Oregon Palms?

[PalmTreeDude]

Any palms being grown in coastal Oregon? It is a state that I never hear people talk about palm wise. Anything good growing there?

[Really full garden]

I lived in Oregon as a child and the 9B areas on the coast were known as the "Banana Belt". I do remember Ensete bananas, Norfolk Pines and hedges of fuchsias.

The problem is lack of heat. It was always cold even in the middle of summer.

[GottmitAlex]

http://www.trebrown.com/documents/climate/palmhardinesstrials.php

Zone 9a and below palms

Zone 9B palms

 

Edited May 19, 2017 by GottmitAlex

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

i know that CIDP are found there and washys of both types.  as well as some windmills.  

[pin38]

Plenty of windmills growing around Portland as well. Borderline 8b/9a climate with warmer summers than the coast and Seattle or Vancouver.

[Jdiaz31089]

There are archonotphoenix and syagrus growing in Brookings. Trachycarpus, some sabal species, butia, and MAYBE jubaea as far up as Salt Spring Island (British Columbia!) as well. There is a regional board that was pretty active with palm growers in the Pacific Northwest. Here are a couple of related posts on PalmTalk and another board. 

http://www.cloudforest.com/northwest/forum/20102924.html

[Moose]

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2017‎ ‎2‎:‎30‎:‎43‎, pin38 said:

Plenty of windmills growing around Portland as well. Borderline 8b/9a climate with warmer summers than the coast and Seattle or Vancouver.

Was in Portland over the Christmas holiday. Saw fields of field growm windmill palms. Had breakfast at a restaurant with a old windmill palm out front. It was at least a 12 footer, has been thriving there no problem.

[CroToni]

When I was in Brookings and Portland.In the middle of July It was chilly.When I first arrived it was 17 degrees and rainy in Brookings and 19 in portland,but still rainy.Those temps remained pretty much the same during that day.Temps ranged from 16-20 degrees celsius in Brookings and 18-22 in Portland during my stay.It was much hotter than that in Portland for a day.However in Brookings I saw mature queens,washies,CIDP's and trachies in Brookings and I didn't understand how can they get that big there.They must be ancient.Because I stayed for 12 days and the high in Brookings never went above 20,which was pleasant if it was sunny,but it rarely was I really did not managed to understand how washies manage to grow there.Portland was another story usually t-shirt weathe on most days.Very cool nights in both cities,thick sweater didn't help me against the wet cold wind in Brookings.

[Jim in Los Altos]

These are file shots of a few palms in Brookings, Oregon.

[CroToni]

1 hour ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

These are file shots of a few palms in Brookings, Oregon.

How much do they grow in a year?

[Moose]

I only investigated the soil at my sister's home, it looked nice and fertile. lots of precipitation looks like it helps the palms in that area. My sister has no palms. She collects Maples, its her thing. She lives in West Linn, OR. Saw hummingbirds on her property in December

 

[bubba]

Very interesting and surprising. They could grow many, many palms in that 9B climate.

[CroToni]

2 hours ago, bubba said:

Very interesting and surprising. They could grow many, many palms in that 9B climate.

pretty much 10a.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Brookings is a solid 9B, borderline 10A but I can't imagine anything growing very fast as it is really cool during the summer there on the coast.  All of that area is giant redwood country and cool & moist year round with ferns growing wild all over the place.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

2 hours ago, CroToni said:

pretty much 10a.

Thats a vastly different 10A though and its borderline.  Its  a cold wet 10A.  I live in a 10A and its a virtual palm paradise that includes coconuts. I seriously doubt you would find or see any coconuts growing there.   Not enough hot / sun.   

 

I remember my very first trip to Vancouver BC and the shock I had at all of the palms growing there.  I was stunned.   That was 20 years ago and that trip is what renewed my interest in palms that I had forgotten about for a while. 

[CroToni]

2 hours ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Thats a vastly different 10A though and its borderline.  Its  a cold wet 10A.  I live in a 10A and its a virtual palm paradise that includes coconuts. I seriously doubt you would find or see any coconuts growing there.   Not enough hot / sun.   

 

I remember my very first trip to Vancouver BC and the shock I had at all of the palms growing there.  I was stunned.   That was 20 years ago and that trip is what renewed my interest in palms that I had forgotten about for a while. 

Yes I am very aware of that.I was there in mid summer it was cold,not chilly cold atleast at night.However the south american high altitude palms would love it there.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Ceroxylon territory for sure and probably one of the few places in the world that Junaia Australis would actually survive/thrive.  

[Jim in Los Altos]

Ceroxylon, Rhopalostylis, Howea, Hedescepe, Parajubaea, and others from cool climates would be awesome to see growing in numbers in that part of Oregon. 

[Josue Diaz]

 

On 2/11/2018, 4:28:27, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Ceroxylon territory for sure and probably one of the few places in the world that Junaia Australis would actually survive/thrive.  

8 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Ceroxylon, Rhopalostylis, Howea, Hedescepe, Parajubaea, and others from cool climates would be awesome to see growing in numbers in that part of Oregon. 

You know,  I've hiked the northern California coast around Mattole Beach and Petrolia and had those same thoughts about rhopalostylis. They would probably do amazingly well there. MAYBE someone needs to take a few seedlings with him next time and rogue- plant a few to test out this theory...

[Josue Diaz]

 Image a grove of howea on this coastline... 

Edited February 14, 2018 by Josue Diaz

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

On 2/11/2018, 5:41:50, CroToni said:

Yes I am very aware of that.I was there in mid summer it was cold,not chilly cold atleast at night.However the south american high altitude palms would love it there.

They very well may!  Id love to see those tried there.

[Palm crazy]

Whats interesting about Brookings, OR is they get a good heat wave in the middle of winter every January. The last couple of year they have gotten up to the low 80's in January and February. That's what separates them from the rest of the PNW. Too bad the summer is so cool.  The average high in summer is only 68F and with around 73" of yearly rain its very green. They do get up to around 90F a few times in summer, but its only last for a day or two then its back to the 60's. 

Edited February 14, 2018 by Palm crazy

[CroToni]

11 hours ago, Palm crazy said:

Whats interesting about Brookings, OR is they get a good heat wave in the middle of winter every January. The last couple of year they have gotten up to the low 80's in January and February. That's what separates them from the rest of the PNW. Too bad the summer is so cool.  The average high in summer is only 68F and with around 73" of yearly rain its very green. They do get up to around 90F a few times in summer, but its only last for a day or two then its back to the 60's. 

Yeah true,but those 60's feel like 50's because it is rarely sunny and its usually foggy.

[Palm crazy]

13 hours ago, CroToni said:

Yeah true,but those 60's feel like 50's because it is rarely sunny and its usually foggy.

Very True, they also have some killer winds in winter that can damage plants.  Those Foggy summers are true for most Sunset zone 17. 

[pin38]

After looking at climate data, winters in Brookings are unusually warm for that part of the Pacific coast. Admittedly I'm paraphrasing Wikipedia here but it's true: it's even warm compared to other places on the coast to the south in northern California. Averages of 55/42 in January, not much cooler than their July averages of 67/52. So while they probably have slower growth happening in peak summer, it's probably compensated by a lengthier growing season than other cool-summer climates on the coast. Apparently the adjacent Klamath Mountains are a major influence on wintertime warming. It looks to be the main reason it's (unofficially) the last "bubble" for queens and CIDPs...

Edited February 15, 2018 by pin38

[DeletedAccount14e83d09a24f]

On 14/2/2018 18:55:43, Josue Diaz said:

 Image a grove of howea on this coastline... 

Woah, that coastline is epic! Looks like a lost island in the ocean at a very subtropical latitude.  

[Rafael]

This climate is similar to the one where i live and i grow many 10a species!

[Moose]

1 inch of snow, ice and below freezing temperatures this morning. These are the events that damage those cold hardy palms on the fringe of USDA zone pushing. This is in the Portland area.

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2018 by Moose

[Danielle]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/23/climate/plant-hardiness-zones-shifting.html
 

according to this article the global warming is having an effect on changing our climate. 
I have noticed here in Oregon mild winters compared to the past and have not seen it dip below 27 in several years in fact it barely snows in my are of Marion county. If it snows it never stays. 
I’m experimenting with a Pygmy date palm tree which is hardy of zone 9. According to the old maps,  my area is zone 8b. However, I’ve never seen it get Below 20 degrees in my entire lifetime. (May have happened when I was a child) this last year, it did not get below 28. Zero ice, zero snow. 

[Chester B]

Marion county - like around Salem? It seems that you are hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than we are in Portland.  Pygmy might survive if kept dry in the winter in a location sheltered from our cold winter winds and could persist for many years but long term its pretty unlikely.  We're still 8B even though most of our winters don't seem to go below 25F, there is the odd cold snap from Alaska that keeps it real!

There are much better palm choices for our climate if you're interested.

 

 

[Palmlover.]

My uncle had a cidp in inland central oregon

[Darold Petty]

Trachycarpus is common in Eugene.

 

[Chester B]

Trachycarpus are great but we are able to grow so much more. Unfortunately many people here are stuck on east coast plants and Japanese style gardens. There does seem to be a movement towards more Mediterranean style plants particularly in Portland as these are much more suited to our climate. 
 

We get a lot of “rain” if you can call it that hours in winter but very little accumulation. In the last 12 month period Oct to Oct we’ve only gotten 24” and in a normal year we’re averaging 36-40”. Far short of what you’d see anywhere in the southeast states. 
 

We are much warmer than places like Seattle and Vancouver in summer. 
 

I also just learned there are trunking Jubaeas in either Roseburg or Medford, but I think it was Roseburg. 
 

I wish we had some people on here from Medford. Although it’s only a zone 8a and 8b it’s blazing hot in the summer. They’re still above 90 every day even going in to October. Lots of palmy potential there. 
 

Ive been tracking Brookings weather for the last year. Although not hot it’s not as cold as portrayed on this thread. Most summer days are low 70s with bumps up to 80s not that uncommon. I was there last October and it was high 70s, sunny and palmy!

Edited September 28, 2020 by Chester B

[sipalms]

Would there be consensus that the Queen Palm in Brookings would likely be the most northerly on the Pacific Coast / most northerly of all the USA?

Is it still around, anyone know? Would love to see, it is a similar climate to mine.

[Chester B]

11 hours ago, sipalms said:

Would there be consensus that the Queen Palm in Brookings would likely be the most northerly on the Pacific Coast / most northerly of all the USA?

Is it still around, anyone know? Would love to see, it is a similar climate to mine.

I wish we had someone on here from that area.  I had limited time in Brookings as I was passing through and had about an hour to drive around and scope things out.  As far as palms went I didn't see anything all that unusual.  I'm sure the real choice palms are hiding out in people's back yards.  I definitely think the potential is there.  I think a queen would make it but probably grow at a slow rate, they are never cold enough to hurt one but they do get a ton of rain around 80"/year.

I did see quite a few CIDP, including mature ones, lots of Washingtonia robusta and Trachycarpus and a few pygmy date palms.  Lots of citrus down there too, so maybe there is a potential for queens?  Unlike other areas of the USA the big box stores here do not bring in queens, we typically see Trachycarpus, Chamaerops, Washingtonia, Pygmy dates and sometimes Coconuts.

Brookings is actually in a pretty remote spot, no real city within a few hours and no major highways going to it.  To get from Medford to Brookings is quite the twisty canyon road, I'm glad I had my BMW when we drove down there.  Hell of a road for a driving enthusiast but not one I'd want to take on a regular basis to get to a larger city.  So I don't think they have the best plant selections down there only a couple small nurseries, you'd really need a palm nerd to be ordering online to get the good stuff.

[Chester B]

FYI - I see this type of weather pop up all summer long.

[sipalms]

14 minutes ago, Chester B said:

FYI - I see this type of weather pop up all summer long.

That would be well above average for Brookings, wouldn't it?

[Chester B]

They seem to have crazy weather, it can really swing a lot at any time of year due to unique topography in their area - they call it the Chetco effect or Brookings effect.  It's been in the 90s often this summer and even triple digits but its usually for short durations and then will settle back down to low 70s or 60s.  So yes today's weather is above normal if there is a normal for there.  Both North and South of it are colder, it's a real anomaly.

 

[Chester B]

Take a look at their monthly all time highs and lows.  It's not like this in Portland that's for sure.

[sipalms]

13 minutes ago, Chester B said:

Take a look at their monthly all time highs and lows.  It's not like this in Portland that's for sure.

Not too dissimilar to here, and the 'Brookings effect' wind that you talk about sounds very similar to the notorious Northwesterly Fohn wind here in Christchurch. 

Would onshore coastal winds be quite profound there? They can be rather irritating for palm growers around here, consistent onshore wind in Spring/early Summer which can make palms look tatty.