My palms at 12-14F low on Monday (Jan.6-7) night and till Wednesday (Jan. 8, with probably 16-18F as low) in Orangeburg county, SC, status as of Jan. 18 (10-12 days past the freeze): Washingtonia robustas adult size, browned a lot, but fronds not broken, center still somehow green Phoenix sylvestris (1+ foot trunk): mostly brown, but some light silvery green in the middle, so it may survive Pindo-Queen hybrid, 5 ft. tall overall, in a pot - became olive in colour, but seems still ok. Wash. robustas in pots, size 4-5 feet - browned a lot, mostly, still alive. Those in Orangeburg and Columbia are also damaged, mostly brown. Chilean-Pindo hybrids, size 1-2 ft. in pots outside as well - no damage. Butia capitata and other small Butias in pots (eriospatha, yatay etc.) - no damage except some browning of some ends of some fronds and some yellowing on central spear on some. Greek date palms - 1-2 ft. size in pots - olive to brownish by now, but alive (have some available) Bismarck palm seedlings in pots, were covered with nursery pots, survived! (have some available) Australian fans 15 gal. size (protected from rain only) - both dried and pulled spears... probably will die. Medjools (1-2 ft. in pots) - some damage but ok CIDP (5 footer, in pot) seem it won't make it, although others seem hardier, perhaps already nativized Wash. filifera in pot and in the ground - a lot of browning, especially by rain + cold, look bad but not broken yet All of the above hate temps under 20F and washies brown under 26F. Best temps for palms are 28F and up! Mediterranean fans - very little to no damage, more damage may show later, because they hate temps under 16F Windmills and wagner palms - no damage Sabals - no damage Looks like Sabals, windmills and pindos are best for zone 8, because Trachy wagnerianus can burn during the summer heat unless planted in semi shade. Washingtonias survive if 2 winters are mild after planting, but look bad for a while. None of the above palms pull a spear yet. The absolute winners: Sabal palms! Probably Jubutias too. Windmills would too, but they burn during summers. Pindos can get damaged sometimes under 15F. Grow Sabals! More cold is coming tonight and the coming Tuesday, probably down to 26F, which is not too big of a problem here.

Sorry for bumping this old thread, but I ran across it when I was looking for tips on growing date palms. I'm not concerned with getting fruit; if I do, and it happens to be "quality" eating fruit-- whee! That's a bonus! I just wanted to try planting a few pits just to see what would come up. So, I planted 7 pits and 6 have sprouted so far. By that, I mean that the first seed leaves are emerging and are now about an inch tall on the biggest ones, and growing noticeably every day. I soaked the seeds for 2 days, then placed them in medium in a baggie on my water heater for about 10 days. But, I tend to be forgetful so I moved then to pots on a warm sunny windowsill where I would see them and not forget them. I just kept the soil moist to the touch but not soggy, and now 6 have the green shoot. It took about 6 weeks or so to get this far, but they look vigorous as far as I can tell. It's heading into the late spring and rather warm days (almost 90 now) so I think they can go out to the patio for morning sun/afternoon filtered light. As long as I keep them just moist to touch-- not soggy, not parched-- I'm hoping that they'll continue to grow into a cool looking conversation piece to keep my pineapple plant company (also started from grocery store fruit for the fun of it, more than the actual fruit). That pineapple plant is a cool looking plant, BTW, and it was basically "free", other than the 99 cents that I spent for the pineapple that I ate to get the top as an afterthought experiment! Most of my cool plants are freebies that I grew from 'found' seeds or from fruit that I bought at the store, or from pinchings or volunteer seedlings of things that I found on a bike ride or a walk, or that I got from or traded with someone else -- I'm just a cheap bastage, LOL!! These pits? From a snack of dates that I bought from a bin at the organic grocer when I was on a bike ride... "Hmmm, I wonder if I can plant these pits?" Answer: "Yes!" Hopefully, I'll have some pretty palm plants in a few years. :)

Hey Laura, I've already got a big bag full of seed pods off those Hibiscus plants.There's probably 20 or 30 more on the plants that have'nt ripened all the way yet.I'll have enough seeds to have a field full of them,LOL.They sure do produce alot of seeds,more than most plants. Jim, I ment to tell you about the C.cerifera palms.I dont know why I typed Gregs name instead of yours,my bad.I have 4 of them.One is not doing so good,thats why I said I have 3 in the earlier post.The 4th one is in the black round pot in the picture of all the seedlings.It hasent grown any all summer,the one little frond on it stays closed up all the time.I've tried putting it in shade and sun but it doesent seem to make a differance.It was in the pot of the 15 gallon one I planted in the ground.I thought it was another trunk comming off the big one,till I pulled it out of the pot to plant it.I noticed it was loose and not attached to the big one,so I pulled it out and figured I would pot it up and let it get some size on it before I planted it in the ground.It might die or already be dead,untill it shows some growth I just say I have 3 of them.If it's sulking than it's sulking real bad.I just dont get it,why it hasent done anything.

datepalmer- I have only two small date palm seedlings (strap leaves) that I grew from a Halawi date and one from a Medjool. I also have a beautiful 5 gallon date palm that I bought in Tucson. I don't know which variety of date it is, but it's definitely a Phoenix dactylifera. So unfortunately I don't have palms to trade. However, I'm interested in finding either plants or seeds of Phoenix theophrasti. If you have this plant/seeds, I'd be very interested in either buying or trading (please check out my trade list). Feel free to send me an email. Thanks! cd