Interesting. How long-lasting is your cold? What was the low? How much damage did it have?

Thanks for the note!

I'll definitely shop for one. Since they grow slow, I'll try to buy one in a ~15 gallon pot.
I just bought three needle palms. I hope to have at least some palms I can give minimal protection to!
Did you cover your dwarf palmetto? Mulch it heavily?

They are tough little buggers, the one on my South side did very well despite making a mistake that Paul pointed out. I packed it with hay and put a wall o water around it. When I uncovered it the hay was soaked and kind of moldy. The two on my North West side had some leaf burn, they where much wetter though. Still they are pushing up new leaves already. A must have for sure! Needle palms too, nice pick up Erik.

Bill

No protection, what so ever. Just planted on the South side of house.

I have killed two trees (Washy & King Sego) by wrapping with plastic or leafs and both died from moisutre.

I have killed two trees (Washy & King Sego) by wrapping with plastic or leafs and both died from moisutre.

Thanks for the tip. I've also killed Washy the same way and so am leary of that method in our climate.
I will definitely go shopping for S. minor. Despite (because?) they are a native of our state, no nursery stocks them. 😡
The needle palms were a surprise find at the local Home Depot. Very cheap.
--Erik

A local walmart by me has a load of hardy blue pots from costa farms. It was kind of surprising to see. They had med fans, needles, trachys, and minors. They where all rated zone 7 except the needle which was a 6.

Bill

By the way they where in 2.2 gallon pots for 18 bucks.

Hi Guys,

Quick questions:

1./ Do you think it is important from which location these Sabals came from? I was told that most of the ones I can get in Ontario, Canada are from Florida breeding sources and as such, have not yet been exposed to any cold yet, which just gives me the willies 🙂 I love these plams, they are so beautiful when more mature... just it would be a pain to lose them due to a wrong source selection....
2./ Probably you already discussed this, but would you use a different approach in Sabal winter protection than with Rapi, or Trachy?

Thanks for your inputsin advance!

Rob

No question palms from cold areas and that have experienced cold are going to be hardier.

The issue is whether palms that are slowly introduced to it and have a chance to adjust
will end up being as hardy,potentially they should.
If a palm is taken down gradually and it's natural defenses are given time to kick in,
they should be able to adjust.
One caveat to this is that they more than likely will need to grow all new leaves that are adjusted to their "new"climate.

So,you may end up losing old the foliage anyway.

There is so much variability from plant to plant (say Trachys for instance)that it's very possible
that a southern grown Trachy could beat out a northern grown Trachy in their first winter.

One thing that's necessary is for both to gradually be brought into winter temps,
whether you live in S.Carolina or Minnesota a sudden cold snap can be the end.

I believe this was the problem with the damage to my palms this year.

Florida plants are surely not used to cold, but I believe they can do just fine depending on your protection. The fact of the matter is that 85% of the hardy palms come from Fla anyways. A healthy root system is most likely the most important anyways since you'll be protecting the fronds from cold anyways.

If I could offer one more piece of advice I'd say fertilize but not super heavy on palms under 15 gallons the first year. Bigger palms are already almost established if planted from large pots.

Bill

A local walmart by me has a load of hardy blue pots from costa farms. It was kind of surprising to see. They had med fans, needles, trachys, and minors. They where all rated zone 7 except the needle which was a 6.

Bill

That is the same scam the local HD had! They were also in blue pots.
My "favorite" feature was the large, prominent "cold hardy" stickers affixed to the sides of the med fans, needles, trachys AND Butia!
IMHO, med fans, trachys and Butia are NOT "cold hardy" on the zone 6/7 border and need winter protection.
I know nothing first-hand about needle palms. I'm hoping they really are "cold hardy." Let me know if you have advice.
The small needle pots (size you mentioned) were US$20 and the 7 gallon were US$40. They only had two of those, and the spear on one pulled as I tugged it gently so I left it and bought the other one.
Still looking for Sabal minor, and annoyed that nurseries in a state where they are a native plant don't sell them. 😡
--Erik

Sabal minors are also commonly found here in S.C. from the coast up to 160 miles inland. However, try to find one in a nursery! Won't happen! I think the problem is that they are so slow growing that it is not economically feasable to grow them for market. Because they are not available, you don't see them used in home landscaping and thus, no demand. Compounding this is the fact that they are difficult to transplant at different stages of life. Small seedlings are "fairly" easy to move, but are more fragile than Sabal palmetto. Plants that are 3-6 years (first fan leaves) are almost impossible to transplant from the wild (many failures thru the years!). Sellable plants must be placed in pots as young seedlings and left there! Compounding the problem is the fact that more of it's growth initially is "below ground" making it difficult to contain in pots. Once the plant is mature (seed-bearing) they can be moved without risk of loss. I have at least 15 of the largest specimens I have seen anywhere and trust me, when people see them and can appreciate their landscaping potential, they want one!

Pennywise 😀

Erik
Needles are VERY tough once established.
They can take a while to root in,I think in your climate they would do well
and may benefit from some afternoon sun protection.

The problem quite a few people have is they don't protect them enough the first few
year's in places where they need too,they get damaged(spear-pull/leaf damage)and the
road to recovery is long.
My advice would be to protect from extreme/early cold the first few years,
it can take a while to regrow damaged leaves but the new ones will be
well adjusted to their new climate/home.

I have at least 15 of the largest specimens I have seen anywhere and trust me, when people see them and can appreciate their landscaping potential, they want one!

Pics please. 😀