What is that one palm you *should* be able to grow but cannot

[NC_Palms]

Mine is Washingtonia robusta. Which I seem to kill constantly. But somehow I manage to keep queens alive outdoors here? lol 

[kinzyjr]

Here it's Ravenea rivularis - Majesty Palm.  I have a small one that is fighting the good fight, but will probably bow out of the gene pool before too long.  This is in spite of having mature, flowering and seeding specimens less than a mile away.

[NC_Palms]

2 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Here it's Ravenea rivularis - Majesty Palm.  I have a small one that is fighting the good fight, but will probably bow out of the gene pool before too long.  This is in spite of having mature, flowering and seeding specimens less than a mile away.

Ravenea rivularis is something i've always wanted to experiment with here. I keep seeing people plant these as annuals, get defoliated by the winter temperatures then regrow in the spring.  But not sure if I want to sacrifice mine to the winter gods just yet lol 

[Las Palmas Norte]

Another question arises, is why I'd think the palm in question should survive but does not. 

[DTS]

Sabal Minor. The Needle Palm was fine but Sabal Minor spear pulled

[CascadiaPalms]

Washingtonia robusta/filifera/filibusta.

The grow just fine in the SF Bay Area near the ocean water and we even have hotter summers in Portland.  I always wonder how "less" damp and rainy our winters need to be so these would survive w/o a question.

I am growing a filibusta in my palmery right now and I will put in the soil next summer.  So I will begin the test again!

[SeanK]

S.repens

Very tricky in our heavy clay soils. I've lost em at 20°F.

[Las Palmas Norte]

2 hours ago, CascadiaPalms said:

The grow just fine in the SF Bay Area near the ocean water and we even have hotter summers in Portland.  I always wonder how "less" damp and rainy our winters need to be so these would survive w/o a question.

Portland OR is prone to ice storms, the kind where rain freezes when contacting colder surfaces.

[CascadiaPalms]

4 minutes ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

Portland OR is prone to ice storms, the kind where rain freezes when contacting colder surfaces.

That is true, we get truly "bad" ones once every 10 years. (semi-bad every five years).  I wonder though if those are more outliers vs. the consistent winter conditions we have that they don't like.  Either way, both seem to inhibit the Washingtonia.

[Chester B]

A few hundred Washingtonia are planted every year in Portland, because Lowes and HD bring them in cheap.  The odd one survives a couple years and dies.  It's not the outlying winters that kill them, almost every winter does.  I grew plenty of them and filifera has zero chance, only the ones that leaned more robusta would do better.  Its the constant dampness that causes spotting and eventually browns off the fronds, if you're lucky the spear will remain intact.  If you provide rain shelter like i did then you they do much better,  Plus they need a lot of water in summer.

Pic 1 is my 3 year old robusta that got a rain shelter and is 6 feet tall.  Pic 2 is a large multiyear survivor in Salem that was looking rough after 2022/2023 and I believe died last winter. Pic 3 is a smaller robusta of mine that was completely defoliated with one new frond opening.  Pic 4 is of two decent ones that had been growing in Salem a number of years before they were removed.

Probably need another 20 years before they can be grown in Portland.  Salem is that tiny bit drier and it makes a difference.

[CascadiaPalms]

3 hours ago, Chester B said:

A few hundred Washingtonia are planted every year in Portland, because Lowes and HD bring them in cheap.  The odd one survives a couple years and dies.  It's not the outlying winters that kill them, almost every winter does.  I grew plenty of them and filifera has zero chance, only the ones that leaned more robusta would do better.  Its the constant dampness that causes spotting and eventually browns off the fronds, if you're lucky the spear will remain intact.  If you provide rain shelter like i did then you they do much better,  Plus they need a lot of water in summer.

Pic 1 is my 3 year old robusta that got a rain shelter and is 6 feet tall.  Pic 2 is a large multiyear survivor in Salem that was looking rough after 2022/2023 and I believe died last winter. Pic 3 is a smaller robusta of mine that was completely defoliated with one new frond opening.  Pic 4 is of two decent ones that had been growing in Salem a number of years before they were removed.

Probably need another 20 years before they can be grown in Portland.  Salem is that tiny bit drier and it makes a difference.

Yup, I watched your channel and episodes of this of when you were living in Clackamas County.

I agree that if temperature is not the main issue of them dying, would you say because the robusta is more moisture tolerant…damp chilly moist, but alas still have more of a “chance”?

How would a filibusta to come into play with this?

I do value your opinion a lot, you have a ton of experience in the Portland-area

[jwitt]

Just a curious outsider looking in.  I did see and follow those 2 specimens in Salem in front of that yellow house. My thoughts was(is) that they were "helped" by the increase in solar as they were situated on a SE trajectory and the house was light colored. 

On a side note, Wikipedia shows Salem at 40+" and Portland at 36" yearly precipitation. 

[Fusca]

17 hours ago, Chester B said:

Pic 1 is my 3 year old robusta that got a rain shelter and is 6 feet tall.  Pic 2 is a large multiyear survivor in Salem that was looking rough after 2022/2023 and I believe died last winter.

That's dedication providing the rain shelter for it!  Similar to what @Allen does for his palms in Tennessee for winter protection (and others up north).  Imagine what it would take to shelter that large one in Salem if it had continued to grow!  😲

[Chester B]

3 hours ago, jwitt said:

Just a curious outsider looking in.  I did see and follow those 2 specimens in Salem in front of that yellow house. My thoughts was(is) that they were "helped" by the increase in solar as they were situated on a SE trajectory and the house was light colored. 

On a side note, Wikipedia shows Salem at 40+" and Portland at 36" yearly precipitation. 

Yeah that number for Portland is a little too low, it's around 44".  Salem doesn't get the outflow winds in winter too which can devastate the plants.  There are minor differences to how each city looks from a vegetative stand point.  The further you head south the drier it gets.

 

17 hours ago, CascadiaPalms said:

Yup, I watched your channel and episodes of this of when you were living in Clackamas County.

I agree that if temperature is not the main issue of them dying, would you say because the robusta is more moisture tolerant…damp chilly moist, but alas still have more of a “chance”?

How would a filibusta to come into play with this?

I do value your opinion a lot, you have a ton of experience in the Portland-area

All of the palms you will be buying are filibusta, unless someone is collecting seeds from wild stands that have no influence from human horticulture.  Some are more robusta and some more filifera.  The robusta dominant ones appeared to take the winter moisture a whole lot better.  I had a filifera in a pot under my front overhang its third winter.  Never got touched by any overhead moisture, and it still got the black spotting and frond dieback.

I was at Sunnyside and 205 so just over the Portland boundary line so still in the suburbs of Portland.  My area was warmer than the NE and SE Portland, when they got snow I would get rain or freezing rain.

[KPoff]

On 12/13/2024 at 1:01 PM, SeanK said:

S.repens

Very tricky in our heavy clay soils. I've lost em at 20°F.

I’m going to plant a few in the spring. Our soil is a lot of clay as well. Would you recommend amending heavily with sand?

[NC_Palms]

On 12/13/2024 at 2:01 PM, SeanK said:

S.repens

Very tricky in our heavy clay soils. I've lost em at 20°F.

Yes, I have killed a good amount of these because of my soil. But they do so well here if the soil is sandy 

2 hours ago, KPoff said:

I’m going to plant a few in the spring. Our soil is a lot of clay as well. Would you recommend amending heavily with sand?

Yes, I have done this. Amending with sand helps a lot