Personally I feel that Mule palms are too tender to grow here. I have a pretty big Butia capitata and it has some leaf burn from this past winter. I would try pure Butia, or Butia X Jubaea, Jubaea X Butia, Parajubaea X Butia, or for what might be a fantastic plant, try to find Parajubaea X Jubaea. I would recommend Jungle Music in California for these and the Mule palm. They ship if the weight is not too excessive. Here is a pic of my Butia. You can tell it has some leaf burn.

And he lives right at the beach, where minimum temperatures are the highest.

The only reliable palm is Trachycarpus fortunei or Windmill Palm. It survived the winter of 2008.

Hi all,

Thank you all for your prompt tips. Great pic on the Butia!!! Thanks Homenoy.

I had (past tense) two Butias in the ground last summer, one was much bigger than the other. They survived until March when the last freezing condition hit. The small one was dead for sure and the big one...well I'm not sure. I think it's dead. I have two Windmills and they are doing well. I noticed that what made my palms more vulnerable to death is earwicks, they hide at/in the shoot (not the right word I'm sure) and probably feed/live there. I almost lost one Windmill because of this-I think.

I also got a small Parajubaea - no real leaves yet (I think, again) from an eBay. I left it out until December then placed it in a cheap plastic greenhouse with no heat. It survives!!!

I'll try to see if I can get a Mule palm and test it:-)

Thanks.

There are dates on the below pictures.

I should have said the other species/hybrids are "hardier" in this area, not foolproof by any means. Muddydogs, Sable minor and Rhapidophyllum hystix are as hardy here or hardier. My friend Walt near Greenlake has a big Sabal palmetto, and it went pretty much unhurt, while his large Butia died, and Trachys virtually defoliated after the 1990 winter
. Trachycarpus is by no means the only option, but if pushed, I would have to say the best by far.

Also, here is a pic of a palm in my yard, that would have to surprise most people in this forum that it is grown outdoors in the PNW without special treatment (under Cordyline banksii). I have seen pics from BC Canada that shows dead Chamaerops, and severely burned Trachycarpus leaves, and this species? (Don't know for sure) of Chamaedorea looks fantastic.

Now it's small, but it's been in my yard since 1997.

The brown long stalks coming out of the crown of the palm are inflorescences that have flowered fruited (kind of) and died.

This Rhapidophyllum under that Callistemon, I have had since 1985.

The last real killer winter was indeed 1990. Nearly all gums etc. were taken out by that one in and around Seattle. This year there are plenty of them still around, with minimal or no damage.

One planting of spinning gum in a Seattle neighborhood was even re-seeding before it was destroyed by the cold that winter. The parent trees were of record size for this area.

Most of the Mule palms I know of have done fine this winter with about 20 percent leaf burn. I have around 200 seedlings of xbutyagrus on san juan island. A few larger ones as well. Our partner just shipped a whole truckload to Raintree tropical in Silverton Oregon. There is also a fellow on the cloudforest webpage that has a few 15 gallon mules for sale. Great price. We will be shipping around another 200 seedlings up this year.