Anyone here trying cold hardy palms/ferns/cacti?

[svendrix]

As a lark on an ebay auction I won, I also bought 100 cold hardy Trachycarpus fortuneii (Chinese Windmill) seeds the guy was selling since they were cheap, and look like fun, even if just as an experiment. I just planted the seeds, so I guess it can take quite some time (100 days?) to germinate, so I am waiting as impatiently as I can, haha!

Anyways, after doing some more Internet research, it looks there are some other cold hardy palms that I may be able to try. Also, someone in another post at bambooweb mentioned a book "Palms Won't Grow Here and Other Myths: Warm-Climate Plants for Cooler Areas" by David A Francko. My library's website is currently down for maintenance, so will have to check to see if they have it tomorrow, or order from Amazon.

I am just curious what others here might have had experience wise with cold hardy palms and cacti.

---Sven

[marcat]

If your seeds are fresh you can expect results in a month to six weeks with T. fortunei. But do not throw out any non germinated seeds for at least 6 months. I have experienced palm seeds germinating more than a year after planting. The book you mentioned is a good read.
Try a Mediterannian Fan palm they should do where you are.
MarCat

[marcat]

Checked my Riffle and Craft book they are considered conservative on their hardiness descriptions.
Trachycarpus fortunei 7b-11
Sereno repens 8-11 (some 7)
Sabal minor 6-11 (some 5) no trunk
Sabal mexicana (Texas Sabal) 7b
Chamaerops humilis farthest north naturally occuring palm var. cerifera (silver) is hardier

The best bet for a pinnate palm would be a Butia B. capita 8-11 B.yatay is suppose to be hardier.
Good sites for seeds are Ortaniqe or Rare Palm
Hopes that helps.
Oh your T. fortunei when you get them big enough should be planted with wind protection.
MarCat

[Bamboo Outlaw]

http://www.amazinggardens.com/

Take a look here.

[Mike McG]

svendrix,

I am growing some of the hardier palms and cycads but have also lost many of them I thought would be OK here to the cold. I probably planted them too small without protection. You may want to visit HARDY PALMS IN TEMPERATE ZONES FORUM at http://members3.boardhost.com/MIDWESTPALMS/
Many of these guys are growing palms in zone 7 and even zone 6 with a lot of protection.

Mike near Brenham TX

[svendrix]

Thanks for the links and info everyone (I will hang on to the non-germinated seeds for awhile marcat!). Looks like I might have to do some trial and error to see what will thrive here, due to our colder winters. I really wish I could figure out my "true" zone, but to be honest I'm sure it's all relative to lots of variables. I think I am arbitrarily going to choose my Zone to be 7B so I can grow more plants than if I chose 6B! That's how it works right?!!!!

I am hoping that the T. fortuneii will last if I can learn to take care of them until they are large and hardy enough to plant outside. I can just imagine a group lining driveway here, in Douglas Fir country!

This guy claims his survived down to -3F (with winter protection from the link that sends you here, though they don't discuss what they did).
http://www.bg-map.com/palms/SE_PA.html

I did find this link yesterday about winterizing the T. fortuneii, and it looks like it should work fine here, but I don't know what I would do when it gets taller, around 10 or 15 feet? OK, yeah I'm dreaming.

http://hardiestpalms.com/WinterProtection.html (you can click on the photo in the upper right to zoom in a bit)

Do palms topkill in cold and come back like bamboo? I couldn't quite figure that out, but it definitely sounds like they can die back due to cold and shoot up more fronds in Spring.

I could always try this fern that reminds me of a palm as well (see the 5th pic down). It is supposedly good down to 7B:
http://www.angelfire.com/bc/eucalyptus/ ... ctica.html

---Sven

[needmore]

I know that cacti and perhaps palms as well hate WET cold. Keeping them dry in cold temps is critical,wet cold and they'll die at temps 'warmer' than you would expect.

[ghmerrill]

I have some type of cacti, probalby in the prickly pear family, that a friend got me from near Salem, OR. cold hardy here, and seems to be able to make it throught the wet too. I put them all in pots and have about 6 of them to put in the ground this spring. on the other hand, I got some pads off a similar plant down by Chico, CA, that does not have the long spines, and was MUCH larger plants, and those seem to be slowly rotting away, I dont think it is the wet, as much as the cold. no idea what species either of these are though.

Gene

[Thuja]

The toughest cactus I have is Opuntia fragilis. It sits in a pot outside and survives. It is underneath a overhang so stays fairly dry. Next year I'll try it above ground and in the snow and see what happens. It survives fine planted in the ground. BTW, it is a really nasty cactus. Pieces of it fall off and blow around. It's a good idea to wear shoes in their neighborhood.

[ocimum_nate]

I have ordered from this company before. http://www.mesagarden.com/
Thay have a very large selection of seeds and each one lists where it was collected so you can select for more hardy selections.

[mantis]

I received my latest Timber Press catalog in the mail yesterday, and ran across this book...

http://www.timberpress.com/books/isbn.c ... hs/francko

Made me think of you, Sven.

[svendrix]

That is a VERY cool book. I found it at the library and got it a couple weeks back. The Sabal sp 'Birmingham' is now my Holy Grail, but so it is for others as well it looks like. I always prefer to grow from seed if possible, and it's very impossible to find, probably due to demand? The palms themselves also seem to be more expensive than other cold hardy palms. I think I have found a good source for the palm seed, but it's over in europe, so it is pretty spendy with shipping.

That book also has a section on bamboo, though it is a small one. I haven't read it yet, only the palms chapter.

For anyone thinking they can't grow something because they live in cold weather zones, this book will open your eyes to things you might never have thought of growing!

---Sven