Well Jules, here is one majestic snug as a bug in a rug LOL! Will get more mulch for around it tomorrow and then do the others and hope for the best!
Snug as a Bug
I didn't know you could grow those up that far. I guess you would have to wrap it up pretty good to overwinter it in your neck of the woods.
We are experimenting butterfly and hoping for the best. Got some good info from Jewels and have read that with proper treatment we can keep these alive and well in MD.
Candee,
What type of beautiful palm are you growin'? Certain palms ARE HARDY in MD. It is always a good idea to "insulate" your tender plants with burlap, bubble wrap, and/or even put a makeshift fence of chicken wire filled with dead leaves to protect the base & trunk of the plant. They look really strange when they are wrapped up like "drones", but hey, whatever works!!
I have some of the trachycarpus wagnerianus which are hardy to -5; however, these are actually majestic palms. Here is today's pic of more winterization!
These Majestic Palms are wrapped in insulation and then burlap and lots of mulch as jewel advised to keep the root system warm which is the most important! Wish us luck!
They'll be fine! You've taken excellent care of them and all that winter protection will see them through the ccccold months of Dec., Jan., & Feb.
Thanks for your confidence Shirley, had a hard frost here last night and they are bedded down well. Steve is going to get more mulch this weekend after we get home from the cabin and we will put chicken wire around the bases and add another foot or so of mulch.
Wouldn't it be something if they really did survive???
As I was wrapping the others yesterday I was telling myself, even if they don't make it, it is a lot of fun trying.
Yesterday I was off work and I put chicken wire around the base of each palm and filled them even more full of mulch. Lowe's actually had lg. bags of mulch on sale 3 for $10! Where is that deal in the spring? Course we seldom buy it by the bag anyway, but they must make a fortune on those bags.
Haighr, be careful with the palms - it is not the root system that will freeze and kill it, it is the crown. If the crown of the palm gets frozen, it will usually die. Can you stick some pine straw in the top of it? Make a tent over it? I think that is what I am going to do with my abyssian banana, put a tent over it. Maybe with a light inside if it gets real cold.
Hmmmmmmmmm, now I am confused because everything I have read and heard said it is the root system that needs the protection?
I have burlap to pull up over the fronds, but hadn't planned anything further as I was under the impression that if the fronds croaked, I could cut them back and they would produce new growth?
If the crown freezes and dies it cannot produce more fronds. The crown is kinda like the artichoke heart where all the leaves come out of .........IMHO
I could be wrong but this rarely happens;~P
ROZ,I love that light thingy idea =)
Hey there, haighr!
I just posted to your other post, using the same terminology as you did, "snug as a bug", LOL! Yes, they do look 'snug as a bug' ... they look fantastic!
I've read Roz's post who is also in zone 8a, regarding the freezing of the crown ... and well, I just don't know what to say. My crowns were exposed to all the elements (of Dallas' winters, zone 8a) and nothing happened except the fronds died, but new ones grew in the spring. However, again as I've said, I'm not sure what they can take in your zone 6. I'll call my experts here tomorrow and see what I can find out for you about the freezing of the crowns in your zone. Maybe you may need to cover them in some way for a period of time during the harshest time of winter. But I'm not sure. It may also depend on what type of palm you have too, and how well they can survive your winters. I'll post again shortly.
Julie
It really does matter a lot what kind of palm you have. I have cabbage palms, and they take the cold just fine; I think Washingtonia will take it okay too, and Sago. But some of the others are really iffy. There are a lot more that will take the cold okay, but I am not sure what they are. We went to Key West two years ago and I had to have a foxtail palm, which will not take the cool temps, but I drag it in and out of the greenhouse, and it is okay. I sure hope yours will be just fine. My abyssiania banana is iffy here, and I sure do like it, so I am going to tty the tent with a light. It is too big to pot up and take inside. I do not worry too much about the fronds, they will come back, it is like Scooter said, the center part, or crown is what you don't want to freeze. Nanas , or most that I have, take the cold fine, though they do freeze to the ground, but they come back from the roots, or bulb or whatever is under there. I have an extra Washingtonia, Haighr, if you want to try it. It is small.
My MIL has a neighbor with huge banana trees and they build a plexiglass box around them in the winter and they have lived for 9 years. Thanks for checking in about my palms all, we only gave $19 for them so if they make it it will have been a successful attempt and if not, we'll just replace them next year. Actually my biggest concern with these majestic palms is that we really don't have a long enough growing season for them. But things are always worth a try, after all they wouldn't be the first "out of zone" plants that have survived at our place. For instance, those dracuncula are only to be hardy to Zone 8 and they have thrived here in 6 for years.
Now, back to the center crown, I did poke some burlap down inside the fronds, is that what you mean?
Thanks for the offer on the Washingtonia, but will wait a bit as in addition to those wrapped I just purchased 3 trachycarpus wagnerianus and they are presumed hardy to -5. However, they are quite small so will keep inside for this winter.
Thanks again for all the great info, I do have some burlap tied to the base that I pulled up around the fronds prior to our first frost.
Roz,
Are you saying that it is possible to winter over sago palms out doors in zone 6. i would love to hear more about how to do this. since i am in 6b and have 2 sago palms. that would be wonderful if i didt have to dig them up and bring them in.
Miss, I don't know about zone 6, but I sorta think not. I am in zone 9, so really, my sago has no problem with our very temperate climate. I bet Just Me Lisa could tell you more about palms, Lisa?
All I can say is, ya just never know until you try. Always hard to say if we are going to have a mild or harsh winter. Up until last year our winters were more like a continued fall with even some 70 degree weather in Dec., Jan., and Feb.
yes, last year was a bad winter, I lost all 7 of my camellia's which were in the ground for 3 years and getting to be real beauties.The flowers on them were so beautiful, even my DH said how pretty they were.
and lost some other plants too.
>^..^< Carol
So sorry to hear that miss, I lost all my beautiful glads for prior years and years.
thanks, it was bad last year wasnt it, hope we have a milder winter this year.
guess i will be digging the sago palms up. really dont want to chance losing them.
How large are the Sago miss? Probably not a bad idea as they are calling for a harsh winter again. We have had several frosts and so far, so good with mine. Keeping fingers crossed LOL!
haighr, They are about 24 inches wide and about 15 inches tall. maybe larger? im guessing. Think i should go out today and dig them up. they seem to survive indoors with little to no care for the winter, this will be there 3rd winter inside. my indoor room is running short though, have plants all over the house.
am waiting to see how you make out with yours, hope it works for you. they seem to be wrapped very well.
I tryed that with a oleander 2 years ago, and it made it threw the whole winter till early March. we got warm and than a freeze. that seemed to kill it.But i had unwrapped it to, so be careful when you unwrap the palm. The winter we had last year though i dont think the oleander would have made it at all.
I'll leave them wrapped until probably May as the last frost is usually before 5/15.
Better take yours in as small as they are for now. I have 3 trachycarpus wagnerians and they are just about 6" tall so will keep them in for this winter although they are supposed to be hardy to -5 when mature, just don't know how long that will take.
Speaking of plants all over the house, check out my post on "In house Greenhouse", I am getting full up with the pineapple, musa, jasmine, willows, orange tree, flytraps, purple fountain grass, elephant ears, vigna caracalla, etc. LOL
LOL yes you do have a in house greenhouse!
My husband is building me a little green house /cold frame. am hoping to winter over zone 7 plants in it. its only 6 by 5 but its a start :) it's on a old brick patio square that the grill was on, which had been moved to another spot 3years ago. hope to use it this year.
Lucky you, 5x6 would help me tremendously, sounds big when you got what I am using here for a greenhouse LOL. We have the hottub which is covered that is nice for seedlings in the spring, but wouldn't accommodate plants over our winters. Post a pic when your husband gets it finished, perhaps I could start with a small one myself!
Well, I unwrapped this one Sunday just because I couldn't wait any longer and it was in the 70's for the weekend. Believe it or not it is green, although a bit rubbery. Think I'll put in new ones this year, and put these in pots and see if they actually survived and send up new shoots!
I've been thinking of this but didn't know where to find the thread.
Thanks for the update and good luck.
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