Just the mention of
Florida immediately conjures up a mental image of sun soaked beaches and swaying
palm trees in the minds of many of our northern friends. When traveling south
you know that you are approaching the sub-tropics when you see palm trees start
dotting the landscape. Florida residents often ignore the palm trees around them
and fail to utilize them in their landscapes. I wish that every Floridian, even
the palm haters, would plant at least one in their yard, after all they can’t be
planted outdoors in New York, Michigan or Minnesota!
Palms can be used in
many ways in the landscape. They make attractive specimen plants; they can be
used in groups, for framing and as background plantings for the home. Taller
palms make excellent avenue trees and smaller ones are useful in foundation
plantings, shrubbery borders and as an accent.
Unfortunately, here in the Tallahassee area, we are limited in our selection of
palms that are fully hardy. The Christmas freeze of 1983 and the January freeze
of 1985 killed a number of palms and froze the fronds of others that recovered
remarkably later. Recent years have been milder and we now have some palms
growing here that will eventually be damaged by cold weather. It is best to
plant only palms that are known to be cold hardy in our area.
Although palms can be transplanted at any time of the year, the best time to
move them is in the Spring and early Summer. Root development is rapid then and
the plant recovers quicker from the moving operation. The size of the root ball
of palms that are dug is usually rather small because they will develop a new
set of roots from the crown. Because palm roots emerge higher above the root
crown, they should be set slightly deeper than the level they originally grew.
Palms that are dug should have all but the upper fronds removed and the frond
stems should be tied around the bud for protection. Container grown palms can be
planted at any time and do not require frond removal and bud tying. If the bud
of a palm should be destroyed, it will soon die. Newly planted palms should be
kept well watered. Use of a commercial palm
fertilizer or 13-6-6 during the growing season will be of great benefit.
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One of the most commonly planted palms here is the Pindo Palm
Butia capitata . The Pindo Palm is the most cold hardy of
the feather leaved palms. This palm is very useful in giving a tropical
atmosphere in landscape plantings. The feather shaped fronds have
strongly recurved leaf stalks and vary in color in gray-green shades.
The stout trunk is often covered with old leaf bases. The Pindo Palm is
native to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay where it tolerates
cold, drought and fires! Most of the Pindo Palms here are under 8 feet
tall; however, there are a few older specimens that approach 20 feet
tall. Pindo Palms normally grow rather slowly. In the summertime they
reward gardeners with clusters of decorative, edible, orange fruit that
have given it the nick-name of Jelly Palm. Normally Pindo Palms are not
injured by our winters. The unusual severe freezes of 1983 and 1985
caused them to lose their fronds, most recovered very nicely, only a few
were killed. Pindos grow well in sun or partial shade. They have
moderate salt tolerance, if planted near the shore they need some
protection from salt air and water. On occasion supplemental manganese
(manganese sulfate) can help prevent “frizzle top”(weak stunted new
growth and abnormal fronds due to manganese deficiency) on Pindo Palms
grown in poor sandy soil. |
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The European Fan Palm Chamaerops humilis is a
small bushy palm forming a clump of several trunks. The fan shaped
leaves are stiff and gray-green in color. This dwarf palm grows very
slowly to about 5 feet high; although some very old specimens have
reached 15’-20’. The European Fan Palm is native to southern Europe and
northern Africa where it tolerates cold and drought. The European Fan
Palm is highly salt tolerant and can be planted in exposed areas near
the shore. This palm performs well in full sun to moderate shade.
Several older clusters of this palm are planted on the north grounds of
our state capital building. This is a very cold hardy palm which has
been grown for a number of years on the coast of Ireland and even in
Edinburgh, Scotland! |
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The Canary Island Date Palm Phoenix canariensis
is a very large growing feather-leafed palm that is occasionally planted
here. This palm has a stocky trunk that is marked with a distinctive
diamond pattern from the old leaf bases. Because this is such a massive
palm reaching 60’it is unsuitable for most residences. The Canary Island
Date Palm makes a dramatic formal appearance when used as avenue tree
spaced about 50’ apart. There are several planted at Florida State
University, some of the most noted are at the Westcott building. This
palm is not fully hardy here; many were killed by the cold in the 80’s.
Canary Island Date Palms occasionally develop yellow banding along the
leaf margins with the center remaining green due to a lack of magnesium
which can be corrected with magnesium sulfate (Epsom Salts). |
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Several other species of date palms are also occasionally planted
here- the Mediterranean Date Palm Phoenix dactylifera
, the Wild Date Palm Phoenix sylvestris and the
Senegal Date Palm Phoenix reclinata . The
Mediterranean Date Palm which is planted in California for commercial
date production is tender like the Canary Island Date. Although it can
produce dates in Florida you need both a male and a female tree for
fruiting. This palm develops shoots at the base forming a clump over
time. The Mediterranean Date Palm has gray-green foliage and is usually
seen with old leaf bases (boot jackets) on the trunk which help aid in
its identification. This palm also needs plenty of space. The Wild Date
Palm looks much like the Mediterranean Date but has only a single trunk
and its fronds are not as silvery colored. This date palm will often
have roots appearing out of the sides of the trunk 5-6’ above the
ground. The Senegal Date Palm grows in a cluster with many trunks that
are considerably smaller in diameter than the other 3 species
occasionally planted here. This palm has very sharp pointed spines on
the leaf bases. The Senegal Date Palm is often damaged by the cold here,
frequently losing many of its fronds yet it can recover. There is a
large older cluster of this palm growing in Quincy, Florida and several
smaller clusters in Tallahassee. |
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The Needle Palm Rhapidophyllum hystrix is a
dwarf native palm with deep green, glossy fan shaped leaves. They grow
very slowly to about 4 feet high. The Needle Palm usually forms a
cluster of trunks which are armed with sharp spines 6-8” long. They can
be grown in both sun and shade. Due to its small size the Needle Palm is
a welcome addition to home landscapes. They are remarkably cold hardy
surviving in such unlikely places as Knoxville, Tennessee and
Alexandria, Virginia! The Needle Palm has moderate salt tolerance. Once
they were rather difficult to obtain in nurseries, but now they are
readily available. A great thing about the Needle Palm is its ability to
grow in wet, damp areas. |
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The
Sabal or Cabbage Palm Sabal palmetto is the state tree
of both Florida and South Carolina. They can grow to about 80 feet tall.
Florida residents once enjoyed cutting down Sabal Palms and boiling the
buds to make a dish called swamp cabbage. In South Carolina in 1776,
colonists built a small fort out of Sabal Palm trunks from which they
defeated a British fleet that tried to capture Charleston harbor. They
make excellent avenue trees, framing trees, and look good in group
plantings. Although they are widely planted here, this sterling native
palm could be used more in home landscaping. The Sabal Palm has
excellent salt tolerance and will thrive at the coast if given
sufficient water. The related Dwarf Palmetto or Bluestem Palmetto
Sabal minor is a nearly trunkless palm reaching several
feet in height. Its 2-5 foot wide fan-shaped leaves have a bluish color.
The Dwarf Palmetto is very shade tolerant and will thrive in wet areas. |
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The Saw Palmetto Serenoa repens is a small
native fan leafed palm that covers hundreds of acres of land in northern
Florida. The stem usually runs underground or runs just along the
surface, on rare occasions it may be found growing upright. Because the
Saw Palmetto stays low (grows to 3-4’), is very cold hardy, very drought
resistant, very shade tolerant, and very salt tolerant it deserves to be
used more in landscaping. Although it is a common native palm, it is
very difficult to transplant successfully from the wild. Only container
grown specimens are recommended for planting. There is a special variety
that has been selected from the Atlantic coast with silvery-blue fronds
that is especially attractive that can be found in nurseries. |
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The Windmill Palm Trachycarpus fortunei
has a slender trunk that is covered with brown hair-like fiber with
3’ fan shaped leaves. Windmill Palms grow as single trunked trees 8-10
feet high and with age rarely reach 15-20 in height. They can be grown
in full sun and will also thrive in deep shade. Windmill Palms are
faster growing than the other small fan leafed palms that we can grow in
our area. The Windmill Palm is native to Central and Eastern China. This
palm is remarkably cold hardy, being grown at Lago Maggiore,
Switzerland; Southern England and the northern coast of Virginia. The
Windmill Palm is very salt tolerant. This beautiful palm merits much
more attention in our landscaping.
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The Washington Fan Palm Washingtonia robusta
grows tall (to 80’) with a slender trunk and fan shaped leaves with many
gray threads. The leaf stems are heavily armed; the dead fronds often
adhere to the trunk forming a shag or petticoat. Although this is a
beautiful fast growing palm it is frequently damaged by the cold in our
area. Freezes in the ‘80’s killed most of these palms that were growing
here. Because the Washington Fan Palm is so tender, a good replacement
is its hardier sister the California Fan Palm Washingtonia
filifera which can survive as far north as Macon,Georgia. The
California Fan Palm is very rare in our area, it looks much like the
Washington Fan Palm but has a much broader trunk and has no thorns on
its leaf stems. Both of these palms have moderate salt tolerance. |