wow thats very impressive ! considering sabals are slow growing did you use any fertilizer?

Once it started pushing out new growth, I did give it a small amount, but very little for a tree this size. I just gave it some more fertilize last week as it's putting out it's 6th new fronds since April. I'm hoping to get 1 more new frond in before it slows down for the cooler weather that will come in October (cooler by a few degrees that is). This tree has about 10 ft of trunk. I've been giving this tree lots of water this summer, just as I do with all of my Sabals and it always seems to make them grow much faster when they are getting plenty of water.

Looking great Jay!!!!

Congratulations on a fine looking Sabal...

Laura in VB

Awesome, your palm Sabal looks great I can't wait to see next August's picture.

Yeah, your sabal is establishing perfectly! It should have a full and beautiful crown by next summer, and I think it might have a nice crown by fall since Florida still has a lot more warmth left in the year. Good luck and Im looking forward to seeing more updates from this palm!!
-Alex

Looks like it is enjoying the pampering. Looks great.

Thanks, all! Yes, it does seem to be quite happy with all of the water, sun and heat! I'll post some more pics around the end of summer.

Looks like you have plenty more room to plant some more palms! Are you planning on any more additions to your palm family? I guess it is kind of dicey being in central FLA.

I have quite a few others... I have several Sabal Minors, a few more young Sabal Palmetto's, Sabal Louisiana's, Sabal Lisa's, Sabal Etonia's, Serenoa Repens (silver and green forms), Needle Palms, a Windmill and some European Fan Palms (silver and green forms). I have a lot of room left though... we'll see what happens. I may plant some more larger Sabal Palmetto's next spring.

I can feel you gladness at it doing well, but I am not surprised since you live in a good zone for these. Why not try a butia pindo or even a queen palm for a great look and stretch that zone a bit.

If you want to try to add some new palms, I definitely also recommend livistonia and Arenga engleri (aka dwarf sugar palm) for your zone. They are both rated for a zone 9a (livistonia is actually very tolerant of a zone 8b) and I dont think they would have a problem at all during the average winter, and they should be able to handle the high teens when established albeit with a lot of damage if the cold lasts for long durations. A pindo is a great palm to strech the zone and so are queens, washys, dates, and a lot of others. Its great to have a lot of room to plant in, but I guess it probably can get a little overwhelming to plant in such a large landscape because there is SOOOO much room. But it gives you a great chance to make your own private botanical garden with winding paths, seating, and a huge tropical canopy of palms and tropical trees and vines! But thats a lot of money and work to do at once so its great to start with a few beautiful and cold tolerant palms. I do love to see natives too so the sabals are a great family of palms to grow!
Good luck!
-Alex

I'm mostly a native palm guy, although I will probably add a Pindo eventually. A neighbor, a few houses down, lost their Queen palm this past winter due to the cold. We bottomed out at 16.7* here (very unusual) and I lost a 6' silver Bismarkia. Even had damage to my Saw Palmettos, Windmill and Needle. I'm sure that the damage to the Needle and Windmill were from the day that he had a high of 33* with snow flurries, sleet and rain. When I say damage, this is what it was, the new spear that came out in spring had some minor damage where the spear had been too cold and wet and when it came out and opened, it was almost like it had a brown ring across the leaf spread area ( if that makes any sense?) The young Saw Palmettos are tender and about 30% of them had spear pull. I treated them with peroxide and all recovered but one and it put out a new shoot onto the young trunk of the dead one.

You did a good job for sure. Last year was record cold and the mere fact your palms survived out in the open unprotected shows how generally close to the tropics you are. Are you north or south of Orlando? Are you within 5 miles of coastal waterways?

Queen palms are very cold tolerant but would not stand for last years "ongoing cold" and ice. That said, it was a climatological anomally and chances are HIGH that if you start some Queens in the Spring you'll have them for many years. They can handle 15* nights as long as it doesn't get prolonged.

I'm pretty much dead center of the state. I'm about 30 minutes south of Orlando, in Central Polk County (Lakeland/Auburndale). I'm probably 30-40 minutes to any salt water to speak of.

Wow, you got some serious cold this past winter! At least most of your palms made it. Its so amazing how much microclimates matter. There were coconut palms in orlando that survived unprotected (albeit with nearly fatal damage and Im sure that there were lots of coconut palms in Orlando that didnt make it), but then only about 30 minutes from orlando, you had damage to your windmill palms! It had to be nearly impossible to have an accurate forecast during that cold spell. Hopefully you dont go through that again, but I can definitely understand planting safer plants. I really like the native landscape of the deep south and all those plants should thrive by you!
Good luck!

Great looking Palm Jay !
I just had two Sabal Palmettos replaced. They were put in last January & died soon after. They never did get any growth on top. Could you tell me what your care schedule was for the new palms? How about fertilizing? How soon did you start? The landscaper originally recommended watering daily 15 minutes for 30 days. Now he said to water for 1 hour for 30 days. Do you recommend a soaker ring for the tree? I sure would like to duplicate your success.

I'm in Sumter county just north of Orlando.

Looks great aqnd I agree March or April probably is the best time to plant. Especially if you are getting some rain with that heat.

Very nice sabal, Jay!

That weather graphic reminds me a lot about that awful winter. When that cold hit, I was in central Lakeland, close to the mall. The high there was 37F, but we bottomed out at 26F. Definitely a lot better than 16F.

My yard on the south side of town seems like it is a little colder than where I used to live, judging from this past winter where we bottomed off at 24F.

I'm familiar with the area that Jay lives in as I drive all over the state for my 2nd job, and it is definitely an icebox in the winter.