In choosing the Queen Palm, you have selected the one with the greatest amount of maintenance and the least chance of ever looking really good. Ditto for the Sabal or Cabbage Palm.

If you can only put one palm in your front yard, you should select something that will stand out, be a true specimen, a palm that will add to the curb appeal of the house.

For a single trunked palm, I would suggest a large fan palm such as a European Fan Palm - Chamaerops humilis or a Windmill Palm - Trachycarpus fortunei, both of which are suitable for zone 9.

For a multitrunked palm, consider an Everglades Palm - Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, which is a Florida native, a group of three Kentia Palms - Howea forsteriana, a group of three Chinese Fan Palms - Livistonia chinensis, or a Senegal Date Palm or Reclinata Palm - Phoenix reclinata. Again, all palms that will grow in zone 9.

As much as I'd like to recommend a Bismarck Palm - Bismarckia nobilis - they really are a gamble in zone 9.

I have a Chinese Fan Palm and I think it's one of the prettiest palms in the neighborhood. I love the 'weeping' ends of the fronds. I would recommend it highly.

Kate

Kate - I planted a series of triple Livistonias for a job in South Miami. Seven triples around the edge of a circular driveway, all of them with 4' of grey wood. Must have been 5 or 6 years ago. They were the showpiece of the property then. I wonder what they look like now?

Another good one is Livistona decora, formerly decipiens, Australian Ribbon Palm. It is a low maintanance, fast growing, drought tolerant palm. Has deeply divided palmate leaves with a "lacy" look. As mentioned Livistona chinensis is another good one. Another great specimen is Phoenix sylvestris, India or Wild Date Palm.

Where in zone 9A are you? It can make a difference what will grow well for you.

Eric
Orlando,FL z9b/10a

Eric - have you had any luck with Bismarcks that far north? I know there was a nursery in Clermont or Groveland that had some for sale a bunch of years ago. But I think they bought them in Homestead to sell.

I LOVE palms (well, except for queens, sagos, and pygmy dates - there are SO many other choices that will look better and not require so much maintenance!).

I am in zone 9b/10 (Space Coast) and have planted bismark, spindle, coconut, triangle, alexander/montgomery (not sure if those are the correct names?), foxtail, traveler, adonidia/Christmas, areca, and bamboo (palm, that is - although I have lots of regular clumping bamboo, too). I've had great success with all of them, which is good since I'm a pretty novice gardener. I also like the Chinese fan palm look - our neighbors have one.

If you're interested in pictures, I just updated my pool gallery thread (link below) to show the landscaping growth in the past three years. There is a lot of palm talk there and it's quite amazing to me to see how fast they've grown.

Also, there was a discussion about palms on the pool forum a while ago that talked about different zones. Here is that link: Old Palm Thread

Good luck & have fun picking out your new plants!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pool gallery pics showing palm growth in 3 years

Bismarckia is becoming very popular around Orlando. We have one that was planted in spring of 1990 that is nearly 30ft now. The silver ones are variable in their cold hardiness. About 10 years ago when they first started getting popular, some tolerated mid 20s with no problems but others burned in the upper 20s. It seems now that the strain being grown by most nurseries is the hardier one, good to at least mid 20s with only minor burn. There are also pure green forms. These get even larger leaves but have very sensitive foliage. Back in Jan. 2003 there was one night at 27F here. The big blue Bismarckia wasn't damaged but our green one was defoliated and they are right next to each other. As seedlings and juveniles, plants with with more intense purple coloring with develop more intense silver coloring as adults. Green forms are green as seedlings.

Here is our big silver one

Eric
Orlando,FL z9b/10a

Thanks Eric. If that's the case, then I would recommend to the original poster to plant a Bismarck above all others that have been listed.

Thanks to all who have posted, I might add that it is the look of the fronds that we like on the queen, and unfortunately money is also a consideration. I have always wanted a palm and the queen looks so pretty, and one other that I like was $7500 at the nursery we looked at!!

We live in Jacksonville about 4 miles from the beach.
Dee

Dee - If it's the long, frilly fronds that are attracting you and you're that close to the beach, let me give you two additional palms to consider:

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana - Piccabeen palm - There are several nurseries in Central Florida that are growing this that have a fairly cold tolerant strain.

Wodyetia bifurcata - Foxtail Palm - These have been moving up the coast and quite a few nurseries have hardened this palm off for zone 9.

In my original list, take another look at the Kentia Palm. All three of these have long frilly fronds, but are self-cleaning (low maintenance) and will look much better right from day one than a Queen Palm.

Hi, Dee. I had to write one more time to try and discourage you from a queen. There are many other affordable choices. I've bought all of mine from this guy on Merritt Island and none have been too expensive: Palm Grower in Central Florida

Here are some of the fronds of my palms - lots of cool looks I think. None are a queen and the upper right is the foxtail fawnridge was talking about above:

Now, for the queen. I know they look ok when you are seeing the small versions in pots, BUT, I have a mature tree in my front yard and it really is a pain. We have to hire someone to trim it because it's too tall for a ladder to reach and the fronds don't drop off on their own (self-clean). It gets huge seed pods (although, I've heard you can try and buy a "male" version that does not?) that are a real mess! I've read there is a disease that is beginning to affect queens in Florida, too. It is so tall that we only see the scraggly trunk. It's like having a giant stick in the middle of the yard - the fronds are way over the roof of the house. Here's a look where you can see some of the brown frond tips hanging down - please ignore the dollar weed - this is an old pic and this bed is definitely a work-in-progress:

Our builder planted Washingtonian palms. Should we be concerned or happy about this? We thought we wanted Queens, but after the negative comments about them, we may have changed our mind about the Queens.

Yes, queen palms are becoming a liability. I agree with the concept here that there are much better options. Since I hang out mostly in and around the Fort Myers area when I'm down there, and since that area seems to have a plethora of Bismarckias, I've become quite enamored of that palm. And yes, it is worth it IMO to get the very silvery-blue type, all the more so now having read in this thread that they may be hardier than the green-phased ones.

Thanks, Wisconsitom. I don't think the Bismarckias are an option with our builder. But, I am not averse to pulling out the Washingtonias and planting Bismarckias in their place if they are not too expensive. We are in Tampa, so I think they would work well from what I just read. Can you plant them in a cluster of three?

I'm also seriously thinking about replacing the Washingtonias with a Foxtail palm. Does anyone know any more about them? My parents replaced their queens with the Foxtail. Am I correct in that the Foxtail is a type of date palm?

JG, as to you first question-I see no reason why Bismarkias couldn't be planted in groupings. Now these are full-sized plants, no doubt about that, but so long as adequate spacing is used, they should clump up as well as any other species of palm. My only caveat is that I'm really no expert and somebody here might chime in with a definite reason to not do so.

Thanks so much, wisconsitom.

JG - You can plant Bismarcks in a group, but you'll need to leave LOTS of room between them. These are massive palms, growing to well over 40 feet tall with a 25 foot spread or more. I did a landscape job many years ago where we planted 5 of them in a single hole, each one tilted around 30 degrees out from the hole. They were only 7-gallon size at the time. I saw them about six years ago and they had grown into a single cluster, but all the fronds in the center were bent and crushed into each other. Not the best idea for the long run.

The palms that have been replaced in the "standard" landscape are Queens and Washingtonias. Queens have been replaced by Foxtail palms, which so fare haven't shown any diseases, and the Washingtonias with Royals.

Yeah, when Bismarcks first came back into popularity a few years back, a house down the road from me tried planting small ones in clumps--maybe 5 ft apart. Within a couple of years they looked like heck and had to be taken out.

I also think that grouping them even with plenty of space reduces their effect--they are truly gorgeous but you need to give each one a chance to be seen in all its glory. They are best used as a single focal point, IMHO.

For a palm tree the best and prettiest is the Foxtail Palm, also the most hardy and best of all self cleaning, we replaced our Queen Palms with these, the queens are a mess to take care of and dangerous also they get a disease easy name foot rot. The Foxtail can be planted single or in groups and grow to be 20/30' see pics. For in my landscape up against the house, I have Chinese fan palms and love them.

There you have it.......practitioners who actually know something! I'd heed their advice. Come to think of it, every Bismark I saw was a lone specimen, and they do excel when used in that manner.

One final, unsolicited comment: In ornamental horticulture, wherever it gets practiced, plants whose foliage is some shade other than "plain green" are always all the rage. Hey, I'm guilty too. But...........I think it best if the other colors are surrounded by green. IOWs, a landscape of all Bismark palms in their bluest shade would soon be tiring on the eyes, whereas when just sprinkled in, they offer dramatic contrast. And the red/purplish-foliaged stuff? That can get very dull very quickly when overdone. At least so thinks I.

I have grown many of the different palm trees mentioned in this thread. Many I inherited from former owners. I love a tropical look and palm trees in particular. My main criteria in selecting which ones I add to my landscape is that they must be self cleaning! One too many stab wounds from thorny palms while trying to trim them! My latest favorite is the solitaire palm (clusters or singles). :}

Thank you all. I learned today that my parents, on the east coast of FL, like aputernut, also replaced their Queens for Foxtails. I love their palms but never knew what they were. The builder gave us 3 Washingtonias in a cluster. They look fine, but I don't like the way they look when they get older and taller. I've also learned that they have razor sharp edges near the base of the fronds. I think the jury has decided. It sounds like foxtails are the way to go. We will most likely be replacing the Washingtonias with Foxtails! Aputernut, I do love the way your Chinese Fan Palms look, too!