Santa Catarina" which is from the mountains of Brazil rather than the bog standard Syagrus R from coastal areas. Perhaps he thinks they come from Peru??

Ive heard of "silver queen", which is supposed to be hardy to -9C if in not mistaken. Maybe all 3 of the suggested palms are the same one or 2?

Santa Catarina mountain queens are the most cold hardy that I'm aware of. I grow ones from seed collected at 1,100 meters. It gets to 18F every few years and the 50-100 year lows reach 14F. I've never heard of a 'Piru' queen palm. It must have just recently popped up as a marketing ploy.

Interestingly, the name 'silver queen' came about from appearances after a major freeze event. It was said that heavy frost on the rows of queen palms in the field gave the illusion that their leaves were dipped in silver as the early morning light shined behind them. The ones that survived that devastating freeze were later called 'silver queens.'

I found some Piru Queen palm seeds on ebay ( Arecastrum Romanzoffianum) . Located in US 5 seeds for $2.99.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arecastrum-romanzoffianum-QUEEN-PALM-Seeds-/380381806251?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:CA:3160

Syagrus is now the proper genus name. He is offering common queen palm seeds for sale.

I think I will contact that nursery and see if they have any small palms there willing to ship maybe 3-5 gallons

As Andy and Steve both mentioned, the hardiest queen palms that I have heard of are from the Santa Catarina locale, and the "Silver Queens" were hardier-than-average queen palms from Florida.

I sent them a email I guess we will see what they say.