I personally don't have experience with them but a friend has one. He says it's a slow grower as do other on-line reports. I think with any new palm it's always best to protect them the first few winters until they are established. Many commercially grown palms are raised in greenhouses much farther south so may not have had any exposure to cold weather. Once established it should be ok in a good spot in your garden.

If you can get one with mature leaves,smaller ones with
strap leaves will be slower and less hardy.

They are supposedly faster than reg S.minor but as with
so many palms(plants)....sometimes it just depends on the
individule plant.

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The only "McCurtains" I ever officially grew in the ground were less hardy than this one I purchased as plain old sabal minor from eBay. Been in the ground three years with leaves as protection.

December 2011

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March 2012

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I dug up a heavily damaged McCurtain 2 winters ago and it is alive but not thriving. Once it recovers awhile in a pot, I'll will try it outside again.

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Another barely survived last winter protected in a frostcloth wrapped leaf cage. I tried to transplant it to another less prominent area of the yard., was weak going into winter, and the spear pulled this spring.

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Wetsuiter- I've read the same, that they're very slow growers, yet other sources, like Plant Delights, claim that they're a very vigorous strain of sabal minor. That's where the confusion comes in.

Jim- I will definitely try to get the largest one possible. I've never grown that cultivar before, so I guess it's a toss-up between the hardiest known sabal minor and the fastest growing variety, such as sabal louisiana with less damage versus recovery speed.

Bradleyo- I appreciate you posting pics. Your palm looks like it has some nice size to it. Do the leaves you use for protection get wet and cause rot at all? Can I ask where you got both of your sabal minors from?

Bradleyo- I meant where did you get your McCurtains from...

My plain old S. minor from eBay is under a protective eave so it is naturally kept dry throughout most of the winter, there is some snow that builds up on it but rot has never been an issue. If anything its siting requires that it be watered occasionally because the rain doesn't hit it too well in the summer. I got my first McCurtain from Plant Delights. The second, hardier McCurtain I got from Brian in OKC. It was also much bigger when purchased and planted. I kept it in a pot until it had fan leaves.