Palms for 8a/8b Greenville SC

[Palmerr]

Hello! a Friend of mine would like some palms from me but i dont know anything hardy there besides Sabal Palmetto , Pindo, Euro, Needle, Sabal Birm Louis and Minor anything else?

[Las Palmas Norte]

Trachycarpus fortunei (Windmill palm)

[Fusca]

57 minutes ago, Palmerr said:

Hello! a Friend of mine would like some palms from me but i dont know anything hardy there besides Sabal Palmetto , Pindo, Euro, Needle, Sabal Birm Louis and Minor anything else?

Chamaedorea radicalis and Chamaedorea microspadix.

[DAVEinMB]

1 hour ago, Palmerr said:

Hello! a Friend of mine would like some palms from me but i dont know anything hardy there besides Sabal Palmetto , Pindo, Euro, Needle, Sabal Birm Louis and Minor anything else?

I'd be willing to try rhapis excelsa in a protected spot up there. Mine has been in the ground 4ish years and has seen teens and some nasty winter weather

[Palmerr]

Ehhhhh no sorry Not hardy enough!

[Palmerr]

Though Chamaedorea is promising Lady palm though.. ehhhh no

[Palmerr]

Ooo just thought of fishtail palm!

[Palmerr]

Dont know anything hardy besides (Windmill too lol)

[DAVEinMB]

28 minutes ago, Palmerr said:

Ehhhhh no sorry Not hardy enough!

You'd be surprised

[Palmerr]

Not in greenville and i mean like never is going to die to cold in at least the next 30 years no work at all no trunk cutting no cutting dead fronds i mean HARDY

[Palmerr]

Your are on the coast in a real 8b that rarely will dip below 15 RARELY or maybe 14 or upper 13 degrees but thats it

[Palmerr]

As early as 2022 it reached 8 degrees, 5 degrees 1994,  Soo i think maybe a sabal palmetto can do well in 8a/8b especially since the front faces the south maybe a mocksville type sabal or a DFW survivor palmetto would be good pindo will not have any problems trachy will be fine as heck sabal minor again it will be fine needle living its full lifetime there ca fan palm about 9 months lol

[Fusca]

2 hours ago, Palmerr said:

Ooo just thought of fishtail palm!

I just thought "no way!". 😆 Caryota mitis gets burned below 30°F but can handle temperatures only in the mid-20's but can survive through suckers.  Caryota maxima 'Himalaya' is supposedly more cold tolerant but not as much as advertised and the others are more tropical.  Dave isn't far off with Rhapis - they can handle teens and come back from the roots when totally defoliated.  Mine did that at 9°F in February 2021 but probably not multiple times.  They aren't difficult to protect so that's an advantage in 8b.

 

[Palmerr]

Thanks for the extra info! I think what im going to do is plant caryota mitis and maxima and just keep em there maybe with some mulch. Hmmm i might do rhapis they rarely go below a extreme low of 15 or lower and the past 15 winters have had 6 instances where the minimum temp was above 20 Degrees so some years it can recover very well others like the 2 every 15 where it goes below 15 to 9 or 7 yeah it may do well there! Sabal Louis and Birmingham will do very well there in history lowest temp was -5 reached in 1899 or something and hasnt gone below zero since 1960 or so Thinking about a more cold tolerant version of sabal palmetto a DFW Survivor Would be good cause they get that 2/15 below 15 that those can do very good in. I think i have a good plan for what to plant while im there!

[SeanK]

13 hours ago, DAVEinMB said:

I'd be willing to try rhapis excelsa in a protected spot up there. Mine has been in the ground 4ish years and has seen teens and some nasty winter weather

Plus, you can flip a trash can upside-down to cover it on cold nights. 

[Palmerr]

No but i said this.. i wont be there and he will not be doing any work at all!!!

[RFun]

21 hours ago, Palmerr said:

Hello! a Friend of mine would like some palms from me but i dont know anything hardy there besides Sabal Palmetto , Pindo, Euro, Needle, Sabal Birm Louis and Minor anything else?

I have a friend who live in the Atlanta area.  He's considered 8a in the front yard and 8b in his south facing back yard.  I'd recommend Needle palms, Sabal minor, Trachy varieties, Sabal Palmetto and Saw Palmetto varieties, first and foremost.  Those would be best suited for the climate.  Chamaerops and Pindo palm varieties would also be worth a try.  I'd stay away from Filifera there because I don't find they like the clay very much and the climate isn't ideal.  Still doable though.  Anyway, just so you have an idea.....

[RFun]

Just now, RFun said:

I have a friend who live in the Atlanta area.  He's considered 8a in the front yard and 8b in his south facing back yard.  I'd recommend Needle palms, Sabal minor, Trachy varieties, Sabal Palmetto and Saw Palmetto varieties, first and foremost.  Those would be best suited for the climate.  Chamaerops and Pindo palm varieties would also be worth a try.  I'd stay away from Filifera there because I don't find they like the clay very much and the climate isn't ideal.  Still doable though.  Anyway, just so you have an idea.....

I was going to say, his south facing yard means up by the walls of his home just to clarify.  Take that for what it's worth.  Decent microclimate.

[Palmerr]

Yeah ik but my friend said Euro fans and Pindos and Palmettos are all around the city area thats the 8b part but he is just right beside 8b on the map

[RFun]

8 minutes ago, Palmerr said:

Yeah ik but my friend said Euro fans and Pindos and Palmettos are all around the city area thats the 8b part but he is just right beside 8b on the map

I wouldn't worry about that.  Those hardiness maps aren't good at mapping the microclimates.  Those will work in 8a, regardless.  It's more about length of cold snaps.  The plants really don't know hardiness maps.

[Palmerr]

No im agreeing but what im saying is he is on 8a/8b line so his microclimates are a bit warmer on the south facing part.

[RFun]

1 minute ago, Palmerr said:

No im agreeing but what im saying is he is on 8a/8b line so his microclimates are a bit warmer on the south facing part.

I see.  Yeah, technically speaking, there will be a microclimate that's a few degrees warmer up by south facing buildings.  It is also a great spot to protect against cold northerly winds.  Microclimates can make a difference in the harshest of conditions.  And there are so many microclimates that they are difficult to map on any larger scale maps like those hardiness maps.

[SeanK]

Serenoa needs sand OR sand and pine bark. Cannot plant into clay.

[RFun]

3 minutes ago, SeanK said:

Serenoa needs sand OR sand and pine bark. Cannot plant into clay.

It can handle clay fine from what I've seen.  It is more adaptable than a Filifera would be in that area.

[SeanK]

15 hours ago, RFun said:

It can handle clay fine from what I've seen.  It is more adaptable than a Filifera would be in that area.

Do you plant in clay?

[Palmerr]

1 hour ago, SeanK said:

Do you plant in clay?

i plant everything in clay but i like to prepare the area by raking the area heavily to get up a lot of the grass then take my smaller shovel dig down 12 inches lets say the trunk is 3 inches wide i will make a hole where the trunk has 10 inches of clearance in all directions to make sure the roots dont interact with weeds and otrher plants which will help growth and stop those other plants from absorbing nutrients and water meant for the palm then i get some clay from a local clay area near my house (Our native soil) Mix it with some premium well drained soil (Our clay doesnt drain crazy fast but it doesnt puddle up after a minute) Mix the clay and premium soil and loosen the root ball if it is tight or circling roots i cut it off completely in fact i leave 30% of the root ball left. Circling roots can lead to lots of problems when planted even death! After that i plant in a raised area i make nice with bricks and large rocks place mulch water thoroughly and done! just like i did with my sago palm sabal minor (Regular) and my little trachycarpus!  Edit: The reason i get soil from a clay mound in my area is so im not digging up clay in my yard that has roots and grass rhizome crap! So i get some from the local clay mound so it has roots and stuff but they are decomposed and just part of the soil.))

[Palmerr]

17 hours ago, RFun said:

I see.  Yeah, technically speaking, there will be a microclimate that's a few degrees warmer up by south facing buildings.  It is also a great spot to protect against cold northerly winds.  Microclimates can make a difference in the harshest of conditions.  And there are so many microclimates that they are difficult to map on any larger scale maps like those hardiness maps.

Yup your correct!

[RFun]

On 10/27/2024 at 9:51 AM, SeanK said:

Do you plant in clay?

I don't because clay isn't the prevailing soil type in my region.  However, I have seen them planted in Georgia Piedmont clay and all indications are that they do fine in that soil.  They are more adaptable for different soil types than something like a Filifera would be.

[RFun]

On 10/25/2024 at 9:06 PM, Palmerr said:

As early as 2022 it reached 8 degrees, 5 degrees 1994,  Soo i think maybe a sabal palmetto can do well in 8a/8b especially since the front faces the south maybe a mocksville type sabal or a DFW survivor palmetto would be good pindo will not have any problems trachy will be fine as heck sabal minor again it will be fine needle living its full lifetime there ca fan palm about 9 months lol

You could try those or just regular palmettos found in North Carolina, etc.  Just "throw things against the wall and see what sticks" in your area.

[Palmerr]

This isnt my area btw this is my friend who i go to school with here in VA i live in KY

[Palmerr]

Well ok just saying it gets very low so if they only go down to 8 every once in awhile a dfw would be good! Or Sabal Palmetto Augusta and a regular sabal palmetto just to try it out. and a birmingham and Louisiana which will do VERY well there

[RFun]

3 hours ago, Palmerr said:

This isnt my area btw this is my friend who i go to school with here in VA i live in KY

I understand.

[Palmerr]

Ok well yeah i was thinking a mule but ima just try it not try and think it will work.

[SeanK]

On 10/25/2024 at 7:08 PM, Palmerr said:

Hello! a Friend of mine would like some palms from me but i dont know anything hardy there besides Sabal Palmetto , Pindo, Euro, Needle, Sabal Birm Louis and Minor anything else?

So how have the European fan and Pindo done there? If they've made it a decade, I'd try a mule next.

[5am]

On 10/28/2024 at 8:29 PM, Palmerr said:

it gets very low so if they only go down to 8 every once in awhile

There's a cold hardiness master data excel pointing to thousands of observations on this forum. Here, I've sorted the data by the # of reports of a palm surviving 5F. The results may come from vastly different climates but I think it's a decent guide.

[Palmerr]

18 hours ago, SeanK said:

So how have the European fan and Pindo done there? If they've made it a decade, I'd try a mule next.

Oh i didnt say they had those those were the ony ones id guess would survive there