Cold Hardy Palms

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Find out which palm trees are best suited for your locality.

How Cold Do You Get?
Some palm enthusiasts do live in cold areas. We are commonly asked which palms tolerate cold weather. However, customers often don’t know for sure how cold they get. It is not unusual that a customer says “we just put in a swimming pool and want the area around it to look real tropical with palms But, we get cold”. If you live in coastal Southern California or South Florida, cold weather is usually not much of a problem. However, if you live in an area like Northern California, Las Vegas, Arizona, Northern Florida or Georgia, the cold is a much greater concern and mandates that you know which palms to buy. And, you should know how cold your really get.

The limiting factor in the successful growing of palms is the degree of cold weather that any given palm species will see during the winter. Also important is the degree of heat available during the growing season, but that bitter night’s cold is more important. So, one must determine how cold does it get on the coldest night during the winter? And, is that low value typical of most winters. Most palm nurserymen you will talk to want to know exactly how cold you get, not what growing “zone” you are in. We understand that temperature zones are often discussed, but more vital to us is the actual “number” (low temperature) anticipated. This is because, within any zone, there are variations and microclimates. We want to know what happens in your garden. Therefore, become familiar with the temperatures in your garden.

The best way to determine how cold your garden gets is to purchase a “maximum-minimum” or “hi-lo” thermometer”. Taylor Company manufactures an excellent such thermometer and it is quite easy to use. You just leave it out during the winter in the garden and read the lowest temperatures. It will not be accurate for high temperatures if the sun hits the thermometer. You can use the provided magnet to reset the low values, but record the results. It is also beneficial to get into the habit of watching your thermometer over the years, as you may be deceived by an unusually warm winter.

If it is presently Summer and you are not sure of the cold in your area, ask your friends about freezes. Check the local weather log for your area. Try to remember if you saw ice on the windshield of your car. Look around in your neighborhood and see what other people have successfully grown. All of these things let you know about your weather and what might be accomplished. Therefore, when you contact us or another grower, you can say “we typically get down to 25 degrees but once we saw 22 degrees”. This type of information will assist a nurseryman in telling you what you can grow.

Trust Your Palm Grower
If you look in a typical palm book, you will see statements like “this species is well suited for temperate areas”. What does that mean in your case? It’s not very helpful. Word’s like “temperate” and “semitropical” and “mild areas” are sometimes more deceptive than helpful. Yet these are the types of statements palm books make about growing different palm species. All you want to know is “will it grow for me!”

To answer this question for you, a palm grower depends on his experience and the experience he’s gathered from others. For the past 25 years I’ve gathered cold tolerance information from my customers and from my own experience at the nursery and in my personal garden. I also read avidly on the subject of cold hardiness. It is with this type of learned information, that we palm growers can make a reasonable estimate of what could possibly grow in your area. This knowledge becomes almost second hand to us. In our local palm society in California (Palm Society of Southern California), we have over the years pooled information and produced a publication about cold tolerance of many species. The usefulness of this information is to let us all know which species have the best chance to survive in our gardens, especially if we live in a very cold area.

Therefore, when you know how cold you get, talk with a palm nurseryman who has experience and can honestly answer your questions about cold tolerance. One will typically not find this kind of information from a home improvement center, a large plant broker, or a general stock nursery. Employees at such a store really don’t know much about cold tolerance of palms. At a palm specialty nursery, this information is usually very available. Through experience, we’ve come to know which are the best performers and which species will typically die in colder areas. Therefore, locate a palm specialty nursery that you like and trust, and listen to what they tell you.

Be Realistic
Once you are armed with information about your cold weather and have a reliable and informed nurseryman for your plant material, pick the appropriate species for your area. I can’t tell you how many times a customer has enthusiastically told me that their particular area is different and that they can grow things no one else can grow. Perhaps this is true, but palms show very predictable damage when exposed to certain temperatures. Certainly there are a lot of variables like “how long”, “how wet”, and “how warm the next day”, etc. But, it is next to impossible to provide a tropical environment outside on a freezing night. Don’t expect the impossible. Be realistic in your expectations.

In our area the Coconut Palm does not survive outdoors. Yes, there are a few survivors throughout the entirety of Southern California. But, as a very reliable rule, Cocos nucifera, will eventually die from our cold weather. This doesn’t mean you can’t try, but the chances are you will fail. The same applies to a lot of sought after species. Cyrtostahcys renda, the Red Sealing Wax Palm, attracts many enthusiasts because of its dramatic red trunks. No, it will not survive in cold weather. It predictably dies at about 47 degrees Fahrenheit. Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, the King Palm, dies at about temperatures below 24 to 25 degrees. The typical Queen Palm dies at about 18 degrees. So, if you know your garden gets down to 5 degrees, don’t think you’re going to keep alive any of the above species. Plant palms that will predictably grow in your area.

If you like to make lists of palms that appeal to you (typically on the Internet or with books), bring that list to your local grower and he can tell you which ones to eliminate. Many of our customers do just that. They bring in a list of twenty-five plants, and we immediately eliminate some because they probably won’t survive in his area. Remember, the first thing I ask is “where do you live” and “how cold do you get”.

What About Microclimates?
It is true that microclimates are very important and do exist. Being on a ridge is better than being in the bottom of a cold valley. Overhead canopy is very important. Such canopy can keep interior garden temperatures much warmer on a cold night, sometimes even 10 degrees F. warmer. Large rocks jutting out of the ground can maintain the previous day’s warmth and release this warmth during the night. Morning exposures to sun can quicken the re-warming of the plants after a cold night. All of these things are important. But, all of these factors will be reflected by your calculated cold temperatures taken from your garden. Remember you will have warmer and colder areas in your growing area.

Remember To Acclimate Your Palms
Let’s say you’ve done your homework, you know how cold you get and which plants to purchase. When you purchase your plants, remember to acclimate them to your area. A cold tolerant palm may need a little help getting ready for your area. If it was raised in a greenhouse, it might need a little protection before it’s ready for your cold or your sun. Such a plant could be placed under a tree or next to the house for its first few months. This is especially true if you’ve purchased it during the coldest part of the year. Don’t just challenge the plant, acclimate it slowly into the cold or full sun and your successes will be greater.

How To Use This Information
Use the following cold tolerance information as a general guide. It is not a crystal ball, Bible, or the secret data of a palm fortune teller. It may or may not apply to you and your palms, but at least it’s a beginning and should help you keep out of trouble losing palms with cold weather. It, by no means, is a guarantee for success. With this in mind, please read on:

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Maximum-minimum (high-low) thermometer.
(click photo to enlarge)


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