I dont know that a phoenix robelinni would surive outdoors in Las vegas. Mine get frost damaged when temps fall below 30 and tey only survive down to 25 degrees.

I hate being a wet blanket but I have to agree. Look at the night time lows of 28. That will cause serious de-folliation to a roebi. I really do not believe it will make it in the ground there. It is a solid Zone 9B palm. I tell you from personal experience that they are super sensitive to below freezing temperatures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Las Vegas January

I don't know andy......when i am in vegas i see them planted along the strip all over........maybe the heat from all the hustle and bustle generates a little extra warmth...How is them palms andy?

They are doing well. I have four bottle palm seedlings that I germinated over the winter that are doing great. How about yours. Still have that Coco?

I did have that coco up until about mid jan. i went out of town for a week, and to save on the gas bill i lowered my heat to about 60 during the day and 58 at night. Well i keep all my palms in the basement. Its unfinished with no insulation at all.....usually about 10-15 degrees colder down there. I forgot to bring it upstairs in the front window while i was gone. I guess it couldn;t take the temps in the low 50's to upper 40's for the week. When i returned it was about 90% damaged i tried to revive it for a while but it just passed on :(.............bottle palms they are one of my favorite! I am thinking about seeing if i can get my hands on a nice sized one with some trunk for the yard this summer.

Mid 20's will take them out.32 is no problem at all. A old dwarf palm might take 26. Great little palms. And you never know if you have the straight species or a one with hybrid genes. Check out the ones at the religious college in L.A. in one of centralcalis palm post. A good 12-15 tall and thick trunks,yet not even close to CIDP size. I might plant more..what good are more exotic palms if they dont look as nice-lol?

Hi thanks for the info. We only had a couple of nites at 28 in January, generally 32 to 42. What if I wrap the trunks with burlap and use wood chips or something around the base to keep it warmer? If they don't make it thru next winter, I can always return them to Costco :) Great return policy there.
Also, could someone address the planting issue. Depth and width of the hole, and kind of preparation of the soil?

Thanks again.
Debbaz

I have had my own little experiment with robellinii this winter. I left a 6-6.5 foot speciment (with a nice developed trunk) in my minimally heated garage. This is where I also overwinter the hardier subtropicals (citrus, orleander, queens, P. canariensis, and Chamaerops. During the coldest days of winter, temps were as low as mid to upper 40 (max) dropping to upper 30's by night. (More commonly max temps around 50 to min 42 in January.) I have kept the robelinni on the dry side. I was really pleased (and somewhat surprised) to find that it suffered no damage to its leaves and the spear is fine. Having said that, this species is really not rated as winter hardy in Las Vegas as minimums can drop below freezing. But I have two questions now:

1.) Why not select a Phoenix species that is known to be hardy in Las Vegas (many ARE).

2.)Given the stated return policy at Cosco, does that mean that if I plant a Coconut palm outside in North Dakota and it somehow fails to make it through the winter, Cosco will replace it??--Just curious.

I personally don't think they'll survive either but if you want to try

1. Dig your hole 2 times the size of the robie.
2. when you set it in the hole make sure you only cover it to the rootballs
3. PUT IT IN WELL DRAINING SOIL GOOD LUCK !

I say give it a shot. When I was there I saw lots of Medjool date palms...they are 3 or 4 more degrees hardy. Here in Southeast Alabama we hit 20 degrees this past January, a five year low. My Phoenix Canariensis were not damaged at all (frost protected). My Medjools suffered some leaf burn, but they are both still alive and well. You can only try...Yes I know, one day it is inevitable. It will get REALLY cold. That is why I am a zone 8 instead of a zone 10. When that day comes I will be protecting my palms as best I can. If that doesn't work then so be it. At least I will have tried.

Thanks everyone for you help and advice! From what I've seen being returned to Costco, I would say "yes,njoasis, you could probably return it!" I was in there last week when I saw someone return a Palm that was so brown and dry it looked like it had never had any water at all. And I know that Costco had not had any Palms since last year this time! And have only had them in stock again for maybe 2 weeks.Sooo! As I said pretty good return policy!

njoasis,
40 degrees doesnt even affect any of my plants (hibiscus, majesty palm, foxtail palm, flame thrower, roebelinnis, king palms, Guava trees, Bouganvilleas, anything). In fact, during November, December and then in February, when our average lows are in the 40s, thats when a lot of my tropicals put on lots of growth. Roebellinis will get their foliage damaged really bad at around 32F/33F. Seeing how Las Vegas' average low for the coldest months are in the low 30s, a phoenix roebelinni would most likely get damaged ever year unless protected somehow. We all know that just like you can have a night five degrees warmer than the average low for an area, you can just as easily have nights five degrees colder than the average.

Well,what works in your favor is they cannot take hot full desert sun.So,its a must to put them under some overhang or shade tree/structure. And that will give them a good amount of light frost/freeze tolerance. They are not however drought tolerant like the big Phoenix species. Dry,windy winter winds could dessicate them so it's must to keep well watered all year.In Vegas proper the urban warming should help alot. Hey,their cheap-worth a try.

Does anyone have a pic of Pygmy dates in Vegas? I have been there many times and have never seen one. Lots of Chamaerops Humilis, Trachycarpus, Canary/True dates and washingtonias.

No doubt they can (at the least) be found growing in all the HD's and Lowes in the Greater Vegas area.:)

should be fine to -4c..you have the added advantage of having long hot summers that helps hardiness ,under over hang of tree is ideal....left my one out all winter here London ..!!!and sailed through