Austin Gardening - Queen or Foxtail Palms

Author

Queen or Foxtail Palms

TargetPK

2007-04-21, 5:25 pm

HAs any tried to grow queen or foxtail palms in Austin? I see they
are not recommended for this zone, but I was wondering if they can
make it here. I have seen some beautiful 45 gallon ones for sale, and
they seem reasonably priced. My worry is they will die in the
winter. The planting location would on the northwest side of a
house. Pretty close to the house on one side, and a cement wall on
the other. Thanks for the help!

Chuck

2007-04-30, 9:25 pm

I am curious, too. All I ever see are fan palms.

"TargetPK" <pmkern@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1177187895.327820.153520@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> HAs any tried to grow queen or foxtail palms in Austin? I see they
> are not recommended for this zone, but I was wondering if they can
> make it here. I have seen some beautiful 45 gallon ones for sale, and
> they seem reasonably priced. My worry is they will die in the
> winter. The planting location would on the northwest side of a
> house. Pretty close to the house on one side, and a cement wall on
> the other. Thanks for the help!
>

Jangchub

2007-05-01, 9:25 am

>"TargetPK" <pmkern@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:1177187895.327820.153520@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>

I've seen them in Houston, but they really wouldn't make it in one of
our three day ice situations which does happen. Since I've been
living in Austin (7 years) we've had some form of ice or sleet storm
every winter. This is an expensive plant to try. However, downtown
on Sixth St. there is a building with the word palm on it (I forget
just now) and there are foxtails there, but heavily protected in the
city with all the concrete which retains heat. Queen palms are iffy
and I doubt they would survive in our zone.

My opinion is this; if you can afford to lose them, plant them and
experiment. I would think the soil conditions are important to the
health of the plant and its ability to remain hardy.

Victoria

Jim Marrs

2007-05-06, 1:25 pm

I have grown both kinds and they will need some kind of protection. The fox
tail is pretty hardy and as long as you keep the frost off, they will
survive. Same with queen palm, so I keep mine in a pot and move it under the
patio cover or in the green house during cold spells. I have had temps in
the high teens, and the palms survived out but under the patio cover.
Again, its the frost that kills not necessarily the temperature. Obviously,
when temps go below lets say, 15 degrees the roots even in pots will start
to freeze, but those temps are rare in Central Texas.

Jim

"TargetPK" <pmkern@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1177187895.327820.153520@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> HAs any tried to grow queen or foxtail palms in Austin? I see they
> are not recommended for this zone, but I was wondering if they can
> make it here. I have seen some beautiful 45 gallon ones for sale, and
> they seem reasonably priced. My worry is they will die in the
> winter. The planting location would on the northwest side of a
> house. Pretty close to the house on one side, and a cement wall on
> the other. Thanks for the help!
>

lousytshirt@yahoo.com

2007-05-22, 1:25 pm

On May 1, 7:12 am, Jangchub <sakad...@kopan.com> wrote:
>
> I've seen them in Houston, but they really wouldn't make it in one of
> our three day ice situations which does happen. Since I've been
> living in Austin (7 years) we've had some form of ice or sleet storm
> every winter. This is an expensive plant to try. However, downtown
> on Sixth St. there is a building with the word palm on it (I forget
> just now) and there are foxtails there, but heavily protected in the
> city with all the concrete which retains heat. Queen palms are iffy
> and I doubt they would survive in our zone.
>
> My opinion is this; if you can afford to lose them, plant them and
> experiment. I would think the soil conditions are important to the
> health of the plant and its ability to remain hardy.
>
> Victoria

I am starting to see large ones at commercial sites all over town.
Check out the two large ones at the Taco Cabana on Riverside near
Lamar. They are beautiful.
I have had a small one in my garden for at least 6 years. It has
survived the 2-3 day ice storms fine. Of course, in these storms, the
lows have still been in the upper 20s. The just below freezing weather
doesn't seem to bother it. I also think that the lows at my house have
been above 25 in this decade.

lousytshirt@yahoo.com

2007-05-22, 9:25 pm

I am referring to queen palms in my previous post. I had never heard
of foxtail palms until this post. A lot of web sites rate foxtails
for zone 10-11. If that is true, they could be easily damaged here in
many winters. Books and sites have been wrong in them past about
hardiness, however.

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