Almost every winter here (Temecula, CA) brings a night or two in the upper 20s, and queens have survived that with no damage. Many were damaged at 23F last January. Queens are very popular here, probably because they have a more tropical look than the ubiquitous Washingtonia robusta.

I have a queen in the ground and we have already had lots of cold weather I amended the soil with sand and so far it has not been touched and it has went through several mornings of frost and 20-30 nights and some freezing rain.

The very tips of the fronds get SOME frost damage, but not enough to make the palm look bad in any way. One of the two young, recently planted queens died last year after the Jan freeze (a week in the low 20s, including 2 nights with 18 degrees). The one that survived did not put out a single healthy frond until this november (10 months later).

This is a picture i took yesterday of a newly emerged frond. notice the very tips of the leaves are curly and damaged. Our temps have varied from the high to low 30s all month long, and ther have been a couple of nights at 29 for a little bit right before sunrise.
{{gwi:1183974}}

central_cali369 that 1 Queen must have looked real odd all year long. Hopefully it will recover for you quickly this next year.

It's suppose to get to 29 tonight but I'll probably take my chances. Anyone think flood lights help warm both the trunk AND leaves enough to make a difference on cold nights? I'm considering that option as my Queens get too big to cover.

Thanks for all the input.

at 29 dont even do anything!

heres some pics of my queen under ~12" of snow at 30 degrees.

there are a couple of queens around here that lived through the 89 freeze (~8 degrees) of course im absolutely positive that they were protected (and smaller) and knowing where they were planted, they were really sheltered anyway...

If I had to put a number on it id say 23 is where they burn bad enough to matter....

for the record, there's triangles, roebes, travelers, lustecens, etc that are in the second pic that are still living to this day.... of course that was the single coldest weekend here in ~10 years...

galveston1602 Those are some great pics. How long before the snow melted away? Hard to believe all those are still living. After seeing your pics I may "try" and hold back from taking any unnecessary action next time it gets below 30...

You see I felt guilty and covered up all my tender plants last night. You start to cover one plant, then you feel bad for the plant next to it (queens included) and it continues till you run out of blankets. lol Then you get the dolly and bring everything in the garage that is moveable. It got to 31 where I'm at and there was a frost in the farm behind me but not in my yard. No noticeable damage on anything.

Galveston
Thanks for that pic.. I also have what i call an experimental queen about 4 ft tall in the ground.

Queens grow all over Florida, but in North Florida they are iffy. In 1993, the Marc h freak storm sent hurricane force winds behind a cold front with temps dropping in the 30's, and they were wind burned badly. In 1989, Queens in the northerh suburbs of Orlando (rural) never came back. It was in the teens there. 23F is usually where damage starts. My Triangle, now well over 30' tall in my front yard, has been in since 1994 (as a one gallon) only burned in 1997 when it hit 27F with, again, wind. The outer fronds eventually starting browning weeks later but new growth was fine. The Queens were perfect, but that was the only night of cold then. We have not seen 20's since then. Greg (looking forward to another streak of temps in the 70's/low 80's until Xmas)...and with 3.8" of rain this past weekend!

Heres the same Queen 2 years later. (the snow was from winter 04 this pic from fall 06)

As you can tell, the snow didnt do anything to it at all!!
weve not been below 30 in ~10 years here. Today the palm is every bit as tall as the house and starting to seed.. so its gone from a 7 gal (i think) to about 7' of clear trunk in 4 years!
heres a pic from the original planting.

I like to compare different time dated pics, as sometimes I just dont realize how fast tropical things can grow if cared for properly.

Honestly, Ive made an effort to not protect anything this year unless were projected to go below 27. if anything I have cant cut it at 27ish I dont need it, Heck if I loose a few, it gives me a reason to replant new:) By the way, everything in the snow pic (including the travelers palm) is still living well in my yard.

The snow actually lasted about 2 days. I built a 5' snow man! whats interesting about the snow was that unless you were right on the coast you didnt really get much accumulation.

I think if it does not stay cold very long the snow probably shields the palm from cold winds and Ice.I have never seen snow on the ground here in 24 yrs but Ice I have seen in 89 and that will do lots of damage. In 89 the cold winds killed more palms than the acual temps and some people had ice in the colder areas.

It amazes me how fast Queens grow... I too have been taking pics to compare growth. Mine haven't been in the ground very long though. 1 Queen has been in ground 1 1/4 years, another 6 months, and my other 1 month. I'm asuming the 1st year is more of a "take root" stage than growth stage cause I haven't seen that much so far.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm seeing these planted in San Antonio. They seem to doing OK. It was 27 degrees the other morning and their fluffy fronds were waving away in the wind.

However, since they are fast growing and recover quickly there is no way to tell if they had cold damage in previous winters.

The low for us last winter was 24, the winter before it was 23. About 6 years ago, we got down to 17 one night, however, I wouldn't be surprised if those queens weren't even around then.

1983, 1985 and 1989 brought unusually cold weather to San Antonio. However, since 1990, our average annual low is somewhere between 20 and 25 degrees. (9a)

It is easy to protect small plants from cold, and is probably a good idea.

It's suppose to get to 24 tomorrow night (Wed) if the forecast holds true. Also going to be windy. Hard Freeze warning. Guess I'll do the best I can to cover up the Queen fronds since that could be cold and windy enough to cause damage. The cold front that's coming through is leaving no place in the US safe from freezing temps. Except maybe south of Orlando.

Yeah, this is a wierd cold front, I mean, I think somehow we (in the central US) are going to miss the absolute nastiness that this front is going to bring to most in the east. Im still hoping that the Fcst holds up for me (36 low tonight is worst)

Heres to hoping you FL palmpeeps stay nice and warm!

The west coast isnt affected by that cold front. Instead, we have a couple of Pacific storms which should bring some much needed rain, but no freezing temps- at least for central and southern california.

I wrapped my Queens for tonight... the low was reforecasted for 22 degrees here! Also covered all tender tropicals. Can't believe how cold it's getting. I heard there is a chance for snow flurries in St. Augustine & Daytona tonight. lol Orlando is going to get to 29. Farmers are very concerned about the Orange crops. Might see some palm damage with the strong winds.

SeventhLegend:

I hope that your plants do OK.

I saw the forecast for Florida. It is unreal!!

We had a forecast last night for 23, but it only got down to 28. Same forecast again tonight.

WOW !
I will keep my fingers crossed seven.. It is supposed to bottom out at 18 tonight here didn't wrap nothing
just going to wait and see.

Thanks guys. It got to 22 the other night and the palms pulled through fine (all lush green) but sometimes it takes a couple weeks to see the damage. Some of my tropicals burned. Like my Bird Of Paradises and a couple Pineapples. Gonna get to 70 tomorrow. 4 more weeks and the worst will be behind me.

topher don't you have an experimental Queen in the ground? If so how big is it and how did it do uncovered?

It also depends on where your queen came from...most will burn around 21-23 degrees...but a more robust form ( some call it a "silver", others a "black", and yet others a "santa caterina".....these will take down to 16-18 degrees before burning...but seed retailers claim no burn at 15....this type of queen hails from far southern Brazil, and ore usually, Argentina. It is virtually impossible to tell "what type" you have until the tree starts forming a trunk ( usually around 12 feet overall height) unless you have a known seed or tree source. This palm is characterized by a thicker trunk, and a denser canopy.

Well the strangest thing occured..IT GOT DOWN TO 14 My queen does not have any damage it is about 4 ft tall and my mexican fan palm
2.5 yrs old got burned bad. I have never had it to burn before . My neighbor had all his fronds on his mfp burn last year and mine didn't. sigh.. Guess it was just my turn.
Burned bad

wow! 14! my queens and robustas burned last January at 18 during a rare actic blast. The robustas stayed green through the freeze, but a week after the freeze, when the remps warmed back up, the fronds turned light brown and crispy. Not to mention my queens

topher it's odd your Queen took 14 degrees while your Robustas burned. Might take a few more days before the full damage shows. My Robustas look the same size as yours, I covered them and they still look fine. Your Robustas should rebound fine in the spring since they been in the ground a while now. Thanks for sharing your pics.

Oh yeah i know they'll rebound. Like i said my neighbor
had some burn that bad and you look at them today you would never know it. Do i need to cut those burnt fans off ? Perhaps my queen is the silver variety i don't know.
It has already took many mornings of frost and several nights of 20 and below with no damage. I dug down real deep and acclimated the soil with sand before i planted it so i know it drains real good.

The home I just recently purchased in Windermere, FL has a total of 9 Queen palms that I'm planning to remove (and replace with more tender species to Central Fla). Does anyone know of any reputable and inexpensive palm tree removal companies in Orange County? They're about 20ft tall so heavy machinery will be a must.

Approximately 23'F and no burn here so far in Central Dallas...

I am actually surprised! I planted this 7 gal Queen Palm (a gift) back in April as an "annual." I was very pleased with the effect because by fall it was really full and a provided a substantial addition to my landscape.

So far my only protection has been tying up the fronds. Low at DFW was 23'F, but I am East of downtown, so think I may have lucked out at 24'F or 25'F based on what I have read in these posts and on the internet. My min/max thermometer just died at the end of Dec or I would know an exact reading.

Now that we are at mid-Jan, I plan on wrapping with sheets in the next few cold spells. If I luck out it may survive. I am interested to see how it does.

I have seen queens planted in commercial settings survive mild Dallas winters but they never seem to recover and look sickly the following year.

At the least, I got a lot of enjoyment out of it in my landscape and would consider it as an "annual" if I can get one at a cheap price in the future.

vcrosstx that's great to hear. I did get some very minor burn on the top of 2 Queens. Might be my fault cause the area that burned was covered by plastic and I forgot to remove it in the morning. No frost and I'm protected from the northern winds by some Oaks in the yard behind me. It hit 22 here.

can you use heating tape to protect queen palms from getting to cold?

I use strings of small christmas lights strung through and around sensitive plants.

where's the rest of the blog??

Don't know, several posts have disappereared. Weird. lol

That is weird. Im sure they will return though.

A 12 degree night did a number on our Queens. There isn't a hint of green on them, but by the same token the spear doesn't pull. They're pretty small, maybe 3" ot trunk.

Will one that size with that much damage come back 100% or would it be better to move on to something hardier at this point?

hmm they seems to have deleted my pictures about the dead palms and all posts about it,i dont remember braking any posting rule.

bjb817 unless you protected your Queen palm, the chances of it coming back after being subjected to 12 degrees is highly unlikely. Even if the spear didn't pull, death is almost certain for any Queen after 18 degrees. Not sure where your located but if your temps routinely drop to 12 degrees, I would look into palms that are hardier. Maybe a Pindo Palm if you like the feathering palms.