Steve Wasula's Garden
Location: Seminole County, FL
Date Submitted: Fall 2004
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This is a tour of my yard. I've only been really into palms for about 3 years so most of what I have is pretty small. There was 1 queen palm and 1 Sabal etonia in my yard when I moved in so every palm you see here is something I planted.
I live at the northern tip of Zone 9B in Seminole County so sometimes it gets pretty cold. It got down to 25 in my yard in Winter 2002. I wanted my yard to look tropical and different from almost all the yards in Central Florida so I chose palms. I did a lot of research to find tropical looking palms that were somewhat cold hardy. I know that some of the palms I have planted may eventually succumb to a cold winter but my plan is to continue growing these species in the hopes that I will find one that is more cold hardy than others in its species.
Archontophoenix alexandrae - Planted from a 7 gallon in Summer 2004
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Archontophoenix cunninghamiana - Planted from a 3 gallon Summer, 2002. Now about 11 ft overall. This one survived a 25 degree low in Winter of 2002.
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Archontophoenix cunninghamiana - A couple of palms planted from 3 gallon pots in Spring, 2003 to replace the A. cunninghamiana that were killed during the winter. About 7 feet overall.
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Archontophoenix cunninghamiana - Planted from a 3 gallon pot in Spring, 2003. This one has done very well in the shade of a live oak and is now about 9 feet overall.
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Dypsis leutscens - Planted from a 3 gallon in Spring 2002. Made it through 25 degree lows in Winter 2002 and has come back very nicely. About 8 feet overall.
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Arenga pinnata - Planted as a 3 gallon seedling in Summer 2002. Has made it through the winters without damage but is not a very fast grower. Only about 4 feet overall.
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Bismarckia nobilis - One of the 4 Bismarckias I have growing in my yard. This was planted as a 7 gallon in Spring 2004. It gets full sun and has already increased considerably in size since I planted it. About 3 feet overall.
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Borassodendron machodonis and Copernicia alba on the right. That's a ponytail palm on the left that was frozen to its stump in 2001.
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Hyophorbe laugencaulis - Planted as a 3 gallon in Spring 2003 next to the pool. It has double in size in about 1.5 years. I'm hoping the heated pool and screened enclosure will protect it through the winter.
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Caryota gigas - Planted as a 1 gallon in Summer 2002. It doesn't product many fronds but each frond is considerably larger than the previous. It's about 4 feet overall now. It was blown over during the hurricanes this past summer which was surprising because it is still so low to the ground and protected by a 6 foot fence.
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Caryota mitis - Planted from a 7 gallon in Spring 2003. This plant is growing very fast and now is over 10 feet tall. It's in a fairly protected area next to my screen but hasn't seen freezing weather yet so we'll see how much that protection helps.
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Caryota spp. - I bought this as a Caryota urens but it is suckering so it is obviously a hybrid. I believe I have a true Caryota urens and that palm is growing much faster than this one. This one is still very fast. It is growing at about the same pace as the queen palm next to it. It has gone from about 4 feet in Spring 2003 to about 12 feet in Winter 2004. To the right of it is a queen palm. Behind the queen is a bed with 7 Washingtonia robusta. To the right of the Washingtonia is a Wodyetia bifurcata that I planted as a 7 gallon in Spring 2004. If you look carefully to the left of the queen palm you can see some Chamaedorea microspadix. Behind that along the fence is a very small Majesty palm that I got for $1 at Lowe's.
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Caryota urens - I'm pretty sure this is the real deal. It grows incredibly fast, maybe even faster than the queens I have. This went from 5 feet in Spring 2003 to about 16 feet in Winter 2004. It hasn't gone through a freeze yet so I'm not sure if it is as hardy as everyone says. To the left of it is a Majesty palm that I planted as a 3 gallon in Summer 2001. It went through the freezes in 2002 without damage and is the fastest growing Majesty I have. It hasn't developed a truck yet but its base is very large and so are its fronds.
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Chaemdorea cataractum in the foreground. Majesty palm in the background to the left and Saw palmetto to the right.
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Chamaedorea cataractum in my flower bed by the front door. That is the trunk of a small queen palm to the right. There are also very small coconut palms behind it if you look carefully.
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Adonidia merrillii - This palm has been growing in my screened in atrium since Spring 2003. This atrium is protected on 3 sides by the house and then further protected by a covered porch on the 4th side. I noticed after the freeze of 2002 that none of the plants growing in here were damaged so I started loading it up with tropicals. Growing at the base are crotons, a pineapple plant and a Chamaedorea elegans. During the hurricanes the plants on this porch weren't even blowing in the wind!
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Coccothrinax spp.I bought this as a Coccothrinax barbadensis but it clearly isn't that. It was undamaged in the freezes of 2002 and looks more like C. argentata. However, it is much faster growing than C. argentata so I'm guessing it is a hybrid.
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Dypsis leutscens protected by my house and screened pool enclosure. There are 3 different varieties of Crotons next to it but I couldn't tell you what variety. This was planted from a 2 gallon in Spring 2002 and has grown very well in this spot coming through the winter freeze of 2002 very well.
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A big clump of palms. Front left is a Chamaedorea seifrizzii (I think). In front of that to the right is a Livistona muellerrii. Just behind it to the left is a Livistona decipiens that I grew from seed from CFPACS. The two larger Livistona are L. saribus. In the back middle is a queen palm.
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A small Chamaerops humilis surrounded by Impatiens.
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A clump of 3 Wodyetia bifurcata. I just planted those from 7 gallon pots in Spring 2004. They are growing nicely but haven't seen any cold. They were grown from seed by a nursery in Winter Garden so they might have a chance if they have survived the cold this long.
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Three queen palms showing the effects of the hurricanes and being grown in a very shady spot. You can see how thin their trucks are. Because of this all the trunks bent to the South during the hurricanes. I pruned the damaged limbs but these queens are very sickly looking compared to the queens I have growing in full sun. To the far right is a potted Coconut. Middle right is a Cat palm. Behind the Philodendron in the middle are a couple of small coconuts.
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A view of my front yard from the street. Front right is a Livistona saribus. Back right is a Washingtonia robusta that has been in the ground for 3 years and was planted as a 3 gallon. Middle of the shot are 3 Bismarckia nobilis. The 2 to the right get more sun then the one on the left and have grown quicker. Behind the smallest Bismarckia is a clump of 3 Roystonea regia. Front left is a European Fan Palm. Far left you can see the leaves of an Archontophoenix cunninghamiana. Behind the oaks you can see the leaves of 3 Carpentaria acuminata. The big plant in the middle is a Traveler's Palm and in front of that is a Cycas circinalis.
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Here's a close up of the Bismarckia and Royals. The Bismarckia were all planted from 7 gallon pots in Spring 2002. The one in the back left grew significantly this year despite being blow over by the hurricanes. It is now over 6 feet and its spread is about 4 feet. I expect it to get significantly larger next year.
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A small Livistona benthamii given to me by Charlene palm. This was a small one gallon when I got it and is now about 2.5 ft overall. It really started to grow this spring and it went in the ground in August, 2004 after the 2nd hurricane.
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A small Livistona decipiens. I know this palm grows well in Central Florida but I have had a great deal of difficulty growing them. I had 3 small ones killed by the freeze in 2002. Whenever I try to germinate them the seedlings succumb to fungus or root rot. This one is doing well so I'm hoping that the other 100 seedlings I killed were a fluke.
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A small Livistona drudei grown from CFPACS seed that I germinated in Summer 2002. About 2.5 feet overall. This palm is doing surprisingly well since it was run over by a Bobcat removing a pine tree in my yard after the hurricane. Since being run over it has produced 3 new, full size fronds. It has also re-anchored itself into the ground after being completely parallel to the ground.
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Livistona saribus growing in full sun in my front yard. This palm has remained very compact compared to the 2 I planted in the backyard. This one gets much more sun and I guess that is contributing to shorter fronds.
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A fairly large Majesty palm in the backyard next to the screen enclosure. This palms is in mostly shade and I think that has helped it keep a dark green coloring in addition to growing very large fronds. This made it through the freezes of Winter 2002 with very minor leaf damage and never showed any signs of stunted growth from cold. It is about 10 feet overall.
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This is a view of the row of 8 queen palms behind the screened pool. These palms were planted as 7 gallons in Summer 2002 and now are about 15 feet overall. The small palms in the front left are Chamaedorea radicalis. In the front left is a triple planting of Spindle palms. Front middle is a Coccothrinax barbadensis. To the middle left is a Bismarckia that is about 3.5 feet overall. Behind the queen on the front left is a White Bird of Paradise. Just to the left of the White Bird and in the back middle is a clump of Chamaedorea microspadix. Behind the queens along the fence are a couple of Wodyetia bifurcata.
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This is the same row of queen palms viewed from the other side. You can get a better view of the Chamaedorea microspadix and you can see another small clump of Spindle palms behind the first queen palm on the left.
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This is a Rhapis excelsa that we have growing within our pool enclosure. It gets mostly shade but isn't covered by a roof so it gets all its water from rainfall with no supplemental irrigation. The neat thing about this palm is that I dug it out of the yard of a house that was going to be demolished for an office building. I got this clump and about 10 other smaller plants that I have planted throughout my yard.
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A small Roystonea regia, about 6 feet overall. I planted this from a small 1 gallon pot in Summer 2003. It was slow to establish but has recently started growing a little faster. To the left of it is a White Bird of Paradise.
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This is a moderate size Spindle palm that I picked up from Lowe's a couple of years ago. It is growing right next to my front door and is well protected from cold by both the 2 story wall behind it and the dryer vent that blows onto it. It doesn't get much sun but doesn't appear to be stretching the way the queen palms near it are.
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A couple of Spindle palms behind my garage in a well protected area between a 6 foot wooden fence, the garage wall and the A/C unit. It is also almost completed covered by the roof and a Camphor tree. Both of these had stunted fronts following the winter of 2003 due to the prolonged cool weather but recovered nicely during the summer. To the left is a Chamaedorea of some sort that I bought at a garage sale 3 years ago for $2.
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A Thrinax morrissii in my front yard between the sidewalk and the road. This palm was planted as a 3 gallon summer of 2003 and has grown very quickly since then. It is now showing the silvery tint on the underside of its leaves. The adult version of this palm grows much faster than the seedlings! I have several seedlings that are almost 3 years old that still look like a small clump of grass.
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This is a fairly large Trachycarpus fortunei. I planted this from a 1 gallon I bought at the Leu Gardens Spring Sale in March, 2002. It is now over 6 feet tall and has nearly equaled the Washingtonia robusta next to it in overall size gain. It is planted in full sun and appears to be loving it. I have heard that these can be difficult to grow in full sun in Central Florida but this one is doing great.
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A picture of my front yard.
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This is a Trithrinax campestris in front of 3 small coconut palms.
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A juvenile Washingtonia robusta.
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A view of the clump of 8 Washingtonia robusta I have planted in the back corner of my yard.
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Some more Washingtonia robustas in my front yard.
