Just a quick comment, I had the Pindos wrapped in a little bit of burlap and I just put leaves in with the European Fan Palm.

Wow, thanks for the update! Those pindo palms surprised me! I thought those would be the most cold damaged!

That needle palm looks real good, too!

You should try a Sabal or two, Virginina. I know Sabal minor has a really slow reputation but try Sabal lousiana (faster than a minor and only slightly less cold hardy than the minor). Surprised that the European suffered that much! (I suspect they show big hardiness differences among different individual plants). Butias resent cold moisture (so I've read), so if you can keep the ice/water out, all the better. My favorite cold hardy is still the Windmill (Trachycarpus). Mine did suffer last two Winters, but in a "normal" zone 7ish Winter, they don't mind snow or ice as other palms. Mine so far look great at least. Needles? I don't know, they seem mighty slow to become established even with HOT summers.

subtropix,

I will actually be planting a Sabal Palmetto this spring, but I will put mulch or pine needles around the base of it and I will be protecting it the first 2 winters. But the thing about this snow storm is it was MASSIVE! We have never had one this big before, or at least not near us! I will most likely post about the Sabal Palmetto when I plant it and continue posting throughout the winter. One of the mistakes I made when planting these palms I made was that I did not put any mulch or pine needles around the base to protect the roots and I did not water then enough for the first month when I planted them. So they did not get their full strength before the winter, But I am surprised how well they did! (I should have really protected the European Fan Palm a lot better! It is not the best choice for zone 7a!)

Those plants look good, but I still think you should plant some trachycarpus palms. I think those would do pretty well and add some variety!

Something I was thinking about recently: isn't it funny how basically all cold hardy palms have a palmate leaf design? And all fan leaf palms lack a crownshaft!

Anyways, good luck with your palms!!

~palmsandsnow

I have a containerized Sabal palmetto. I very disappointed in its SLOW growth. I don't get it. I have lot of Sabals..., S. Louisianna, S. bermudana, S. causiarum (Puerto Rican Sabal), and S. mexicana. The slowest is the palmetto. The depth of the snow is really not such a big issue for the cold hardy species..., better snow in a relatively mild Winter than arctic cold with no snow cover. But excessive moisture can be an issue combined with arctic cold. I just cleared my driveway blacktop from the 25-26 inches here too. Melting fast now.

suptropix,

Do you keep all the sabals protected?

palmsandsnow,

I want to get a trachycarpus some time too. (This spring I will be planting a variety of cold hardy palms.) and yeah a cold hardy palm with a crownshaft would be sweet!

Sabal minor and S. Louisiana are not protected. But this winter has been so mild, the bermudana and maybe the Puerto Rican Sabal would have been fine.

@subtropix Ok, when I get a sabal palmetto I will leave it unprotected unless there will be a bad cold snap or something of that sort. I will be planting it in between the side of my deck and house, so it should be warmer. Like I said I will also be laying mulch or pine needles around the bottom of the palm to protect the roots from freezes. But I will see how it does, I'll be kind of experimenting with it. I will be ordering it soon.