Archontophoenix Maxima in northeast Florida

[shminbabe]

I have four Archontophoenix Maximas grown from seed obtained from a Palm Talk south Florida member. They are about two and a half years old now and doing very well. Three are in the ground and one is in a pot.  One appears to be growing faster than the others and recently opened this gorgeous, red-tinged frond reminiscent of the Chambeyronia Macrocarpa (my short-lived flamethrower). When I looked it up I did see pics that showed the palm having a red-tinged frond however this is new to me!

 

 

[James B]

Maxima and Alexandrae can throw red leaves especially in cooler season weather. Any frond that opens between now and spring will have the best chance of red.

Some will be more salmon some more bronze. 
 

Always cool when you get one that throws red.

[BayAndroid]

Here's one of mine; throwing a red frond right now. 

[RedRabbit]

Cool, keep us posted on how they do. You live in an area with an interesting climate so I hope you’ll experiment with a lot of different palms. 👍

[shminbabe]

5 hours ago, BayAndroid said:

Here's one of mine; throwing a red frond right now. 

I love this! I had no idea these trees did that  .  Let's compare notes as the months go along. My tree is quite robust and growing quickly! I hope it can withstand some cooler temps. It did survive last year's devastating Christmas freeze in northeast Florida. 28 degrees for three consecutive nights. Yes, it was covered.

 

[BayAndroid]

7 minutes ago, shminbabe said:

I love this! I had no idea these trees did that  .  Let's compare notes as the months go along. My tree is quite robust and growing quickly! I hope it can withstand some cooler temps. It did survive last year's devastating Christmas freeze in northeast Florida. 28 degrees for three consecutive nights. Yes, it was covered.

 

Mine survived 27 last year, it was badly damaged though. I had a thin frost cloth over it and it was the first year in the ground. Technically speaking, this is a hybrid of some sort, though. It's a "Teracarpa" from Jungle Music in San Diego, CA. From what the nursery owner says, they are a bit hardier. I feel it may be splitting hairs though and this tree is very close to a maxima, with some unique minor detail that make it different. 

California tends to have long cool winters and last one was the longest and coldest I remember, so the bad damage may not be representative of a typical year for me. It was the first year in the ground, so I am hoping this winter will be easier for this palm. 

[shminbabe]

8 hours ago, BayAndroid said:

Mine survived 27 last year, it was badly damaged though. I had a thin frost cloth over it and it was the first year in the ground. Technically speaking, this is a hybrid of some sort, though. It's a "Teracarpa" from Jungle Music in San Diego, CA. From what the nursery owner says, they are a bit hardier. I feel it may be splitting hairs though and this tree is very close to a maxima, with some unique minor detail that make it different. 

California tends to have long cool winters and last one was the longest and coldest I remember, so the bad damage may not be representative of a typical year for me. It was the first year in the ground, so I am hoping this winter will be easier for this palm. 

 

8 hours ago, BayAndroid said:

Mine survived 27 last year, it was badly damaged though. I had a thin frost cloth over it and it was the first year in the ground. Technically speaking, this is a hybrid of some sort, though. It's a "Teracarpa" from Jungle Music in San Diego, CA. From what the nursery owner says, they are a bit hardier. I feel it may be splitting hairs though and this tree is very close to a maxima, with some unique minor detail that make it different. 

California tends to have long cool winters and last one was the longest and coldest I remember, so the bad damage may not be representative of a typical year for me. It was the first year in the ground, so I am hoping this winter will be easier for this palm. 

Last year was mine's first year in the ground too, prior to the polar event. We have a large Alexandre in the front yard that my husband wrapped really well and used a heat lamp to keep the heart protected which is what saved that tree, I'm sure. It had several fronds burned but they shed themselves as the warmer weather returned and recovered beautifully over the summer. (All the neighbors were so relieved, too, as it's a gorgeous tree but I don't know its actual origins as I do my others.)  It's grown taller so it's harder to protect and I will be devastated if it dies in the future. It's out there on the lawn under an open sky while my young Maximas are still easy to protect and have the benefit of taller palms protecting them.  Mine are grown from seed from a Maxima in southwest Florida, raised here in northeast Florida with definite chilly but very rarely freezing winters. I'm wondering if in cases like this where the trees are being raised in a colder climate so to speak, if trees would inherently become a bit hardier? I mean, there are limits obviously but... could it be?   Side note: I won't be planting any more out-of-zone trees in the future. I lost two in that freeze and that was enough.  It's rough to lose them!

[James B]

If a tree made it through a colder than normal winter you can anticipate it will be fine through more normal winters in the future. 
 

As for improved hardiness. Really the only way is to get a tree in your climate old enough to produce seed and then select the ones with most hardiness to continue onto the next generation. And continue to select based on those traits. That could be a multi generational project however.