cold hardy palms
 

Hey all....whats a good cold hardy palm? I like the big canary palms....but are they cold hardy? What about queen palms or traveler palms?

Thanks!
:blahblahblah:

Be careful of queens, they are not cold hardy.

Hi Gary ... I learned so much about palms by googling "cold hardy palms", there are so many varieties of palms. There is much to learn, for instance, Pindo palms are very cold hardy but they bear fruit, which may be problem if you're not around in the summer to clean up. For us, I was afraid the fruit would attract rodents. Robellini Palms are adorable, but few owners are willing to do the frost sheets, and you often see them being replaced!

There are many websites with complete lists and pictures. if you visit a nursery, like Fairfield Farms or Terrascape, both on CR 301, there are lots of trees to be viewed and lots of competent Professionals to give advice.

Queen palms are extremely popular in TV, and are cold hardy to a point. But they can be damaged by an extreme hard frost, although they'll usually survive the damage. My personal favorite palm tree is a Sylvester Palm.

http://www.junglemusic.net/palmadvic...coldhardy2.htm


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I suggest that you look at what The Villages plants on the golf courses and in the other areas that they plant in. They only plant cold hardy plants. If you are thinking of planting something that you don't see in these areas perhaps you should pass.

I was told that The Villages never planted any Queen Palms.

take advantage of free classes/info
 

there is a new landscape gardening group that meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at Laurel Manor at 2:30, much info here. Also another garden club the 2nd Wed. of the month at 9:00 at Mulberry. Both offer programs, field trips, etc.

You can also go to Twice on Tuesday (4th Tuesday) at either Savannah Center (9:00) or Sea Breeze (1 pm) - pick up free ticket first during the 2 weeks before.

Another resource are the Plant Clinics held every Monday by the Master Gardeners in cooperation with the Sumter Co. extension service.

You can even email all the county extension services with questions, send photos regarding problem plants, etc. Website to start with: www.solutionsforyourlife.com

While most of these programs have a topic of the month, there is ample opportunity after to ask questions directly of the experts. A true wealth of information and very accessible - better than anywhere I've ever lived.

Queen palms should be avoided. They suffer from the cold and usually die a season or two after they are exposed to severe weather. The College extension service I called said don't plant them.

cold hardy palms
 

Here is a website with useful information: willisorchards.com. It is a mail order nursery in Georgia.

Thanks, Chuck! According to this, the Queen Palm is slightly more cold tolerant (to 18 degrees) than the Sylvester( to 23 degrees). I didn't know that.
We have a Sylvester and I love it.

Now, two questions for our experienced alumni out there....

Do we really experience temperatures of 18 to 23 degrees here?
Does wrapping the trunks with twinkle lights help any?

It does get down to the mid 20's in the early mornings sometimes in the winter.

There are queen palms all over the place in my neighborhood and most of them hold up well. They grow very fast too.

I heard it does. We put twinkle lights around our Meyer lemon tree in Norcal this year and our home watcher will plug them in when it gets cold. The sometimes low temp there is also in the mid 20's.


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We also have a Sylvester with a double curving trunk. It's my favourite tree. We had it planted in December 2010 and it was fine through last winter. The landscaper told us no worries, they recommend Sylvester Palms for North Carolina.

We normally use landscapers since we don't know what we're doing. As an experiment, we bought a cheapie Queen Palm, 5 feet, from Walmart and planted it in Dec 2010. It's doing amazing. Experimenting is fun. I'm also very pleased with my knock-out rose bushes.

I love the look of the Sylvesters, but don't know how cold hardy they are. This was an interesting link about Queen Palms:http://www.sky-bolt.com/queenpalms.htm

The writer uses good references, and claims the Queens are not cold hardy below 25 degrees, are not wind resistant and are not drought tolerant, hence not recommended for central or north Florida. One thing I have observed is that they grow very tall, and very quickly. In just a few years it will be difficult to trim the brown fronds yourself, you'll need to get a landscaper to come in a do it for you since the trees are so big, and this will be a maintenance cost to keep in mind.

Are you sure you want a palm
 

Not only are they a constant source of maintenance that requires lots and lots of money but they are home to some florida bugs!...Ugh!....
We cut ours down and really do not miss them.....One palm left that ole boy guards from the evil wife that wants it GONE!:popcorn:

Palm-metto bugs
 

Don't Palm trees breed the palmetto bugs and as the gentle breeze swishes those beautiful palms...spread these little guys all over your roofs and such?? And from the roofs into your beautiful village home??? Laura:shocked: