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Growing palms and tropicals in cold climates
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I was at the Tulsa Zoo yesterday, making a pitch for them to help wildlife in Belize. Their Sabal minor are looking fantastic--no cold damage. Of course, their low has been -9 C so it is to be expected that they look amazing. Their one needle palm (small) also looks excellent.
Today, I had a couple hours to see portions of the larger Oklahoma City Zoo. Slightly wamer there (zone 7a vs 6b per USDA). Dwarf palmettos feature prominently in the winter landscape!
Here is a bed by the entrance:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jVJydQ8jZ2GspWQaEHBA3NMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" 
" height="475" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/drterdal/20120120?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsit e">2012-01-20</a></td></tr></table>
And here is a larger bed, where some are naturalizing:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/CH0NqKGUb9269yrQ6iuNg9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" 
" height="420" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/drterdal/20120120?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsit e">2012-01-20</a></td></tr></table>
This photos shows seedlings in a bed with no mature plants:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2qlb4hvZ1TjfJ7Jdd4RHp9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" 
" height="291" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/drterdal/20120120?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsit e">2012-01-20</a></td></tr></table>
And this photo shows the one Trachycarpus I saw, with one of two needle palms just in front (and one of the ubiquitous dwarf palmettos in the foreground:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/I9HExqbe_X3ynLBz7dADN9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" 
" height="640" width="425" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/drterdal/20120120?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsit e">2012-01-20</a></td></tr></table>
And finally some cute animal photos:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ECtCFpYemr4-d7qHs4NSbtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" 
" height="347" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/drterdal/20120120?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsit e">2012-01-20</a></td></tr></table>
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7SgQtQALcs3yDMlazmx6idMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" 
" height="327" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" https://picasaweb.google.com/drterdal/20120120?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsit e">2012-01-20</a></td></tr></table>
Posted : 20/01/2012 10:34 pm
Nice shots. Have you ever been to Don's house? I wonder how his palms and citrus are fairing?
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Posted : 20/01/2012 11:22 pm
Topic starter
No, never met Don.
Posted : 21/01/2012 12:11 am
Erik,
Nice pics ... look at how blue the palmetto is compared with the needle and trachy.
I know sabals are your favorite with their huge leaves; gorgeous!
Interesting that wind may have blown seeds into the bed with no mature specimens? or kids? birds?
Adorable elephant...bet he'd rather be somewhere really warm.
Thanks for this.
Barb
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If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.
Posted : 21/01/2012 12:25 am
Looks good. We were there, back in June. I wondered if that trachy ( it's by a cat pen, right?) would survive. It looked like last winter had totally defoliated it, and i figured the summer from hell would do it in. Glad to see its ok.
Posted : 21/01/2012 1:45 am
Topic starter
Barb, I'm guessing birds.
First, Oklahoma's Sabal minor expert is an ornithologist and he says birds are their major disperser, both in the wild and at the OKC zoo.
2nd, the volunteers were clustered under trees that birds like to roost on. People would not have planted them like that, and wind wouldn't have scattered them just so.
Blue! Yes, they are quite blue in comparison with the needles and the lone Trachy.
Kris,
yes, the windmill was by the jaguar. I too am impressed that it could recover so well after how hard 2011 was. Zone 7 OKC got well into Zone 6 last February (when you and I were below even that...), and then their Summer was even hotter than ours. 😯
Posted : 21/01/2012 9:34 am
very nice pics. I want a baby elephant
Mike Trautner
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Posted : 21/01/2012 10:12 am
Great shots, Erik. I always like seeing pics of the palms at that zoo!
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Posted : 22/01/2012 2:03 pm
Topic starter
Mike,
no, you don't. I know how much trouble horses can be. Elaphus maximus are 10x the size!
Cam,
I know I've said it 10x, but I think Sabal minor are great palms for the landscape. They take extreme cold, heat, drought, flood, hail, snow, wind, goats, etc. Attract pretty birds. Get big enough to be dramatic but won't ever take over. The OKC zoo (and to a lesser extent Tulsa Zoo; even the St Louis Zoo is getting started!) show how effective they can be as a landscape plant.
--Erik
Posted : 22/01/2012 2:08 pm
Hey Erik, was that the same zoo where--last year--you took a photo of a palm growing through a broken roof of a little greenhouse/lean-to?
Barb
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If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.
Posted : 22/01/2012 2:49 pm
