Majesty palm in zone 9b texas

[Victor likes palms]

Would it be possible for a majesty palm to survive my bee county,  texas zone 9b. What would be some favorable conditions for it?

[BayAndroid]

What state is bee county? Not all 9b's are the same. I live in 9b, but on the Westcoast. The winters can be long and cool, it can make a difference for when a palm gets stressed by a cold event. I've heard some people in Florida complain about palms getting killed off by a sudden freeze; this because the days are warm enough to keep the palm growing through the winter. The winters here slow the growth to a crawl and allow the palm to be more resilient. 

[Victor likes palms]

5 minutes ago, BayAndroid said:

What state is bee county? Not all 9b's are the same. I live in 9b, but on the Westcoast. The winters can be long and cool, it can make a difference for when a palm gets stressed by a cold event. I've heard some people in Florida complain about palms getting killed off by a sudden freeze; this because the days are warm enough to keep the palm growing through the winter. The winters here slow the growth to a crawl and allow the palm to be more resilient. 

Bee county is in south texas

[Las Palmas Norte]

20 minutes ago, Victor likes palms said:

Bee county is in south texas

There's a Texas thread here were those guys show their palms. Some are from around that San Antonio / Corpus Christi region and could likely recommend some tips for growing Ravenea.

[Ben G.]

1 hour ago, Victor likes palms said:

Would it be possible for a majesty palm to survive my bee county,  texas zone 9b. What would be some favorable conditions for it?

Given how cheap majesty palms are, I think you should go for it for sure. You won't be out much if we get a cold winter that kills it. Honestly, I would even try it two or three years in a row if hard winters do kill them. They are nice looking palms that will look awesome if we get some normal to mild winters for even a few years.

That said, I am no expert on majesty palms. From what I know though, you want to give them plenty of water anytime the temperature isn't cold. They will probably benefit from at least some partial shade in South Texas too. If you have anywhere that gets morning sun and afternoon shade, that would probably be ideal.

[ChrisA]

I’m with Ben on this, you might luck and get a few years out of it or you might not get a year. Very cheap and readily available, but will not be a long term Palm for you, nor for Corpus Christi. Worth having some fun with! There are a few that were planted at Bugerteca along the river walk in Southtown San Antonio. They had a hard time getting through the summer as they probably were not being watered enough and it hardly rained. But would be cool to them last for a bit.

[Fusca]

Similar to planting a queen palm, both majesties and queens are easily available, cheap, need a good amount of water and fertilizer, grow fast (relatively) and won't handle temperatures below 20°F for very long.  My Ravenea rivularis planted in half day sun survived 22°F unprotected in 2021 after total defoliation.  If you're willing to protect it on unusually cold nights (below 25°F) you can keep one going for several years.  Just remember that ones you get at big box stores are stretched out from being grown in shade houses and will burn badly if immediately planted in full sun.  And they get a really thick trunk so they will need some space.

[Xenon]

29 minutes ago, ChrisA said:

I’m with Ben on this, you might luck and get a few years out of it or you might not get a year. Very cheap and readily available, but will not be a long term Palm for you, nor for Corpus Christi. Worth having some fun with! There are a few that were planted at Bugerteca along the river walk in Southtown San Antonio. They had a hard time getting through the summer as they probably were not being watered enough and it hardly rained. But would be cool to them last for a bit.

There were some in Houston that lasted 15-20+ years, they are remarkably bud hardy at about the same level +/- as a pygmy date. 

You can easily grow them for decades in Corpus if the weather cooperates. 

[Victor likes palms]

Ive been trying to make my garden a bit more tropical recently,  are they quick to trunk? Ive seen some pygmy dates around town as well but never a majesty that wasn’t in a pot

[ahosey01]

2 hours ago, Victor likes palms said:

Would it be possible for a majesty palm to survive my bee county,  texas zone 9b. What would be some favorable conditions for it?

There's like a 20+ ft one here in Brownsville that survived 2021 no problem.

[Harry’s Palms]

Give it room in case it survives . The trunk can get large , like a Roystonea . Harry

[TropicsEnjoyer]

I’ve had a majesty survive outside 9b winter with just a black trash bag as protection. Though in all honestly last winter I only got one real “frost” temp day. 

[Keys6505]

I think the Ravenea are the easiest to protect out of everything that I zone push (which is a lot).  You can have a tree with fronds touching 8-10' high and you really only need to protect the lower 24".  They stay upright which makes them super easy to wrap and they don't mind the soggy clay muck I have here in Houston.  

This one has been in ground for the past 2 winters.  I prematurely defoliated 2 years ago so it would be easier to protect but last winter just bungeed all the fronds up and wrapped the whole thing with a string of Xmas lights around the base and it didn't defoliate after 19.8 degrees.

This one he been in ground for 3 winters (I think?  Maybe 4?) and is starting to trunk.  Same deal I wrap lights around the base and either tie everything up and wrap or just defoliate it myself if I think the fronds will fry anyway.  They leaf out really fast especially in wet springs.  Please excuse the mess this is behind my pool waterfall.

[Victor likes palms]

 

4 hours ago, Keys6505 said:

I think the Ravenea are the easiest to protect out of everything that I zone push (which is a lot).  You can have a tree with fronds touching 8-10' high and you really only need to protect the lower 24".  They stay upright which makes them super easy to wrap and they don't mind the soggy clay muck I have here in Houston.  

This one has been in ground for the past 2 winters.  I prematurely defoliated 2 years ago so it would be easier to protect but last winter just bungeed all the fronds up and wrapped the whole thing with a string of Xmas lights around the base and it didn't defoliate after 19.8 degrees.

This one he been in ground for 3 winters (I think?  Maybe 4?) and is starting to trunk.  Same deal I wrap lights around the base and either tie everything up and wrap or just defoliate it myself if I think the fronds will fry anyway.  They leaf out really fast especially in wet springs.  Please excuse the mess this is behind my pool waterfall.

Thank y’all for the advice. Would right now be a poor time to plant to plant a majesty palm, should I wait till next spring?

[TropicsEnjoyer]

I’m not familiar with texas climate but i’m assuming now is probably a bad time with winter’s impending arrival. 

[Ben G.]

15 minutes ago, Victor likes palms said:

 

Thank y’all for the advice. Would right now be a poor time to plant to plant a majesty palm, should I wait till next spring?

As a general rule, I try to plant anything as far from the weather that is most likely to kill it as I can. For example, I would plant a lot of trees now, since most landscape trees are far more likely to be killed by a TX summer than a TX winter. Since winter cold is more likely to kill a majesty palm than the summer heat, I would plant it in spring.

[VA Jeff]

Ravenea glauca is slightly more cold tolerant, in my experience and others.  Not nearly as big though.

[ChrisA]

I may plant one in the spring just for fun.  I’m impressed by those photos! Would love to see how one in Beeville would do, with a bit of help occasionally.

[MoPalm]

As everyone suggested, it is cheap. Give it a try now and if there is cold snaps, just cover it with a shade cloth to prevent frost damage.