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Well, April 1 is a good day to take account of the impact of the ice, snow and cold that we had midwinter - particularly on the 8B palms. Here, I had 10F as my seasonal low.
I have 2 Med Palms and 2 Pindos. I protected each somewhat, but they all experienced damage, especially on the Emerging Spear. I applied Copper-Based Fungicide about a week ago & have since trimmed the dead parts of Emerging Spear. This is what they look like today:
NOT SURE THAT MY PHOTOS WERE UPLOADED PROPERLY!
Time will tell in the weeks ahead. Some of the existing fronds are “partially bronzed” and may need to be removed in the future. What do you think?
From what I can see I am optimistic that the palms will be okay. I am sure that you already know this, but I would not remove any fronds until they are completely brown and crispy. Any nutrients the palm can pull out of those fronds can only help. You applied the fungicide which is a great preventative. Please keep us updated on their progress. Scot from South Carolina Zone 8a Greenwood, S.C. Elevation 642 feet above sea level Straight from The Palmetto State!
Big Needle Palm, front yard (north-facing): - Tons of damage. Removed 3/4ths of all the fronds. Spears all green & growing.
Little Needle, back yard (south-facing): - Minimal damage. Removed no more than 10% of the fronds. Palm looks great.
Sabal Minor 'Hatteras': - Severe, extreme damage. All fronds killed. Spear looks in good shape. This will be a critical growing season for this palm. Probably can't take a repeat this coming winter.
Sabal Minor 'McCurtain': - Removed one frond. Palm is in excellent shape. It is planted about 5 or 6 feet from the Hatteras that was devastated.
Sabal Minor, front yard (was a 'volunteer'/not sure of its pedigree): - Removed one frond. This palm is in even better shape than the McCurtain. It is even sending up a flower stalk! Never had a Sabal send up a flower stalk this early in the year.
Trachycarpus 'Nainital': - Removed half the fronds. Spears in great shape and growing.
Sabal 'Birmingham': - Removed a third of the fronds. Not sure about the spear, but am optimistic.
Sabal Palmetto: - Nearly as damaged as the Hatteras Minor. Spear seems okay.
All yuccas (Filamentosa, Recurvifolia, & Rostrata) look great. No cold issues.
Ficus Carica, just some stem tips that didn't make it. In active growth now.
Winter Minima: 5F
The 5 degrees isn't the whole story. We had two big, whopper snowstorms. We had REPEATED nights in single digits. We had wind events. Very few breaks in the cold. Far fewer respites from the cold than most winters. Even with all of this, I was kind of shocked how bad the damage was - especially to the 'Hatteras' Minor. I've only seen that palm lit up this bad when the winter low was 1F and 2F.
On the good side, no fatalities.Jim, Wilmington, DE, 7a Last 30 Years Avg. Winter Low: 7.50F Last 20 Years Avg. Winter Low: 8.35F Last 10 Years Avg. Winter Low: 8.40F Favorite Palms: Species: Phoenix Canariensis / Genus: Sabal
on 4/1/2026, 12:58 pm
