After a near-death (?) freeze experience, many palm collectors decide—for a while, anyway—to be sensible, to plant only species that won’t be damaged or killed in cold snaps. Of course, ‘cold snap’ may be too mild a term for my experience of last winter: nine nights below freezing in January and February. Mostly this was no lower than 30º for an hour or two, but once to 27º. One night was 10 hours below freezing; daytime temperatures seldom got above the 50s for most of two months. I do recommend, as an undamaged survivor for more than 25 years, Livistona saribus, the Taraw Palm. In the 1980s, every winter in Vero brought as many as three or four freezes, with temperatures as low as 26º, at least briefly. The most memorable cold was on Christmas Eve night— actually, Christmas morning—in 1989, when the temperature plunged to 18º at my house, rose that day to maybe 40º after 12 hours below freezing. Christmas night dipped again, but only into (I think) the upper 20s. Warmth, meaning 70º, didn’t return for four days, though successive nights were in the 40s. Do understand that my memories—except of that single horrifying 18º--remain mercifully murky and blocked. It was helpful that there were no further freezes later in the winter. For a month, the prevailing odor in Vero Beach was of rotting vegetation. Huge piles of dead and decaying bougainvillea, crotons, ixora, hibiscus, etc., royal and coconut palms (farthest north for these on the coast). Christmas Palms, Adonidia, disappeared from almost every lawn, only to return a few years ago: most residents have been here no longer than 5-6 years, so have no historic memory of the Christmas 1989 horrors. I had planted in my back yard in 1982, a 1-gallon Livistona saribus purchased from a vendor at the Fairchild sale. I was a novice in palms, only about two years, knew next to nothing. The little palm was planted in the open, no cover, had grown to three feet high when that 18º arrived, seven years later. To my amazement and relief, it had no damage whatsoever, covered only with a pillow case. This kind of cold hardiness is nothing short of amazing in a coastal-plain palm native to Southeast Asia—Malaya, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam. It has continued to grow, is now 40 feet tall, with an 18inch trunk, and, at a glance, might be taken for a medium size Washingtonia. It was completely untouched by last winter’s freezing temperatures and lengthy overall chilliness. The bright green deeply costapalmate 3-foot leaves seem longer than wide, and droop more than half the segment length. Growth is moderate, with good response to palm fertilizer. Nice looking, yes, but no outstanding showy features aside from the downward-pointing, elaborate spines on the 5-foot petioles. These look to me like a Javanese kris, to others like shark’s teeth, with a wide base and curved long point. But mustn’t forget the fruit, a striking metallic blue, thin over a large seed; the squirrels eat the fruit covering, dropping the cleaned seeds on the ground. There is a form of the Taraw Palm with reddish petioles, very decorative, but apparently not as cold hardy as the more familiar form (mine) with green petioles. I have often recommended Livistona saribus as a substitute for Washingtonia. It is readily available but doesn’t grow out of proportion to its surroundings. Think of all those 4-story Washingtonia
After a near-death (?) freeze experience, many palm collectors decide—for a while, anyway—to be sensible, to plant only species that won’t be damaged or killed in cold snaps. Of course, ‘cold snap’ may be too mild a term for my experience of last winter: nine nights below freezing in January and February. Mostly this was no lower than 30º for an hour or two, but once to 27º. One night was 10 hours below freezing; daytime temperatures seldom got above the 50s for most of two months. I do recommend, as an undamaged survivor for more than 25 years, Livistona saribus, the Taraw Palm. In the 1980s, every winter in Vero brought as many as three or four freezes, with temperatures as low as 26º, at least briefly. The most memorable cold was on Christmas Eve night— actually, Christmas morning—in 1989, when the temperature plunged to 18º at my house, rose that day to maybe 40º after 12 hours below freezing. Christmas night dipped again, but only into (I think) the upper 20s. Warmth, meaning 70º, didn’t return for four days, though successive nights were in the 40s. Do understand that my memories—except of that single horrifying 18º--remain mercifully murky and blocked. It was helpful that there were no further freezes later in the winter. For a month, the prevailing odor in Vero Beach was of rotting vegetation. Huge piles of dead and decaying bougainvillea, crotons, ixora, hibiscus, etc., royal and coconut palms (farthest north for these on the coast). Christmas Palms, Adonidia, disappeared from almost every lawn, only to return a few years ago: most residents have been here no longer than 5-6 years, so have no historic memory of the Christmas 1989 horrors. I had planted in my back yard in 1982, a 1-gallon Livistona saribus purchased from a vendor at the Fairchild sale. I was a novice in palms, only about two years, knew next to nothing. The little palm was planted in the open, no cover, had grown to three feet high when that 18º arrived, seven years later. To my amazement and relief, it had no damage whatsoever, covered only with a pillow case. This kind of cold hardiness is nothing short of amazing in a coastal-plain palm native to Southeast Asia—Malaya, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam. It has continued to grow, is now 40 feet tall, with an 18inch trunk, and, at a glance, might be taken for a medium size Washingtonia. It was completely untouched by last winter’s freezing temperatures and lengthy overall chilliness. The bright green deeply costapalmate 3-foot leaves seem longer than wide, and droop more than half the segment length. Growth is moderate, with good response to palm fertilizer. Nice looking, yes, but no outstanding showy features aside from the downward-pointing, elaborate spines on the 5-foot petioles. These look to me like a Javanese kris, to others like shark’s teeth, with a wide base and curved long point. But mustn’t forget the fruit, a striking metallic blue, thin over a large seed; the squirrels eat the fruit covering, dropping the cleaned seeds on the ground. There is a form of the Taraw Palm with reddish petioles, very decorative, but apparently not as cold hardy as the more familiar form (mine) with green petioles. I have often recommended Livistona saribus as a substitute for Washingtonia. It is readily available but doesn’t grow out of proportion to its surroundings. Think of all those 4-story Washingtonia
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