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Palms of Rehoboth Beach, DE

16 years ago

My partner and I were in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (zone 7b) over the Columbus Day weekend and were pleased to see many hardy palms, bananas, and other subtropical & exotic plants growing happily at two different locations. Here are some of the palm highlights; for the rest of the photos, visit my online photo album (link below).

The first set of palms were growing around a guest house just 2 blocks from the beach; it's nice to see palms growing in such a public and visible place! The guest house:

Palms included windmills (Trachycarpus fortunei):

Sabal minor:

Needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix):

And the biggest surprise, Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis)--not the biggest palm, but surprising that it survives at all in zone 7:

I also saw several palms growing at a private home a bit more inland, including needle palms (which apparently get quite a bit of damage from the constant winter wind):

and Sabal minor, which were producing fruit:

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Comments (10)

andyandy
16 years ago
great pictures, thank you for sharing. It's always nice to see someone doing "what can't be done.
JohnnieB
Original Author
16 years ago
It's been a lot of fun, tracking down and photographing the palms that are growing in the mid-Atlantic region and I keep finding more. I only got into growing hardy palms about 7 years ago, and discovered that far more people are growing them than I ever imagined. I can only hope that someday my own little palms are as big and beautiful as some of the ones I've photographed!
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Tomato Sunshine Garden Center on Rt 1 just outside of Rehoboth Beach just got a big delivery of very nice Windmill Palms in three sizes. While they are not quite as much as a bargain as the ones I first posted about from Home Depot, the prices are pretty fair. 7 gallon for $79, 15 gallon for $129 and 25 gallon for $269. They all look great and its the biggest stock of Windmills I've ever seen there. A good indicator of the growing popularity of hardy palms in this area.
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Wetsuiter: I protected my pindo with a leaf cafe during its first winter here. Easily survived, but several of the fonds were nailed by rot as I did not cover the cage with a tarp. None the less, it recovered suprisingly fast. This past winter, I sprung for a little, portable greenhouse. I put a shop light inside with a 100 watt incandescent and a thermocube to turn it off and on automatically. The Pindo did not miss a beat. Stayed green all winter and hit the ground running in the Spring. In fact, its spreading so much, I have to procure or build something even bigger to protect it next winter. So yes, your idea would be fine. Just make sure you have a way to vent the box as it gets hot with even a glint of sunshine. No reason for that Pindo to perish.
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Cactus dude, its all good. If you're not familiar with mid Atlantic and Northeast Beach culture, its radically different than going to a beach in California. California is more about day tripping to the beach. It's a year round beach climate and people go there to surf or picnic or watch the sunset. Here, our beach season is short. Businesses have three precious months to make money for the entire year. Rent is VERY expensive. Anything that sets you apart from your competitor or makes your place look more "beachy" will help make the season. Tourists generally don't do day trips either, as most of the east coast cities are a few hours drive from their favorite beach resorts. So visits are often in increments of every weekend, entire week's vacation or entire seasons renting a house (often year after year or generations). Repeat loyal customers are big business. The thousands spent on "disposable" palms can translate to hundreds of thousands for the beach club, bar, mini golf or restaurant. Same for the garden center that sold the palms and installed them. Growers too.
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topher2006
16 years ago
Johnnieb
Sometimes it's just simply amazing what you see growing
where you don't think it should :p
great pics !!
desertlvr
16 years ago
Thanks for sharing your pics, johnnieb. I was in Rehoboth Beach with my partner several years ago, didn't see any palms then. Thanks again. dl
desertlvr
16 years ago
When I looked at your photos again, the one with the unit #10 on the building, seems to have either a blue Sabal Minor 'Cape Hatteras'or it is a Sabal Uresana. The latter are surprisingly cold hardy to Zone 7b, especially considering their native Sonoran habitat. I just planted one in our Zone 8 garden this year, so we'll have to see if it gets any leaf burn this winter.
guapogardener
16 years ago
Awesome pictures from Delaware! Thanks for sharing these--they're inspiring to us that live in colder climates! I've always loved Needle Palms...and whoa at those bananas!
southern_il_boy
16 years ago
johnnieb,

I think you forgot to post the link to the other photos. I'd sure like to see the others. Nice pics posted. I have never considered Delaware as a place to visit, but it does have lots of shoreline and I image some nice beaches too. I normally just go to the Great Lakes in summer and Florida in winter if I need to see a beach. Of course the only palms you see around the Great Lakes are in pots. Most people, andyandy being one exception, don't have the time or money to protect them through the winter.
JohnnieB
Original Author
16 years ago
Egads, I think you're right! Not sure how I missed that! See link below for the rest of the photos.

dl, I think it's just a large but otherwise standard S. minor in that photo.

The palms at the Royal Rose Inn were planted about 4 or 5 years ago. They have done very well and have gotten a lot bigger since I first saw them. I was able to meet and talk with the owner--one thing I've discovered is that people love to talk about and show off their plants!

BTW I know of at least one other private garden in Rehoboth Beach that is full of hardy palms, bananas, and other subtropical plants. I visited that one about 3 years ago but didn't have my camera with me--I'm hoping to get back there someday.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rehoboth Beach photos
turtile
16 years ago
I have at least 15 palms going into their first year at my house (Lewes). Let me know if you want to the see them the next time you are in DE.

I planted some at the place I work last week but they are not in good condition since they were in pots and couldn't take a day without water throughout the summer. The owner has two Sabal Minor at his house in Milton.

I found another garden with tropicals in Slaughter Beach, DE. I posted it on the Hardy Palm forum(John, DE):
Garden Blocked the Archive- Type in Slaughter Beach in the archive(HardyPalms)
wetsuiter
13 years ago
This thread has been linked to another about Palmettos in Delaware. If you're interested in continuing the discussion, please follow this link:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/palms/msg1221514731211.html?22927

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