Washingtonia filifera at Lake Travis
This past winter taught all of us palm growers in central Texas a lesson. The Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta) is cold hardy reliably only to the upper teens Fahrenheit. We experienced 15ºF in many part of town, with some areas even colder. The result was many 20 to 30 foot "totem poles" all over the area. Lifeless specimens of W. robusta adorned the landscape in many a yard. I've got one myself. I guess all of us palm growers always knew this to be a possibility, but with a long stream of warm winters starting way back in the 1990's, we began to think this was zone 9. Until the past two winters, my average lowest low at my house was 21ºF, which is a zone 9 temperature. The past two winters changed all that with lows between 12ºF and 15ºF. This is where you begin to think of alternatives...
There is a tougher, more cold hardy relative of good old W. robusta, known as the California Fan Palm, California Cotton Palm or Desert Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera). This palm is native to the southwest deserts in parts of southeast CA, southwest AZ and a bit of Sonora, Mexico. This palm has grayish-green leaves and relatively fat trunk. It grows a bit slower than W. robusta, but is tough as nails. This palm will tolerate the punishment of days on end of single digit temperatures. This happened in 1983 and 1989 in TX, and most all the W. filifera palms survived both those freezes. The Mexican Fan Palms (W. robusta) were all fried and ready for the chainsaw. There are big specimens of W. filifera all over the southern half of Texas, easily seen on the streets of Galveston, San Antonio and Austin. There are even a few of these doing well in Dallas. After this year's freezes, I noticed all the still-green W. filifera trees all over Austin and surrounding communities this spring, and wondering why I didn't plant one of those instead. I guess it could be that the big box stores usually only carry the W. robusta for sale. I have since collected seeds for W. filifera, and I've got several of these little guys growing in pots ready to be planted out.
There is a tougher, more cold hardy relative of good old W. robusta, known as the California Fan Palm, California Cotton Palm or Desert Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera). This palm is native to the southwest deserts in parts of southeast CA, southwest AZ and a bit of Sonora, Mexico. This palm has grayish-green leaves and relatively fat trunk. It grows a bit slower than W. robusta, but is tough as nails. This palm will tolerate the punishment of days on end of single digit temperatures. This happened in 1983 and 1989 in TX, and most all the W. filifera palms survived both those freezes. The Mexican Fan Palms (W. robusta) were all fried and ready for the chainsaw. There are big specimens of W. filifera all over the southern half of Texas, easily seen on the streets of Galveston, San Antonio and Austin. There are even a few of these doing well in Dallas. After this year's freezes, I noticed all the still-green W. filifera trees all over Austin and surrounding communities this spring, and wondering why I didn't plant one of those instead. I guess it could be that the big box stores usually only carry the W. robusta for sale. I have since collected seeds for W. filifera, and I've got several of these little guys growing in pots ready to be planted out.
Full-sized adult Washingtonia filifera in Austin, TX
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