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Butias & Sabals
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Posted by butiaman 7 Douglasville,GA. (My Page) on Sat, Nov 7, 09 at 11:03
| I have noticed that all the Butia palms I see on the web and here are bluish green,all of mine are dark green.Does anybody know why all the pictures I see of them look more blue than green? Mine are very healthy plants just without the blue look.I am going to try some Sabal palms this comming spring,witch ones will do best for me?Ive been reading about Sabal Birminghams.They sound like there cold hardy enough but takes 15 to 20 yrs to form a trunk and actually look like palm tree instead of a bush type palm.There are some business places around town planting Cabbage palms,but there atleast 15 foot plants,and in two years they barley have any fronds on top of them and they put plastic over the tops in really cold weather.I cant start to guess what they had to pay for them and how long they will have to cover the tops during cold weather.Ive looked up Sabal Louisiana but they for the most part look ragged(brown tips etc)not a nice looking palm.I wonder if a 7 gal Sabal Palmetto will be big enough to be cold hardy enough for me?What is the fastest growing Sabal palm?and why does it take them so long to start having a trunk?The Butia palms starting at 3 gallons already have a trunk.Could someone who has knowledge with Sabals help me in my choice of what Sabals I should try? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Butias & Sabals
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Actually, if they can get a trunked sabal they probably arent paying much. Most people in zone 8's and higher in the South pay about 300 dollars max for a sabal that size. I would give a sabal palmetto a try if you can find a large one (might have to take a drive east, but could be worth it). They will look alot better in your backyard then by a buisness, because you would take more care of them, and they dont have to worry abotu chemicals and underwatering.
If you still dont feel you can get a sabal to live, you might want to look for a sabal texas (sabal mexicana). They take up to 10 years to form a trunk, but after that it is a pretty moderate grower. Another sabal worth looking for is a sabal lisa. They look really interesting, but Im not sure if they are really cold tolerant, still a rare palm worth looking up. Sabal birmighams are really nice, but super slow. Also, my pindo palms are green too. Its a light green. Pindos are very variable palms, some are fat, some are thin, some grow tall, and others fruit at a very young age. Good luck |
RE: Butias & Sabals
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| As tropicalzone7 said, Butias vary quite a bit in color and form. The bluish ones are my favorite. I'm glad to hear that you are interested in Sabals, because they are some of my favorite palms. They are painfully slow-growing in their first 5-8 years, but for your patience, they will reward you with unique foliage and toughness that's difficult to get in other palms. I would actually recommend the Louisiana variety of Sabal minor because it's faster growing and has beautiful color. The ones you saw with brown tips may not have been grown under the right conditions. Sabal uresana has turquoise foliage, and is listed as a cold zone 8 or even zone 7b according to some sources, but is hard to find. If you can get a 'Birmingham' Sabal, it would certainly be a worry-free long-term plant for you. I'd just dig a huge hole for it in a sunny spot and mix in lots of perlite and organics. Sabals don't have big nutrient demands (they do like Calcium though), but they have extensive root systems so any barriers to root growth, like compacted clay, will slow them down. The trunked Sabals they dig and ship out of FL are a decent value, and may be a good option, but they aren't too quick to recover from cold damage. The 'Brazoria' Sabal I think tropicalzone7 was talking about is a pretty one too, but I haven't seen proof of it being much hardier than Sabal palmetto. I'd definitely try it though. |
RE: Butias & Sabals
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| One more I forgot to add was sabal etonia. Its very difficult to find, but apparently about as cold tolerant as a sabal minor. They arent really considered a trunking species, but will make one (that can actually look pretty decent) after many many years. The leaves alone are very nice. |
RE: Butias & Sabals
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Sabal etonia was VERY slow for me and not very hardy.
I echo what Tallafl recommended as far as Sabals- S.louisiana has grown very fast for me here in Iowa and is quite hardy.One of my S.louisiana grew 3 leaves after defoliating last winter.Not bad for a small Sabal!
S.birmingham is another great and very hardy Sabal.
My little S.brazoria has grown quite nicely as well,it is very hardy(strap leaves survived single digits)and quite a beautiful palm.
Some Sabals excibit a nice blue color naturally some are more green but almost any Sabal will look more green in shadier spots.  |
RE: Butias & Sabals
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| I am a cabbage palm fan and think you should purchase one - but NOT a 15-20 ft one. Way up in the cold winds will damage it too much whenever a artic blast comes down. I would buy a nice 3-6 foot cabbage palm and plant it in ideal soil in the Spring and in a sheltered location like the south side of you house. Cover and mulch it the first two years and during record cold in future years. Then you will have a trunking palm that will survive years and Lord willing decades. Having the right planting location is the key for your zone. |
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