Gary,

Does this get sun or shade? How much room are you talking about? Thanks.

Anna

Spindle or Bottle palms - planted three to a hole. You can get them at Lowes or HD. Under 10' for at least the next decade.

A grove of Teddy Bear palms.

Coccothrinax argentata - Silver Thatch Palm (a Florida native!)

I wouldn't suggest Pritchardia (Fiji Fan), they will eventually grow to 50'. Whatever you decide on, make sure it's self-cleaning.

Buccaneer Palm: Like a small royal, native, beautiful, rare, under-used, slow growing, doesn't get big, drought tolerant.

Gary

My vote is for Coccothrinax crinita - old man palm

We can't grow the Hawaiian pritchias so our choices are limited here. The types I've seen that are cold hardier resemble the mundane washitonias too much so what's the point?

Licualas may not last long term outdoors, I think it's the ramsayi that is the most cold hardy but don't quote me. They always seem to have some sort of deficiency that I've seen too.

...how about a Dypsis cabadae? 15-20 feet, clumping...I've seen them available at HD's for about 150$

...above the pic you can click on back/forth for more pics...Z

Here is a link that might be useful: Dypsis cabadae

Anna
Well, the area use to be in sun but the neighbors put up a privacy fence so no sun if it's short lol. They also have a row of Areca palms so dappled would be the best I can hope for even during summer. My main concern is the overhead powerlines.
Gary, Yipes 150 bucks !! Iwas thinking more like 25 definitely under 50 lol. The Buccaneer palm seems interesting .Latin name??
The palms I grew from seed are Johannesteismannia altifrons and magnifica. Licuala obicularis and L.ramsayi
They are 8 years old and still under two feet lol. I really don't see them as a yard plant anyway. Have heard that L. grandis is much hardier.
The Kerriodoxa elegans is gorgeous but the fronds can get 10 feet wide!!. Great for hurricanes?? lol.. Have been told they handle frost well. Great difference in the price of examples by size.., Two foot is around 25 while a four is around 150 which probably means it is slow growing therefore would be worth the money for a larger speciman??
They seem to mature at aroung 25 feet but maybe not in my lifetime??
This is also true of the Licualas about the only types you can find are grandis but even if they can handle the cold they must be very prone to wind damage.??
Was surpised no body mentioned Bismarkia. the queen of fan palms lol. Have been watching a neighbors which i know to be 15 years old and is still under 10 feet.But i think they are rather ugly in large sizes .
Anyway thanks for the suggestions. gary

Hi Gary,

If you have dappled shade, you have many good choices. If it were me, I would wait for the Searles Brother's sale (Ft. Lauderdale) in the spring. They have many beautiful, rare palms like nowhere else (if you get there early), and are very informative. You are bound to find something you can't live without there. I know I do. I wish it were closer to me. I've only been able to go a couple of times.

I have a Kerriodoxa that has been in the ground a couple of years (was very small to start with). It is now still under 3 feet tall, but the leaves are already quite large. It does grow very slowly. Other things to consider for dappled shade: Pinangas (on occassion I have seen one at HD), Wallichia densiflora (I love this one, personally, but it is also slow-growing), caryota gigas, chambeyronia macrocarpa, chamaedoras (I have a very small chamaedora fragrans I would be willing to trade- it is rather interesting. I will plant another in the ground next spring), maybe gronophyllums (I think Ricky has one of these beauties, so you can ask him about this one.

Licualas are very slow-growing at first. I have spinosa, peltata, and peltata var. sumawongi. The ones with the undivided leaves rarely look nice, because they get shredded by heavy winds. I don't have grandis, but would imagine any of these would need to be protected from wind to keep a nice look.

Another consideration might be cycads. I absolutely love dioon spinulosum and encephalartos ferox. They are beautiful, have that palm-like look, do great in dappled shade, carefree, and always look good. They grow slowly, but in a couple of years turn into a nice looking specimen.

Anna

I would grow Licuala peltata var. sumawongii instead of L. grandis. Much cold hardier but the leaves will shred in wind if it gets exposed. Licuala peltata var. peltata and L. ramsayi are also nice.

Copernicia hospita is a nice blue silver palm that does not get massive like Bismarckia.

The Hawaiian Pritchardia species are much better choices that the South Sea native species, much hardier. Probably the best are P. beccariana, hillebrandii, martii, or remota..

If it is sort of shady and protected these are nice;
Aiphanes horrida (caryotifolia)
Areca triandra
Areca vestaria
Astrocaryum alatum
Astrocaryum mexicanum
Marojejya darianii
Pinanga coronata (kuhlii)- the form with the evenly divided leaf is hardier than the irregulary divided form)
Pinanga phillipinensis

some others;
Archontophoenix purpurea (fairly slow)
Arenga engleri (very fragrant flowers)
Arenga undulatifolia
Borassodendron machodonis -gets more than 20ft but is slow
Burretiokentia hapala
Caryota gigas/obtusa- slow growing, looks like a huge fern
Coccothrinax argentea
C. barbadensis
C. crinita
C. miraguama
Cryosophila warscewiczii
Dypsis madagascariensis- the Mahajanga form is better
Howea forsteriana (slow growing)
Hyophorbe indica
Kentiopsis oliviformis
Phoenix rupicola
Polyandrococos caudescens
Satakentia liukiensis
Schippia concolor
Syagrus schizophylla
Thrinax excelsa
T. morrissii
T. radiata
Wallichia densiflora
Wallichia disticha
Zombia antillarum

Eric
Orlando,FL z9b/10a

Anna
have been to Searles a couple of times . Prices sort of scared me off lol Fantastic collection though. I can understand why these are expensive they sure have a lot of time and care invested. But I'm a cheapskate lol
Have never grown any of the Cycads Will keep an eye out for them.
Eric Whoa !! Just wanted one interesting palm for the center lol I can see that a lot of these are going to be difficult to find so will make up a list. Thanks for the posts gary

On your budget 50.00 I would get a bottle at the depot.50.00. Keep the receipt if it croaks return within a year for a new one. Can't beat it.
Brian

Brian
The "jungles" of HD are always a fun place to look for palms . Have been getting in a lot of unusual ones for Christmas. I never particularly liked the Bottles. though one neighbor grows one in an oversized pot. Has the most exaggerated caudex I've ever seen. There are so many other families that form even more interesting caudexes imo
I found a white elephant palm at HD for under 25 bucks . If the tag can be believed .Looks suspiciously like a Coco thrinax to me lol. Another was "umbrella palm" To me that is a water plant not a palm at all. Have found only one reference to a palm called that Siphokentia beguinensis.
i thought it was an entire leaf one but turns into a feather as it ages. bummer thanks gary

A few weeks back HD was running a special on their 3gal palms. I got a majestic and a roebelenii $6 each. They are small but I still thought it was a great price. They key is to keep looking.

Gary, no one has given any mention to the Latania palms--most available would be the Blue Latania--Latania loddigesii. ALthough it likes full sun, it will handle dappled shade provided it does ge a good 4-6 hours of direct sun at some time of hte day. Most people cannot differentiate the difference between a blue latania and a silver bismarkia.

Also, you can "push" the growth of palms in our hot, rainy season. Even though "slow growing" in terms of Florida, you can provide ample moisture and regular granular slow-release fertilization to a palm March-November and get great growth that is noticeable.

You can do this with that (cheaper) Bottle Palm--buy the largest you can afford. Then from March-late OCtober, make sure it does get ample watering, and always remember to use a granular fertilizer applied March, June, August and late Sept. The heat and rainfall are what will make any palm increase the number of fronds and overall growth. Then, to ensure a nice bottle trunk on the bottle palm, be certain to create a pronounced dry season from Nov-early March. This dry period (only gets natural rainfall after it's established) will accentuate the water-storing bottle effect in the trunk.

Hi
The best of the bottle palms I've seen are growing in pots ,almost triples the size of the swelling. Personally I think it's rather gross lol.
I'm using slow release on the Joey palms and Licuala.Obics. It took 6 months to germinate another 6 to develop the first leaf. After 7 years i't still under two feet lol According to Fairchild around 25 years to maturity.
The Joe still has only four fronds but the last spear has finally started to show that fantastic shape along with much deeper pleats. I really don't care if it fully matures as it's obviously not a yard plant. So staying smaller helps a lot. Would like it to get around 10 feet during my lifetime lol
I think if i"d known the true definition of the word "slow" I wouldn't have tried these types. lol
I understand that there are some even slower than these!!!! gary