Probably about to dig up these Sylvesters and discard them, any objections?

[palmofmyhand]

So we had a bad winter this year in the southeast, I live here right outside of Augusta, GA and the 4 phoenix sylvestris’s that I planted, thrived all the way up until December. We had an usual surplus of freezing nights, some of them I used plant covers to protect from frost. The trunks and fronds are still firm but there is no green remaining left on any of them. I pulled the spears on all of them, some of them I had to pull the next frond out also. I even treated them with hydrogen peroxide and copper fungicide multiple times. I think they’re completely toast and am about ready to discard them and replace them. I just got planted and repotted most of my other palms and cycads. I am just wondering if anyone would still think these are salvageable. There is another large sylvestris(10ft+ tall) about 6 miles from me that also appears to be toast without any green remaining at all. I think I made a mistake when planting these at such a small size and not a warmer microclimate. I think I will not attempt another date palm here in my zone 8b even though some sites suggest doing it. Should I give up on them or is there a last chance effort?

[Fusca]

@palmofmyhand, it's only March so it's too early to say for sure.  I don't know how cold you got or the duration of the freeze but yes, it doesn't look good for them.  It took me awhile but it looks like your last two pics are before and the first two are the same palms today.  No green doesn't mean that the palms are dead.  My Acrocomia totai seedling turned completely brown after our January freeze but once it warmed up into the 80's on a regular basis in late February it started pushing new growth.  I'd give them a couple of months and make the decision then.

[palmofmyhand]

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

@palmofmyhand, it's only March so it's too early to say for sure.  I don't know how cold you got or the duration of the freeze but yes, it doesn't look good for them.  It took me awhile but it looks like your last two pics are before and the first two are the same palms today.  No green doesn't mean that the palms are dead.  My Acrocomia totai seedling turned completely brown after our January freeze but once it warmed up into the 80's on a regular basis in late February it started pushing new growth.  I'd give them a couple of months and make the decision then.

thanks I hear you out I will wait them out and see what happens

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

@palmofmyhand Man I'd have a yard full of palmettos and some butias and just roll with it, resting easy at night even in the dead of winter if I were fortunate enough to live in a solid zone 8.  That's my advice after doing this for decades living in this continental US (rollercoaster) climate. 

[SeanK]

I'd wait a couple months. Jelly palms do OK in Augusta, so Mules would be the next thing I'd try.

[happypalms]

Iam not really in a palm dead zone but persistence can pay off in the end. My view on palms that suffer with cold damage every season I dig them up and don’t try to grow them replacing them with something that will take the cold better. The same goes for a palm  that’s just not performing well  taking up valuable palm real estate I replace it with something much healthier. I guess it depends on how much you really want that palm in the garden or how rare it is. 

[palmofmyhand]

53 minutes ago, Zone7Bpalmguy said:

@palmofmyhand Man I'd have a yard full of palmettos and some butias and just roll with it, resting easy at night even in the dead of winter if I were fortunate enough to live in a solid zone 8.  That's my advice after doing this for decades living in this continental US (rollercoaster) climate. 

understandable, those are the two palms that I see around here that are the most bulletproof for sure and also the Trachycarpus fortunei, are less common until recently but I just planted 4 of those. I think Butias are ugly and decent looking at the same time but in Miami I saw 0 of them which tells me something. I do appreciate the zone 8 also for sure, people grow Washingtonias here which is amazing and I am also taking that journey myself.

[palmofmyhand]

56 minutes ago, SeanK said:

I'd wait a couple months. Jelly palms do OK in Augusta, so Mules would be the next thing I'd try.

honestly I thought any mule palms didn’t stand a chance here in a zone 8, I have never seen one in this area but I would be pleasantly surprised to find out if they do.

[palmofmyhand]

59 minutes ago, Zone7Bpalmguy said:

@palmofmyhand Man I'd have a yard full of palmettos and some butias and just roll with it, resting easy at night even in the dead of winter if I were fortunate enough to live in a solid zone 8.  That's my advice after doing this for decades living in this continental US (rollercoaster) climate. 

but honestly what are you actually able to grow up there in your zone 7? just curious

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

2 minutes ago, palmofmyhand said:

understandable, those are the two palms that I see around here that are the most bulletproof for sure and also the Trachycarpus fortunei, are less common until recently but I just planted 4 of those. I think Butias are ugly and decent looking at the same time but in Miami I saw 0 of them which tells me something. I do appreciate the zone 8 also for sure, people grow Washingtonias here which is amazing and I am also taking that journey myself.

I remember seeing washingtonias in Augusta in the late 90's on (ironically enough) Washington Road.

Yeah, some butias look better than others. You've still got lots of choices, not to mention other cool non palm material you could plant as well. I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do. 

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

4 minutes ago, palmofmyhand said:

but honestly what are you actually able to grow up there in your zone 7? just curious

Yeah it stinks, zone 7, I know. Check out my YouTube channel sometime.

Also, you'll find other videos of what is growing here locally, on my channel.

It's not that I'm not zone pushing but:

1.I don't protect hardly anything. I have no desire to.

2. I have a good understanding of my climate and the reality of what the next winter could bring. 

If things go crazy in winters to come, I'll be content with broad leafed evergreens, sabal minor and needle palms, camellias, etc... Unfortunately I won't be leaving this zone 7B anytime soon if ever, lol. I'll just have to make the best of it.

 

[N8ALLRIGHT]

You could try a canary island date. They're the cold hardiest of the Phoenix palms.

[palmofmyhand]

12 hours ago, N8ALLRIGHT said:

You could try a canary island date. They're the cold hardiest of the Phoenix palms.

everybody says that but I have heard that they die after reaching a certain height in most cases. I saw one in Augusta last year at the lowest elevation area around, and I’m not sure if it is still alive. I like to think of the Sago Palm (cycad) as a mini Canary Island though and I am currently planting 4 of those.

[palmofmyhand]

16 hours ago, SeanK said:

I'd wait a couple months. Jelly palms do OK in Augusta, so Mules would be the next thing I'd try.

hey Sean? Have you personally been able to successfully grow mule palms in your Atlanta area? I would love to attempt to grow those next I have seen now those are fast growing too. The Jelly Palms here do more than okay, there are tons of them that never have any issues, but they just don’t grow that fast which I guess that may be what you mean.

[SeanK]

5 minutes ago, palmofmyhand said:

hey Sean? Have you personally been able to successfully grow mule palms in your Atlanta area? I would love to attempt to grow those next I have seen now those are fast growing too. The Jelly Palms here do more than okay, there are tons of them that never have any issues, but they just don’t grow that fast which I guess that may be what you mean.

Even Jelly palms don't last 10 years here. They don't like frozen precipitation, so a normal winter here would require protection of the bud.

[Chester B]

Chuck them. Unless you want to protect each and every year. 

[palmofmyhand]

17 minutes ago, SeanK said:

Even Jelly palms don't last 10 years here. They don't like frozen precipitation, so a normal winter here would require protection of the bud.

yea honestly until seeing your comments and posts on here and even just being on this forum period I actually thought the Atlanta area had the same exact climate and weather as we do here. It surprises me how much variance in grow ability there is with such a short distance away. I tried looking up places to buy Mule Palms but it doesn’t seem they are easy to find and I read they have to be hand pollinated which makes sense.

[palmofmyhand]

2 minutes ago, Chester B said:

Chuck them. Unless you want to protect each and every year. 

yea it is a pain honestly there were so many nights I had to go out there with the frost blankets and I got tired of it, maybe it is easier to use lights or heat lamps. 

[FosterDog]

8 hours ago, palmofmyhand said:

yea it is a pain honestly there were so many nights I had to go out there with the frost blankets and I got tired of it, maybe it is easier to use lights or heat lamps. 

I used to love doing that, but some horrible cold nights hit ATL while I was out of town a few years back and I had to start over.  It was heartbreaking and expensive.

I wish you the best of luck!