Dwarf Royal Palm

[nitsua0895]

My Phoenix roebelinii has survived two winters in zone 8b with the use of a greenhouse and I want to try the same with a Royal palm. The only problem is a regular Roystonea would reach heights where it would be insane to try and protect.

Is there any type of Roystonea species that has a short enough height to protect from the cold when mature? Or maybe a way to grow them where they stay in the 10-15ft range? 

[Jdiaz31089]

I don't think any of the roystoneas stay small. If they're anything like syagrus, they reach 15 feet really quickly, even before forming a trunk.

[DoomsDave]

3 hours ago, nitsua0895 said:

My Phoenix roebelinii has survived two winters in zone 8b with the use of a greenhouse and I want to try the same with a Royal palm. The only problem is a regular Roystonea would reach heights where it would be insane to try and protect.

Is there any type of Roystonea species that has a short enough height to protect from the cold when mature? Or maybe a way to grow them where they stay in the 10-15ft range? 

NO.

[ThePalmNovice]

I don't think royal palms will be able to fit in a greenhouse. Certainly not in the long run as they are fast growers. You could try Adonidia merrillii as a possible alternative however. Their not related to Roystonea in any way, but they look just like a pocket sized version of them when grown up. Adonidia's are very tender to the cold (Zone 10), but with their small size they should be easy to protect. They are common and cheap enough that it won't be too much of a loss if you loose one as well. 

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Adonidia_merrillii

[DavidLee]

I believe a a lot of different roystoneas within their own species grow shorter than others.   Just like people they all are not the same.   Here  is an example of one in the photo. It is a Roystonea maisiana at at Fairchild that is very short compared to other R. maisiana in a group. I think it is genetics. A dwarfed royal palm. You find this palm in other articles in palm talk too.

[DavidLee]

Here is a photo of a not so happy Roystonea lenis at Fairchilds in Miami. It is really dwarfed. Based on Dr Zona's findings of this species they are robust grower in their habitat in Eastern Cuba. I believe this one came from seed he brought back from eastern Cuba in the 90s. I believe the R. maisiana is something he brought to fairchilds too.

Edited March 18, 2017 by DavidLee

[DavidLee]

Why not try smaller palms. Maybe a Copernicia rigida or a Hemithrinax. That would impress most members. Maybe you can grow Royals as annuals or have them grow for five years with your greenhouse. Start new palms every year to replace the palms that get too big for the greenhouse.

[nitsua0895]

7 hours ago, DavidLee said:

Why not try smaller palms. Maybe a Copernicia rigida or a Hemithrinax. That would impress most members. Maybe you can grow Royals as annuals or have them grow for five years with your greenhouse. Start new palms every year to replace the palms that get too big for the greenhouse.

I'm probably just going to keep my Royals in large pots since they'll grow too large for protection very fast with our long and hot summers. Keeping them as annuals would work but I'd hate to have one die every winter.

I might actually try a Hemithrinax or Coccothrinax crinita since they grow so slowly. And I've had really good success with different Chamaedorea species planted under canopy. We had a low of 20F for two nights in January and a C. Cataractarum that I wrapped in Christmas lights and blankets only sustained minor burn on the tips of the fronds. 

[DavidLee]

I think you can protect a Royal palm for about 4 years in your Green House from seed. Maybe even longer if you find  one that stays short longer. A while back I had about 20 R. borinquena plants that I started from seed. Some of them were less robust far as their height and trunked much slower. They still had a beautiful appearance. The R. maisiana in the photo is over 20 years old. That is about as dwarf as you can get with a really nice crown. Something like that would be a good candidate for your project. I have four seedlings from this tree. Out of the four, one is staying short.

Cat palms are a beautiful palm. The bad thing about them they don't like cold dry air and dry soil.  My aunt has one that gets beat up every winter even when it does not freeze. The good things about them is they are a suckering palm and they  can come back by roots if frozen back. Same thing with other Chamaedorea species. I think at your location even under canopy your cat palm will get frozen back maybe even kill the roots by a bad winter.