Palms in Colorado

[Coloradoboi]

Hello, I live in zone 5b.  I am located just outside of denver and colorado springs. I have several succesful palms growing in my back yard, and have found several others growing throughout colorado.

This is a photo of my 2 Trachies. They even survived a 5 foot blizzard.

This is a photo of the Trachies during a small snowstorm. Lows hit about negative 10. I kept them warm by wrapping them with towels and bubble wrap.

I found these palms growing in grand junction (southern colorado) I believe grand junction is zone 6B.

Note: Palms will only succeed in colorado if they face South. I have attempted to grow needles and trachies facing west, and they do quite poorly and eventually die. Both however, do perfectly on the south side of the house.

[Dypsisdean]

Scott,

Welcome to the forum.

Bobby, can you relate to that?  

[doubravsky]

Wow,... most impressive... I keep toying with the idea of buying a Trachy for my folks north of Cortez.. now I may just have to do that!

[Coloradoboi]

Oh, just to add, I found several 10 foot tall Trachycarpus Fortunei growing outside at an island themed restaurant in Denver. The owner says they are left out for most of the winter. He pulls them under his awning, and turns on the heat lamp when it gets too cold (once or twice a year)

[ZoneTenNut]

That is really amazing, because even with that protected southern exposure, those night temps are REALLY cold. Thanks for posting the pics.

[Coloradoboi]

zone10, you would be surprised. Colorado winters are warmer than you may expect. December and january have average highs of 45 degrees. Lows are in the upper teens. A Fortunei will begin to show signs of tissue damage at about 10 degrees if it stays that low for extended periods of time. Usually it is not cold enough, long enough, to cause much damage. When arctic cold snaps blow in, the fortunei is taken in.

[epicure3]

(Coloradoboi @ Dec. 10 2006,20:27)

QUOTE

zone10, you would be surprised. Colorado winters are warmer than you may expect. December and january have average highs of 45 degrees. Lows are in the upper teens. A Fortunei will begin to show signs of tissue damage at about 10 degrees if it stays that low for extended periods of time. Usually it is not cold enough, long enough, to cause much damage. When arctic cold snaps blow in, the fortunei is taken in.

That may be true. However, averages are just that. It can be brutally cold, and I mean brutal one day and 65 another.

[NBTX11]

(epicure3 @ Dec. 10 2006,20:46)

QUOTE

(Coloradoboi @ Dec. 10 2006,20:27)

QUOTE

zone10, you would be surprised. Colorado winters are warmer than you may expect. December and january have average highs of 45 degrees. Lows are in the upper teens. A Fortunei will begin to show signs of tissue damage at about 10 degrees if it stays that low for extended periods of time. Usually it is not cold enough, long enough, to cause much damage. When arctic cold snaps blow in, the fortunei is taken in.

That may be true. However, averages are just that. It can be brutally cold, and I mean brutal one day and 65 another.

This is very true.  Denver can be below zero one day and 65-70F  a couple days later due to being on the front range, with the warming chinook winds. Overall, "somewhat" mild, but also can be brutally cold - below zero F.

[Palmy]

Wow! Welcome. Great job with the palms. Im amazed. I would never expect to see palms in Colorado, perhaps at the lower elevations. Im amazed.

[DoomsDave]

Colorado-young male!

You truly do rock.  Denver, not a place for palms.  Bet the girls roll their eyes, to the Rocky Mountain high.

Welcome to our loving, if large, and diverse family of freaks.  Gadzooks!  The men or women in the white suits can't be far behind in Denver . . .

dave

[cryptobionic]

Nice! More concrete evidence of the miracles of a southern exposure (at least in the northern hemisphere).

[elHoagie]

Nice!  I grew up in Colorado Springs and my parents still live there.  In spring 2005 I gave my dad a Rhapidophyllum hystrix to try outside at his place.  It did great all spring/summer, and still looked flawless after some hard freezes in the fall.  But, my dad freaked out sometime in Nov/Dec when there was a really cold forecast, and he went out in the middle of the night, dug the palm up, and took it into his living room.  He left the palm inside all of 2006, but maybe he'll try it outside again next year....

[Zac in NC]

Thats funny, Jack. There is a Needle planted out at the Denver Botanic Gardens I believe, along with Musa basjoo in ground all the time. Scott- Here is a link to another board which already has some Colorado palm growers who post frequently. Hardy Palm and Subtropical Board Don't know if you have been lurking or posting on here, but theres the link.

Zac

[ghar41]

Awesome colorado palms!!  Ahh...that good ol' southern exposure.

The couple of times I have been in Denver, I was always surprised at how "warm" the freezing weather felt.  Relatives of mine that lived there at the time commented on the "dry" nature of the air and snow.  They swear that the same thermometer temperatures in Wyoming feel much more frigid.

I'm sure altitude plays a big part in this...

[ThePalmBro]

Hi I live in aurora and I wanna grow a sabal palm and is really inspired. Also on my screen I cant seem to load or see the images you posted.