Bismarckia cold hardiness

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

15 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

My only faster palm -of any kind- in biomass is sabal causiarum

I truly believe this should be what be people grow in 8b. 9a people especially in the south get the luxury of the Bizzie. 

 

18 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

I also think they dislike wet winters, particularly with heavy soils.

I have wondered this myself but they don't really seem to mind our wet winters with gumbo clay. Our coldest usually and wettest month is January. We do give them plenty of heat come summer time haha 

T J  

[Fallen Munk]

5 minutes ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

I truly believe this should be what be people grow in 8b. 9a people especially in the south get the luxury of the Bizzie. 

I have some three year old sabal causiarum in Oregon 8b.  They are very slow.  Currently just four strap leaves.

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

Just now, Fallen Munk said:

I have some three year old sabal causiarum in Oregon 8b.  They are very slow.  Currently just four strap leaves.

Yeah your definitely missing the extreme heat that all sabals love and definitely what Bizzies love.

T J 

[EJ;)]

On 9/19/2021 at 6:40 AM, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

I had two Bizzies survive Palmageddon which was a low of 15° Granted it was with protection,  moving blankets and Xmas lights. Bizzies are very underrated In there cold hardiness , very bud hardy. 

T J 

Palmegeddon!!!! im laughing so hard my co-workers are staring at me!

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

1 hour ago, EJ;) said:

Palmegeddon!!!! im laughing so hard my co-workers are staring at me!

Wish I could take credit for it but wasn't me haha I forget who came up with the original post prolly wouldn't be too hard to figure out tho. Definitely an unfortunate weather event for us Texans. Here's to hopefully a decade of mild winters ahead 

T J 

[Xenon]

Well this Bizzie looks to be alive after 12-13F. It's growing at an apt complex unprotected (I photographed this palm a few hours before palmageddon).  It had 3 friends next to it, all deceased. Don't get any notions that it's zone 8 hardy though!

This is the western edge of Harris County (far west Houston suburb), a block north of I-10 right on the "1990-2020 queen palm boundary". FWIW, I've only found 1.5 queen palms alive in this area. I knew of 8 other bizzies within a 2 mile radius of this palm and they are all dead. 

Edited October 5, 2021 by Xenon

[JLM]

6 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

In my area 9a south Houston zero queens survived palmageddon. The few bizzies that were around survived even tho I only had 50% survival rate with mine. I honestly think I could've saved the 2 that died if I had trunk cut early. The newest spear would not pull but also didn't grow. The 2 that survived showed growth right away and since shown zero sign it had gone thru palmageddon. With queens they take a very long time to get a really thick crown to make them bud hardy where as Bizzies get real thick before they really ever put on height. I may never even try a queen in my area but will always grow a Bizzie =) 

T J 

I guess this gives me some hope with my bizzy, if it would ever stop raining! Growth has halted with my bizzy within the past week. We had a short dry stretch, and we're back to the rain again. Hardly any sun during these rainy periods, which can last all week. Getting kinda worried...

[banthony720]

On 9/19/2021 at 8:40 AM, KDubU said:

Glad yours is recovering. I questioned whether I should plant one here in 9a as I have not seen any around. Only two days ago I took a different road and happened to see a decent sized one around 20’. Turns out it’s only a couple roads over and I had never seen it. Now I am on the hunt for a decent sized one as I would like to get a 30g or so.

If they grow in your area, they say it doesn't hurt to get a smaller one. It seems to be all about the roots when it come to Bismarks. Very sensitive roots but they are beasts once establishmented.  A smaller one would probably grow a little slower at first but once it has roots those spears start popping left & right. Give them a good spot & they actually grow kind of fast.  Mulch and water far out so the roots extend.  I'm still a rookie but it seemed to work with mine.  My "mulch ring" looked ridiculously large when I did it last year. Now the fronds reach past it/outside of the ring. Not the best looking yet because I do not want to over prune it. (hint hint)

For the record I think mine was a 15 gallon but might have been a 30.. I paid $150 for it.

Pics of my ill advised palm planting coming soon.

[Darius]

15 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

I think that part of what we may be seeing in variable cold hardiness is the strength of a a well grown plant.  Bismarckias love heat and sunlight, not sure how well they grow in extended cool winter areas like the northern california coast.  My experience here in florida is they grow fast in heat, very fast.  My only faster palm -of any kind- in biomass is sabal causiarum.  Houston has the kind of hot season that will make them happy, wet and hot.  While I know some grow them very well in norcal, they lag in growth rate compared to hot places.  This makes me think that the ones who are strongest, really happy will be tougher in cold stress and coming back from cold injury.  I also think they dislike wet winters, particularly with heavy soils.

Ive seen around here how much of an impact a wet winter has even 2 or 3 rainy days but complete dry winters causes less damage. As you mentioned a strong palm is more cold resistant so i am thinking queen palms need more water than bismarckia and here in south africa we are a very dry. So maybe queen leas healthy and bizzie more so.