Washingtonia filifera

[iwan]

No damage noted on trunking specimens.  Still working on the temp numbers, but 16 out of 18 days below freezing.  Most days 12+ hours below freezing, rebounding to mid-40's.  Official lows in Madera and Fresno in low 20's.  Some frost every day, but nowhere near as heavy as normal 28-32F freezes.  No overhead canopy.

[Lodewijkp]

the filifera is not very tolerant of humid winters unlike the w.robusta , also move this one to a position out of the sun when in freezes are common.

[Kris]

My washy filifera rotted during this year winter rains,and iam close to the sea coast and i was stunned how delicate this palm is for humid regions !

love,

Kris

And here are few stills of my washy filifera !

[EastCountyPalms]

My washy filifera rotted during this year winter rains,and iam close to the sea coast and i was stunned how delicate this palm is for humid regions !

love,

Kris

And here are few stills of my washy filifera !

Wow Im suprised. We cant kill them out here in San Diego. There literally like a weed. Try the Robusta. I'm sure it will live.

[alex_7b]

W.robusta is much more tolerant of wet soil than the filiferas. My guess is that filifera could do OK in desert z7b. In the east, mid-teens. They also demand more sun.

[Kostas]

2 young Washingtonia filifera 2'-3',at least -6 or more at night with several days below freezing and at about -3

No protection

No damage,just leaf spoting on an emerging leaf of the bigger one.

Edited August 31, 2008 by Kostas

[Ampli]

Fifteen seedlings, about six months old, in a north facing veranda, have two low of -3.7°C (25.4 F), one of -2.9°C (26.8 F) and more subzero night.

One seedling was rotted, 5 show some browning at the tips of the leafs, the rest was un-damaged.

[JASON M]

My washy filifera rotted during this year winter rains,and iam close to the sea coast and i was stunned how delicate this palm is for humid regions !

love,

Kris

And here are few stills of my washy filifera !

My God! Those photos are worse than the butchering of the CIDP!!

[NBTX11]

W.robusta is much more tolerant of wet soil than the filiferas. My guess is that filifera could do OK in desert z7b. In the east, mid-teens. They also demand more sun.

I have heard this stated by many people, but we had a very wet winter, and our filiferas seem no worse for the wear. In fact, the Filiferas handled the cool/wet winter better than the robustas around here. Robustas defoliated, Filifera no to little damage. This included one night at 16F, followed by many days of cool rainy weather.

[Sutter Bob]

I agree with you syersj. Here in Sutter County, CA we have day after day of cold, dense fog during the winter but there are numerous ancient specimens of W. filifera some almost certainly over 100 years old. I actually suspect that humid summers might be a bigger concern - we have very hot, dry summers here. It might be that whatever ultimately leads to the tree's demise in other climates begins during the warmer months but isn't manifest until winter - obviously just a theory. Both species of Washingtonia grow like weeds here as in many parts of California.

[Collectorpalms]

About 100 miles east of Austin here in College Station, low of 15.5 ( and 12 in the rural country) Filifera didnt have much damage, but as winter/spring wore on I did see lots of fungal spotting on older leaves, and in the end I did almost as much pruning fronds to get rid of nasty fronds as those of Robusta that were 80% defoliated by end of Jan. Possibly high up you might not have noticed but they were eye level along my drive. Our oldest Filfera that Survived the 1980s did defoliate, I wonder if this is because of the resitricted trunks from rot all those years back, or just passed their prime. They are frost tender as babies, very hardy once they get 2 feet of trunk and are good until they are middle aged, but they slowely fade in a humid climate. 10 years ago when I started my interest in palms there were many more pure ancient Filifera in Southeast Texas, but every year or so more and more die.

Edited April 16, 2010 by Collectorpalms

[NBTX11]

hmmm. we have many ancient filifera in the san antonio area that seemed to have little to no damage this past winter. I did notice some spotting on some older fronds on mine, but it was still quite healthy. I trimmed the older ones off, and you would never know there was any damage. It's growing rapidly now.

[fruitof76]

Yes, I have two in N Austin and they have a little spotting, but never any damage to the spear or new growth now. They have perhaps a foot or two of trunk. Low per my thermometer and crosschecked with others in the neighborhood was 13 degrees in January. Neighbors across cul-de-sac had two robusta that were 12 feet tall, but they are dead. Others down the street (15-20 feet tall) were defoliated but are pushing new spears. These were around a swimming pool and closer to brick walls.

[NBTX11]

Yes, I have two in N Austin and they have a little spotting, but never any damage to the spear or new growth now. They have perhaps a foot or two of trunk. Low per my thermometer and crosschecked with others in the neighborhood was 13 degrees in January. Neighbors across cul-de-sac had two robusta that were 12 feet tall, but they are dead. Others down the street (15-20 feet tall) were defoliated but are pushing new spears. These were around a swimming pool and closer to brick walls.

Dead from 13F? I have yet to notice any dead robustas here in New Braunfels. All defoliated to a certain extent, but all are actively growing now, most at a rapid pace. I have one with about 5-6 ft of trunk and it's almost completely re-foliated now.

[Collectorpalms]

I have seen several dead looking smaller Washingtonia in Texas (east austin, waco, north of houston etc...). On the coldest day Jan 9th?, areas to the SW, Texas had some sun, this area stayed cloudy and below freezing for 48 hours with many hours in the upper 10s to mid 20s.

[NBTX11]

If I remember correctly, on the coldest night here, it was completely sunny the next morning and it warmed up relatively quickly. I haven't seen any washingtonias killed around here, although I am sure some exist somewhere. At the minimum at least 95% of robustas survived. As I said, my bigger one has almost completely refoliated now. Many new fronds put out since the freeze, and all of them healthy.

[Collectorpalms]

I was in downtown San Antonio yesterday and the city looked much better off than Houston for freeze damage. Id say because Filifera are the dominant Palm in San Antonio and in Houston its Robusta and Syagrus. Nearly none of the Washingtonia Filifera, or filifera leaning hybrids in San Antonio showed any sign of any damage. I saw two tall dead ones, but that was likely a combination of factors. Love the Riverwalk microclimate...At the lowest temp along the riverwalk it was in the upper 20s ( only slight pygmy damage and 3 new dead Foxtails. Street level however, probably 20 or 21 based on Fried livistonia and a burnt unhealthy fried queen at the Alamo, but even some of the pygmys at the alamo under live oak canopy were okay. Elsewhere away from the city spotty 10s probably. I only saw a handfull of queens in the whole city of San Antonio, so it looked alright after Jan 2010, comparable to other Tx cities. High up in Houston, in early march you could just see the brown lowering Robusta for miles like a fire.

Ryan

Edited April 23, 2010 by Collectorpalms

[GREENHAND]

What a Palm tree! lower teens for three nights with very little damage if any . I have four pure filifera,s. they are harder to find in the dallas area, most are robustas are hybrids.

[Austinpalm]

Tree with 4-5 of trunk exhibited only minor leaf spotting after an ultimate low of 16F with multiple nights in the upper 20's and lower 30's. Has been cranking out new fronds since February.

[fruitof76]

Low temperature of 13 degrees caused minor leaf spotting but no other damage to my filiferas. About 8 feet tall now with 2 feet of trunk. No protection given and in open exposures.

[Moris]

here in nord italy in a garden of my friend w.filifera survived at -16 celsius!!

[NBTX11]

Low of 19 and several others in the low 20s. Stayed below freezing on 2 days, high of around 30F. Quick warm up later (in the 70s and low 80s a week later). Absolutely no damage to 12-14' Filifera.

[Sutter Bob]

Amazingly tough palms (and plants).

Even though they grow like weeds they're still some of the best looking plants around here during the depths of winter.

[Brad Mondel]

.

Edited January 14, 2014 by ArchAngeL01

[SailorBold]

Here are a couple pics taken today of a few palms that survived -10f in the Albuquerque area a few years ago. There are hybrid palms that survived that temperature as well.

Trees defoliated 100% and recovered.

[pennerchris@gmail.com]

WOW! Do you know if they were wrapped?

[SailorBold]

I doubt it.

[jfrye01@live.com]

ABQ appears to be z7a, so this is very promising news for me, a fellow 7A resident growing washies:) Of course, I'm gonna protect my guys no matter what...but just in case...lol

[SailorBold]

Its all over the board. This is from the NWS- although temps vary within area- Valley is colder/hotter.

Here are mins over 21 years by hardiness zone.

6b = 1

7a = 1

7b = 4

8a = 12

8b = 3

Edited September 25, 2014 by SailorBold

[SailorBold]

Here is a palm after 14F in a valley location of ABQ. I suspect this palm has roots extending into the local water table.

The 14F is from a Weather Underground station less than 500 feet away.. and the palm has had absolutely no protection. Its bigger than it looks.

[alex ftl]

My washy filifera rotted during this year winter rains,and iam close to the sea coast and i was stunned how delicate this palm is for humid regions !

love,

Kris http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smilie.gif

And here are few stills of my washy filifera !

[alex ftl]

Your plants have thorns, that means it is robusta, not filifera.

[alex ftl]

All the fronds have drooped in one day, is this lightning damage?

Edited August 4, 2015 by alex ftl

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

8500 1g filifera 20f unprotected totally calm night. Substantial burn, which is what we want to cull out weaker genes. almost all will survive.  Most 5g size plants in the ground have zero burn,some with a little spotting. Larger filifera zero burn. Filbustra on the property sustained substantial burn.