I have heard that certain Sabals are almost sure to die from being dug up and that their root systems are so deep that you would probably wish you would have just bought one! As for needle palms,they don't call them needle palms for nothing you would probably get stuck real good from them,besides its probably against the law for what ever thats worth.

Sabal Minor is the palm that is almost sure to die if dug up. They do not like being disturbed at all, and supposedly some bigger plants go down 6 feet into the ground. As for Needle Palms, they have shallow root systems, so they should dig up easily other than being covered in needles. That being said, I believe Needles are endangered in the wild, and it might be illegal to dig up either plant, so be careful.

Islb,we should just combine our post's in the future,LOL.
Whataya think about Jimbreeze or Islandhardy?

LOL that's a good idea. Not sure why i didn't see your post before I posted mine. I pretty much restated every point you brought up. As for the name, I kind of like the latter of the two.

I work in the woods, so I'll try digging anything up that I can get home. Isn't it great how is not illegal to bulldoze the needle palms to build a gas station or something? I would leave the needle palms alone though. I've only had one Sabal minor transplant live, and it died back except for the spear. That one happened to have sprouted out of an old stump that had since rotten, so I got a good amount of roots. Also, transplanting palms is more successful when soil temperatures are above 70 degrees.

I like that one too Islb,LOL

tallafl,
I agree with the 70F soil temp comment,everything I planted in warmer weather and soil took right off,including my Sabals,they started growing instantly.

It is illegal to dig needles, or at least it is in Florida. That's your call though. Sabal Minors are VERY tricky when dug from the wild. You'd do a lot better to just buy some somewhere. They can be found fairly cheap. There are some Sabal Minors growing wild right around where I live but I know from experience that it's just not worth the trouble. I bought a couple from a native nursery along with a needle palm. 3 gallon Sable Minors and Needles were about $25 for nice sized plants (close to 30 inches). They had some really big Needles (15 gallon) for $70 I think it was and they were probably 4 ft tall with probably 10+ in the pot!

I know i will be hammered for this but... Minors can be dug and survive you will lose all your fronds and it takes about a year to get them to start growing again.

No hammers toph,who can blame someone for wanting to dig something up in the wild and give it a good home? just don't get caught!it's not like your trying to sell it.I still think it's easier and less painfull for all involved to just go buy one,it's good for the plants,for you and the seller.

Not illegal to dig minors here they are everywhere ! Of
course we dont have needles growing here in the wild . I am waiting for a big 7 gallon i dug to start growing again and soon as it does i will post pics.
I do however want a riverside . Would it be cold hardy here ?

Both sabal minors and needles are available thru a mailorder nursery I discovered on the Florida gardening forum- www.mailordernatives.com. They are located in the Panhandle of Florida but ship via UPS. Even though palm nurseries are plentiful in my part of Florida, I'm thinking of ordering from them because natives are rarely available at local nurseris.

They have good prices too,(M.O.N.)I bought 2- 7g needles last year,to bad most of the spears pulled,they did give me a refund / and the needles made it through the winter

Only Needles are illegal to dig in Florida, not Sabals... problem being is that the "woods" is usually someones land around here. I took a walk in the woods today and saw thousands of them! I just knew that I couldn't dig them since it was in a Fish and Game preserve. :) Sabal Minors can survive transplant, but it's about 50-50 most of the time and they take a long time to recover. That's why mail order is the better way IMO. I ordered one from the place mentioned above and it was a 28" Sabal for $40 shipped and it arrived in just 1 day! I did take some seeds today from my walk and I'm hoping they will take!

Topher, ref riverside and hardiness i planted mine out last year it had maybe 5 adult leaves and after a very cold winter (14f) it looks bad although spear is ok. It would probably do ok for you as you have the summer heat (sabals need regular temps above 80f to grow well) we do not get this enough. Mine will get dug/potted up and hidden as there is no space for crap looking plants in my garden

This guy on ebay has some nice Sabal Minor Louisianas for $12! I've talked with him and he's a super nice guy and has a 100% positive rating...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Cold-hardy-Sabal-Louisiana-palm_W0QQitemZ280328034391QQihZ018QQcategoryZ25463QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1123293}}

"This guy on ebay has some nice Sabal Minor Louisianas for $12!"
So right you are! I bought 3 from him last year and it's all his fault that S.louisiana is my favorite Sabal!
We have all heard the horror stories of how slow Sabals grow,not these,I planted in July/August and all 3 were working on their 2nd leaf before fall was over! I absolutely love these,they are very healthy and happy little palms,I ordered 3 more(blue form) that should be here in a few days,$12 + shipping so,about $20 apiece,less if you combine your multiple order.
I will post a pic of them when they arrive.

I will go one step further than jayinflorida and state strongly that trespassing and stealing the native vegetation from other people's property is wrong. However, if you go through the proper channels and get permission from the property owner to collect plants, that's a totally different matter.

In the wild, needle palm is endangered throughout its native range because of the criminal behavior that you have proposed on this forum. Both needle palm and _Sabal minor_ are readily available from retail nurseries. Shell out the cash if you're interested in growing these plants, and leave the native flora alone.

jay_7bsc, you are correct. Needle palms in the wild have become very rare! Sabal Minors are plentiful though, but even with that, they are usually on someones property. I do know of some around here that are growing beside the road in a ditch and they always seem to get mowed and trampled on... cases like that I can see getting some small ones. I have dug a few (3 to be exact) 10"-12" Sabal Minors from that very place I speak of simply because they don't have a chance there. On the other side of the fence though, there are beautiful 7 footers! I would never think of disturbing them.