Just ordered my Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera!!!

[mdsonofthesouth]

So on a whim I checked out my wishlist at plant delights nursery and saw that the Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera were being sold again! I have been looking to get these to match my standard chamerops humilis for a while now. So I promptly ordered 2 (might order more lol) to start with and will be garage "greenhouse" keeping them until at least March 2018. Depending on size and health come spring will determine if I plant or just pot up again and "greenhouse" them for another winter. Eitherway great way to spend your lunch break!

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

While silver med fans are far hardier than green ones they are not zone 7 palms and will not survive without protection.  Anything below 10F will kill small plants and result in defoliation and spear pull of mature plants.  The good news is that silver meds grow almost half as fast as green meds so it will be a long time before they outgrow your area, but should be planted sooner rather than later as they languish in pots.

[mdsonofthesouth]

42 minutes ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

While silver med fans are far hardier than green ones they are not zone 7 palms and will not survive without protection.  Anything below 10F will kill small plants and result in defoliation and spear pull of mature plants.  The good news is that silver meds grow almost half as fast as green meds so it will be a long time before they outgrow your area, but should be planted sooner rather than later as they languish in pots.

 

Its rare to see sub 15F here and sub 10F is extremely rare and both cases are only for short periods of a couple hours at night. My green chamerops saw 1 artic vortex as I was out of town and the weather told me one thing and mother nature did another so I didnt get to protect it at around 15F last winter fully exposed save for mulch at the base and a rope light on top of the mulch. There was some noticeable tip burn, but the palm seemed mostly unscathed. The only reason I feel we are classified as z7a is every few years we dip into the single digits for a couple hours. Before the 2012 cold snaps I dont think I had seen a single digit temp since that 1989 freeze that I surely dont remember ( I was 6 when it happened). Maybe there was one or 2 but its rare, although I did see 9F in a micro-climate that I sometimes drive home through last winter. It was 13-14F at work and at home but dipped down to 9F for a mile mid trip. So I see our classification being conservative as we live near the fall line and the weather here is whacky as can be! 2 winters ago we were getting spring blossoms in january, and this year we openned up late Feb early March only to have a freak cold snap kill alot of it back. The DMV is a weird place for sure!

 

As for potting, well the specimens I got are in 3.5in pots, so they arent that big. I will likely pot them up when they arrive and nurture them in my "greenhouse" and see where we are when plantation time comes around in march. I fear putting too small of a seedling in the ground with only 9 months to prepare for the colder part of fall and winter. 

Edited November 19, 2017 by mdsonofthesouth

[kinzyjr]

I have a juvenile Cerifera here and I love it.  Completely maintenance free and a gorgeous hue of blue make it stand out.  Take good care of it!

[mdsonofthesouth]

Will do! cant wait to contrast my green one with the blue. The canopy is just so cool on the cerifera!

[redbeard917]

I ordered a 3 gallon once via mail order and didn't really love the color. The blue washed off very easily. I suspect that varies for each individual. Definitely worth growing though. Chamaerops have a lot of character.

[mdsonofthesouth]

Wait the blue washed off??? I grabbed 2 just in case since they are harder to find. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

I have grown a lot of these from seed and there is a lot of variety.  Some plants stay mildly blue, but the color doesn't wear off (wind, rain, your hand) while others are virtually white, but the color will only last a month or so especially if it is windy.  Then there are all varieties in between and part of the time you'll get lucky and get a silver one that keeps its color even if you try to wipe it off with your finger.  

My advise - If you are ever picking a silver med fan out at a nursery find the plant that has the color smudge instead of wipe off and buy that one. 

[Brad Mondel]

My argentea does fantastic in a large clay pot. It retains its blue color even after heavy rains. I’ve had it for two years growing in the same pot. 

[mdsonofthesouth]

8 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

I have grown a lot of these from seed and there is a lot of variety.  Some plants stay mildly blue, but the color doesn't wear off (wind, rain, your hand) while others are virtually white, but the color will only last a month or so especially if it is windy.  Then there are all varieties in between and part of the time you'll get lucky and get a silver one that keeps its color even if you try to wipe it off with your finger.  

My advise - If you are ever picking a silver med fan out at a nursery find the plant that has the color smudge instead of wipe off and buy that one. 

 

The only chamerops humilis sold around here are the standard ones at HD. Some local nurseries carry more exotic palms than trachycarpus and chamerops but its random, sparse and usually priced out of my range. While I would love to have a show stopper, Id much rather have a healthy specimen that will be hardy. My (neglected at HD) chamerops is proving to be quite hardy and thats whats most important to me. 

[PAPalmGrower]

This is a Chamaerops humilis var. 'Cerifera' that I bought from @TexasColdHardyPalms last year. 

Joe - how do you rate the color of this one?  I've not tried running my fingers over the fronds.

@mdsonofthesouth - It's growing in a large terracotta pot in central Pennsylvania, zone 6b.  It's stayed out until temps hit 19 degrees F and then I brought it into an unheated garage and placed it under a high intensity grow lamp. It then goes back outside in March into a full sun, very hot location.  Watering is only done around the base and not on the fronds.  However, our wet summer did not affect its fronds or coloration in any way.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Looks good to me with good color. The ones outside here look the best in october/November as July- October are typically lower humidity months.  

We cut a piece of a silver med fan leaf off and put it beside our best super silver and armata and they are all basically the same color. Biggest difference is that you can't rub the color off of the super silver and armata. Ill take a pic and upload this weekend. 

[mdsonofthesouth]

@PAPalmGrower very cool looking palm! I'm looking to possibly get a 3g cerifera from @TexasColdHardyPalms to match the chamerops I have in the ground as the ones I ordered are going to be 3.5in specimens that I'll grow in my best micro climate instead. Honestly I hope some of them are blue too because that was the selling point for the wife. I will have no fear with the cerifera as the less hardy green chamerops has done well here so far!

 

This is my favorite color for cerifera and what I showed the wife

[Cikas]

This is one of the best blue/silver palm species.

Here is mine.

And one beautiful specimen from one park in Dubrovnik.

Edited November 23, 2017 by Cikas

[DoomsDave]

Silver Chamaerops rock.

Try as I might, I can't take them for granted.

 

[Josh-O]

4 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Silver Chamaerops rock.

Try as I might, I can't take them for granted.

 

[Monòver]

Yes, ceriferas are the best. I love them.

This is mine, with old leaves washed by March storms but with nice silver color in the new leaves.

[kinzyjr]

Some of your plants are very blue!  On mine, the blue comes off pretty easy and it is still very juvenile, but the price was right

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Here is a 1g beside a few trithrinax anthacoma.  100% overhead watering year round on these. 

[mdsonofthesouth]

2 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Here is a 1g beside a few trithrinax anthacoma.  100% overhead watering year round on these. 

 

Will be ordering a 3g here soon so long as you still have them in stock. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

First Pic - Silver med fan, very good color

Second Same med fan with Brahea Armata leaf cut off.  The armata has the best color of any I have seen.  Akin to an extremely silver Bismarckia.

Third Pic - Brahea Supersilver front with piece of the armata frond and the med fan frond in the first picture.  Note the med fan color will wipe off (lower right of the piece I removed)while the armata and super silver doesn't. In fact it actually makes it whiter. 

[PAPalmGrower]

@mdsonofthesouth - have your two Chamaerops humilis var. 'Cerifera' plants arrived from PDN yet?  If so, do you have any pics of them?  Thanks.

[mdsonofthesouth]

5 hours ago, PAPalmGrower said:

@mdsonofthesouth - have your two Chamaerops humilis var. 'Cerifera' plants arrived from PDN yet?  If so, do you have any pics of them?  Thanks.

 

Actually they have and Ill try and snap some pics when I get home. I also bought a Cerifera from @TexasColdHardyPalms that I cant wait to see!

[mdsonofthesouth]

@PAPalmGrower ok here they are! Tiny little guys that probably will still get planted this spring. I have come to the conclusion I HATE pots despite the fact that I will be potting one or 2 of my Chamadorea radicalis for an office plant and will always have the pineapple potted. 

 

No complaints about plant delights, but ill be going through @TexasColdHardyPalms  from now on. Wont show that one yet as its pot hasn't come in so Im making a home depot trip today to get one...the pots and temperature sensors were supposed to be here a week ago and just shipped...

[mdsonofthesouth]

Ok did this a while ago, but here is a potted version of what @TexasColdHardyPalms sold me. Ready for plantation! Chamerops humilis var cerifera and wow the leaf color is quite different from my standard chamerops humilis. Cant wait to plant and see how it does!

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

It'll get much better next year as these have been watered overhead.  Keep in full sun. 

[topwater]

12 hours ago, mdsonofthesouth said:

Ok did this a while ago, but here is a potted version of what @TexasColdHardyPalms sold me. Ready for plantation! Chamerops humilis var cerifera and wow the leaf color is quite different from my standard chamerops humilis. Cant wait to plant and see how it does!

I’m not sure if this is a good reflection on you or bad on me, but your garage floor is cleaner than my house.  Where’s my freakin’ vacuum anyway.....

[mdsonofthesouth]

11 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

It'll get much better next year as these have been watered overhead.  Keep in full sun. 

 

Oh I'm sure of it!the fronds on my other chamerops were this size in the pot and took til next season (planted it late in the season) to push out good sized fronds. This one will be planted in march and should look amazing with some time in the ground. Will surely post update pics!

 

45 minutes ago, topwater said:

I’m not sure if this is a good reflection on you or bad on me, but your garage floor is cleaner than my house.  Where’s my freakin’ vacuum anyway.....

 

Haha no worries the garage is my office and shop and I'm kinda ocd. But the pictures dont do it justice as there is dirty in some places.

[Brad Mondel]

Mine. 

[Cikas]

Winter update of mine. We had alot of rain last month, but color is still strong.

[mdsonofthesouth]

Very cool! mines still in the pot for now, but has been putting off a little growth in the garage! Hope to plant the one I got from @TexasColdHardyPalms in march, but probably wont be planting the non palmate ones even though they have put out 2 fronds each, neither one is palmate yet and they are just so little Im worried they wont grow enough to to ready for zone pushing. 

[Cikas]

1 hour ago, mdsonofthesouth said:

Very cool! mines still in the pot for now, but has been putting off a little growth in the garage! Hope to plant the one I got from @TexasColdHardyPalms in march, but probably wont be planting the non palmate ones even though they have put out 2 fronds each, neither one is palmate yet and they are just so little Im worried they wont grow enough to to ready for zone pushing. 

African Cerifera ( Atlas mountain ) is more cold hardy than european regular green form. You will have more sucess with this form. But you are right, do not plant them in the ground till they go palmate. Seedlings are tender. :)

[mdsonofthesouth]

I have had good success with the green form up until our last freak weather event, but till most of the palm is in great shape but only time will tell. 

[Collectorpalms]

My Cerifera just survived 5F. And 6 days below freezing. I have one with 5ft of clear trunk, and another that is short clustering type. The clustering looks untouched, the arborescent one looks about 70% burn. My regular greens do not appear to have life in them. 

[Collectorpalms]

38 minutes ago, Collectorpalms said:

My Cerifera just survived 5F. And 6 days below freezing. I have one with 5ft of clear trunk, and another that is short clustering type. The clustering looks untouched, the arborescent one looks about 70% burn. My regular greens do not appear to have life in them. 

One year ago...

[Swolte]

17 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

My Cerifera just survived 5F. And 6 days below freezing. I have one with 5ft of clear trunk, and another that is short clustering type. The clustering looks untouched, the arborescent one looks about 70% burn. My regular greens do not appear to have life in them. 

This is very good information! Unprotected? Were your green ones also the same age? 

I am on my way to check out my friends (more mature than my) garden.  Curious how his ones are doing!

[Collectorpalms]

All European fan were Unprotected. They are 20 plus year old plants, silver more like 15 years that never had even flinched before.

Edited February 27, 2021 by Collectorpalms