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subtropix

Not a palm, but...

subtropix
10 years ago

I have a small raised bed in the front of the house. Full sun, unobstructed, sun year round. I was disappointed to see a Med fan not make it there over the winter--unprotected (not really that bad a winter even). Well, the S. minors, Needle, and Trachys went though fine though. Was going to replace it with another palm when I stumbled on some beautiful, big Yucca gloriosa variegata at a local nursery for a good price. Can't wait to plant them out! (Mini sub collection of Y. Filifera, elephantipes, rostrata so far).

Comments (7)

  • miketropic
    10 years ago

    what? no pics? good to know about that med fan I want a cerifera so I will have to protect it well it get it through.

  • subtropix
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Will post a pic once planted. They are in the garage until I feel the planting urge--it is freakin' cold here (...as Greenland melts). :) yes, surprised by the Med. not making it. Years ago, I had one pull through a far worse site and winter. Who knows! They are variable. I will eventually try again.

  • Bob_in_AZ__Z9
    10 years ago

    Hi. I am of the opinion that trunk size might make a difference with the palm surviving the cold. Thing is a larger palm would probably be pretty expensive. Most of the Meds I see down here in established plantings are pretty good size and are heat and cold resistant. I had a couple nights around 17F and many smaller palms were heavily damaged. But the Meds only received a little burn on the leaf tips. If you can grow out a Med with trunk height and width, I think you could succeed.

  • subtropix
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I do have a large Med in a large tub. It flowers annually, later in the Spring--around May. Right now, it is staying put in its container. Come to think of it. The one I planted was more solitary in nature. The one in the tub is a vigorous thicket of numerous pups--would be more insulated from cold than a solitary. Makes sense.

  • tropicalzone7
    10 years ago

    I think moisture plays a huge role in Med fan palm survival as well as age like Bob said. Mine gets no more additional heat than my other protected palms, but ends up with no damage (even my trachys get some minor tip damage!). I feel that part of the reason for that is because I keep them dry all winter long and also because the trunk on mine is starting to get to a nice size (it bloomed for the first time last summer so it's mature although still small). I think the bigger clumps will have better cold tolerance. Mine is not a great pupper, it's only made one pup so far so even solitary ones should have decent cold tolerance.
    You might have just gotten an unusually tender med fan palm, no 2 palms are alike!
    Good luck, I think a Yucca Gloriosa will look great! There are 2 beautiful variegated ones a block away from me and they look like agaves and never get cold damage.
    -Alex

  • islandbreeze
    10 years ago

    You're going to love your yucca. I had a variegated Gloriosa a few years ago, very eye-catching plant. It ended up rotting over the winter, but I'd love to try another, just have to figure out what I can do differently.

  • Kokomo-JB
    10 years ago

    Sorry to hear. How big was the Med. Fan that died? I'm curious as to the variation between normally accepted Cold Hardiness (I guess based on a mature specimen) as compared to a younger smaller specimen.

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