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New!! Sterling VA Cold Hardy Palm Plantings

josh_palm_crazy

15 years ago

So we were back at it again today at The Virginian's house in Sterling VA. (technically Potomac Falls) You could almost stand in middle, and literally throw a rock and hit one palm tree in Sterling, turnaround and hit a bunch more in Potomac Falls. But who wants to throw rocks at palm trees anyway? LOL!

Today we planted a 15 Gallon Trachy and 15 gallon sabal minor McCurtain both from Chilly Palm Tree Co. We also planted some more cannas, EEs, sweet potato vines, caladiums, and other stuff. We even visited the famous Sterling Trachy. We fertilized it gave it a good drink and then planted a good sized 7 gallon Trachy about 10ft away from it. We had a lot of fun. Here are some pics of the days events. Enjoy!

Love that VA red clay.

Here's a good shot of one of The Virginian's tropical beds.

A good shot before we finished mulching

Chilly 15 Gallon Sabal Minor McCurtain

Ran across a few lizards too!

Looking good Trachycarpus maximus

Heres his new little 7 gallon friend

Comments (10)

jimhardy
15 years ago
Jay,I bet its fun hanging out with all those big palms,I think you can learn as much about palms by seeing what goes on below soil as above.Esp when you lose a few as I have and see that in most cases (for me at least)that roots can be dead and palm in decline for some time befor we see it on the surface ,I am learning to spot these signs earlier now,and though I am usually against digging palms up,I am starting to see that if I would have at the first sign of distress I could have saved a few of them-anyway,I enjoy your pics as always
the_virginian
15 years ago
These were not as hard to get into the ground as the 30 gallon palms, but still no picnic. Jay, thank you again and you have been a tremendous help. Things are really starting to look great and all I have to do now is use lots of Miracle Gro to supercharge everything.
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Hey Guys, I just ordered a few Windmill and Needle Palm trees from TyTy to plany by my pool. I live in Newfoundland, NJ and read up a lot on these palms before buying. One thing that struck me odd when I spoke to their sales rep they said they do not recommend to protect the tree at all once they are 3 feet or larger. I bought a couple that are 4 to 5 feet so now I am not sure if I should protect them in winter, I do some people online protecting even much bigger speciemen. They said in all the years only one time they had to replace a tree that size and it was due to -40 degree weather in Idaho. Also they suggested not to use any fertilizer after planting. Do you guys have any input to this? I would love to talk about the plants you have for sale elman, was thinking to plant some musa basjoo as well.
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Alex, that'a funny... lol. I notice palms many times too. My wife says I am ruining the movie when I point it out... Producers try to hide palms by just catching the trunks of palms while panning a scene. The Waltons are suppose to be living in the mountains of Virgina. It's way too dry and sparey brushed compared to true Virgina. Plus they never have winter - ever? When Johnboy goes to college nearby, if you look carefully at tree-top back grounds, you'll see giant canary palms... - mountainous Virgina - nope - sunny CA fer shuur...lol. I see palms so many times when watching films or TV shows that are suppose to be in cool mountains etc.. You're not the only one. PS Did you have the record rain? THanks for the tip NJ:)
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Nice pics ottawa basjoo...How long have your Sabal Minors been in the ground?? do you just mulch with leaves and nothing else? I see the snow has nearly covered the whole Sabal..do you plan on brushing the snow off when it starts to melt or do they seem to not be affected by the onslaught of a pile of melting and re-freezing snow? I will be putting in some Minors,needles and a couple windmills whenever spring returns.
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Needle palms and Sabal minors should both do fine. I would protect them their first few winters, but once they are established they will be fine with your winters. Sometimes I don't protect my Trachys and they do fine and I have seen unprotected trachys do well here in NYC (also a zone 7). There is a nice sized trachy in my neighborhood that got protection last winter, but it looks like it will not be getting protection this winter so hopefully it makes it. That palm was partially underwater from Sandy's storm surge, so the salt water probably was not too good for it, so far it doesn't look like it was harmed though. I've seen other trachys get just a wrapping of burlap around the trunk and they make it out of winter with no problems. I think protection from precipitation during the winter time is really important for palms in cold climates. Too much water on the crown during the cold weather months can promote rot, especially when there is a lot of freezing and thawing from day to day. I havent protected any of my palms yet, but from this point on they will all be protected from rain, snow, or temperatures below 25F. I'm growing a Mediterranean fan palm, a Silver Serenoa, a Livistonia chinensis, 3 trachys, 2 butias, and a Sabal minor. They have all done pretty well with the winters here, most of them do get protection, but the protection is not that extensive. This year I'm also trying a Silver Mediterranean fan palm which is supposed to have more cold tolerance than the green form, but less moisture tolerance, so we'll see how it goes! Good luck! -Alex
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nannerbelle
15 years ago
Absolutly beautiful!! I bought 2 last year and lost my Washy over the winter. It was my first attempt with palms. We had an unsually dry summer last year and I do think that contributed to her failure. But those beautiful palms are re-inspireing me to try again!
the_virginian
15 years ago
Nannerbelle: In your Zone you would enjoy success better with the Windmill Palm, Trachycarpus Fortunei much better than with the Washingtonia species. They are much more cold hardy and can tolerate a wide range of conditions.
the_virginian
15 years ago
My palms and the Sterling Trachy are all doing very well inspite of temps in the 1-2F range almost dipping to 0F. I can't wait until the new growing season begins with new growth on everything!
nick363
15 years ago
Wow!!! Josh your palms are amazing!! I hope they do well for you. Sounds like your palms are doing very well virginian. I have one Trachy. that survived 4F last week. I have been putting a box over it whenever we go below 20F and also wrapping the trunk with a sheet when we go below 15F. This is my first try at growing any type of cold hardy palm here in Tennessee, but it seems to be doing well so far. I also have a sabal minor I am going to plant this spring. I can't wait to see what it does for me! One other thing, I'm also growing spanish moss outside for 99.5 percent of the winter season. Cold hardy tropicals are the best!
the_virginian
15 years ago
I spoke with Josh up in Southern PA and his palms that are protected seem to be doing just fine for their first winter in the ground. Hopefully the winter will not be so bad from now on.
josh_palm_crazy
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Nick, but the palms in all the pictures are the Virginian's. The full grown trachy is at a house about a mile from him. It's amazing!

Yep, everything looks fine here Virginian. I just wish it would get a little warmer now so I can take the covers off for a few days. Looks like I'll have to wait until Thursday for some above freezing temps. BTW, The Brazoria with minimal protection looks fine. We'll have to wait and see how it looks once it warms up.

Jay
the_virginian
15 years ago
Jay: True that we will have to wait until the Spring weather sets it to see what we are dealing with as far as damage goes. I am optimistic since things have warmed up a bit down here and it is almost February.
nick363
15 years ago
Ut oh, guess I liked the pics. so much I didn't see who's palms they really were. Well then, I better give complments to the virginian on how well his palms looked last summer. I'm assuming you all have had your palms uncovered for the last few weeks as I have. There is some leaf damage on a few of the trachy leaves but the spear is looks to be in good shape still.

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