Could a Canary Island Date palm grow in zone8a?

Hello,

I live in Varna, Bulgaria on the Black sea coast. I have a Canary Island Date palm. Would it survive without protection? This winter and last winter the coldest it ever got was -8.5C. In the summer the temperatures are between 35 and 45C. The Trachycarpus fortunei palms in the are always damaged though. I think it gets too hot for them. I hope the Canary Island Date palm doesn't mind heat and droughts.

Plant Files only lists it as hardy to zone 9a, so it may make it through mild winters for you, but if you have a cold winter it may not make it. Personally I'll take chances on hardiness with perennials and smaller shrubs and things like that which are easy to remove and replace if they don't make it, but for trees I'm always careful to only plant things that are solidly hardy in my zone and would survive the worst winters. It likes sun and is listed as being somewhat drought tolerant, so I suspect it'll be OK with your summers but I worry about the winters.

Hello!

Currently it is -9C. My Canary Island Date palm is fine. The climate here is a lot warmer now. For a week or so in january it was 20C. I will hope that it stays that way! Is there an easy way to protect it if it gets colder than -9C?

Here is a picture of it now. It is quite young

When it's young, you can just throw a sheet over it or something. The trouble comes when it gets older and bigger--then you can't just throw a sheet over it anymore, and it also becomes expensive to have it removed if it dies. And the trouble with winter is you may have a bunch of mild winters in a row, but eventually chances are you're going to get a winter where it's cold enough to kill it.

My policy on trees is that since I'm in zone 9b, I won't plant trees in the garden unless they're hardy at least one zone lower than me (8b), and ideally even hardier than that. So for you, I'd recommend finding trees that are at least hardy to zone 7a. I'm fine with pushing zone limits on smaller plants like shrubs and perennials--if those die in a cold snap I might be disappointed, but I can easily remove them myself and replace them. But once a tree gets large, if it dies you generally have to spend a bunch of money to have someone else come and remove it for you, so personally I don't like to take chances on trees. But it's really up to you--it's entirely possible that your winters may stay mild enough that you've long since moved on to a new house before you ever get that winter that kills it.

I have read that wrapping the trunk in a couple of layers of bubble wrap, heavy mulching around the base, and tying frost cloth over the top will help protect a palm if you are a zone or two lower than where it would grow best. Haven't tried it myself, but that seems to work for some.

Karen

Hello!

I won't risk putting it in the ground. I will see if it can cope with very harsh weather without being damaged. So far I am impressed with my Canary Island Date palm. I have a Trachycarpus fortunei seedling. I will try that outside.

It's my understanding that if you keep a plant in a pot you lose one or two zones in hardiness.

Karen

Hello!

The garden center sells chinese fan palms, Washingtonia robustas, Canary island date palms, Edible date palms and Washingtonia filiferas. Are any of these palms hardy to at least zone7b?

According to Plant Files those are only hardy to zone 8 or 9. I don't know what the Latin name of your edible date palm is, here is one date palm that is listed as hardy to 7b http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/68490/ but the rest are 8 or 9.

Hello!

The palm is called Phoenix dactylifera. Is that suitable for zone7b?

Plant Files lists that one as hardy to 8b

These palms are very cold hardy. They live beautifully all the to northern Alabama and Georgia zone 7b 8a and 8b. I have seen them growing in Atlanta and Birmingham as wel l as the rural areas.

I will plant it in the groundthis autumn, but I will give it good protection as Karen suggested. Hopefully it will make it through next winter with no damages. Here in the city some people protect trachycarpus fortunei and cheamoris humulis with a clear plastic bag. I think that would not be enough for a date palm though.

Does anyone know why the needles on my white pines are turning yellow near the trunk? I live in a 5A zone.

GrannySal--I'd probably start a new thread for your question. Since this thread was about palm trees the people who know about pines might not even look in here. If you can post a picture in the new thread too that would probably help.

Thank you, ecrane3. I'm new to this site, and still trying to find my way around.

I have a Canary Island date Palm that is quite large. We are zone 8b/9a ( Florida) and it has done wonderfully here. We never provide it protection