Roystonea borinquena in norcal 10a?

How marginal are these in 10a / Sunset 17? Worth trying?

From the info I have read the requirements are the same as Roystonea Regia. Currently I have 3 of the Cuban Royals (2 in ground and 1 in a container) that I have had for 2 1/2 years now. Two things that Royals thrive with is HEAT and lots of it, and Lots of WATER, almost impossible to over water. They are cold hardy down to about 28 F (at least the Regias are so quite possibly the Puerto Rican's are too) so as long as Frosts are minimal and very short duration they should survive. One thing they hate though is Dry Winds like the santa anas that we get here in the inland empire, it browns and tatters the leaves pretty good. The Good thing is though that the ones in the ground, once they get established put out Fronds at a pretty good rate so that the raggedy fronds will be replaced pretty quickly. So as long as you can provide those conditions where you live then they should be ok.

Just one question though is how big is the one that you plan on trying because smaller seedlings will have a much harder time surviving any frosts than those that have already put on or are about to trunk, at least thats from observations that I have read from others. As far as I'm concerned though in answer to your question, just about anything is worth trying once as long as the investment is not to great, even if others tell you it can't be done. You never know, years down the road you may end up with a beautiful palm that is the envy of all your neighbors. Just one note however is that these Palms get very big with thick trunks so remember that when deciding where you want plant it. My opinion is that these are one the most beautiful palms to have.

look at the photo of this plant in the plant files- it is growing in a 9b-10a zone and looks perfect outside of Fallbrook, California

Well, I have no idea what size actually, I haven't seen them for sale anywhere around here.

Would R. borinquena do better than R. regia here, or would they be pretty similar?

Palmbob I saw that photo.. It looks really good. That's what made me ask about it actually. Are you sure that plant is only 8 years old? It looks really huge.

According to the grower (Jerry Andersen). pretty amazing!! I know it's not much older than that as I visited the place 5 years earlier and it was a seedling then (just starting to form a trunk)- may have spent the first 3 years in a greenhouse, though.

My "Palms for Southern California" Guide rates the R. Borinquena as cold hardy to 30 degrees, and the R. Regia to 27. Those are 3 big degrees in Zone 10a. I have a Regia (Cuban Royal) I got at Home Depot 2 years ago, and it's doing great in 10a. They like full sun, and would prefer a little wind protection.

This message was edited Jul 22, 2006 11:42 AM

To make up for being a wet blanket, here is a photo of the first Royal I ever noticed, Taken in Sayulita, Mexico 5 years ago.

These two were growing just up the dirt road a bit. Not sure what kind of Roystonea they are, but probably not Regia.

THose are too young for me to tell what they could be... too young for me to say they are or are not R regia. To me, and I am quite familiar with a lot of palms, Roystoneas ALL look alike except R oleracea... but as seedlings, even that one looks the same. I couldn't tell R regia from borinquinea, from princeps from altissima from violacea. Only differences tend to be floral in those species. But R oleracea looks quite different as an adult, with all its leaves well above the crownshaft, almost non-plumose look, and leaflets a lot wider, too. It is a much more elegant palm than the others, but doesn't tend to do well in So Cal, at least not in most areas.

Palmbob, I was looking at the plant files of the roystonea borinquinea and saw the picture of the schizolobium. They seem to be a nice complement to a palm garden and really add to that tropical look. I know they can get quite tall but do you know how large the trunk gets, and if the or not the root systems are destructive to sidewalks and driveways or other fixtures?

Not sure about the roots, but don't think they are known for root damage. The trunk gets about 1' in diameter (that's the largest I have seen in the US... saw one about 1.5' in diameter in Thailand- was a huge, branching tree, though, about 60' tall), but that's pretty extreme. I think maybe half that diameter in many cases is normal. They are a fast and highly tropical looking plant, but a bit cold sensitive (had no luck with these in Thousand Oaks where gets down in mid 20s regularly).. and don't like clay soils much. Pretty fast 'tree' though.

Here are some Royals I photographed in Bangalore, India.. Not sure what species though. This was before I was really interested in Palms, hence the focus on the government building :)

Could be regia, borinquinea etc... all those species look alike to me. But that's not oleracea.

Is "Palms for Southern California" Guide a book or some kind of web source?

osideterry, your climate is actually remarkably similar to ours (although ours is a few degrees colder in the winter and a few degrees warmer in the summer, on average). I will definitely try growing a Roystonea if I can find it anywhere locally (I haven't seen them at any of the local home stores or nurseries..)

"Palms For Southern California" is a no frills publication put out by The Southern California Palm Society for $10. Here is a link: http://www.palmssc.org/ Just click on "books". That said, the illustrations are very well done (no photos) and the information as it applies to where I live is excellent. Most palm resources come from Florida, which is radically different. My guess is Greece's climate has more in common with Southern California than Florida, and this book would some help.

This message was edited Jul 24, 2006 8:57 PM

FYI: I wrote and illustrated that booklet.

Thanks osideterry. My climate is almost identical to South California's (and has absolutely nothing to do with Florida), that's why I'm interested about this very publication. If palmbob is the author, it seems like a good candidate for my library.

By the way palmbob, is there any other book(s) on palms that you would recommend?

Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms by Craft and Riffle is the best there is. But also there is a good book of photos in the Betrock series (Ellison book called Cultivated Palms of the World). There are plenty of good books on certain areas of the world (Madagascar, Americas, Thailand, New Caledonia etc.).

I have the book by Craft and Riffle and it's indeed great. But I tried to buy the "Palms For Southern California" and it seems that The Southern California Palm Society doesn't ship products to my country (they say "USA only"). Is there any other source that I should try?

The IPS bookstore also sells that book and ships all ove the world.

Palmbob, International Palm Society (I assume that this is what IPS stands for) does not have this book in its bookstore.

Did you ask Tim Cooke? The 'manager' of this 'store'? IF not, you might call him and ask him how you can get a hold of a copy of this book. Not sure why the So Cal society won't send this booklet overseas... cost is only double what it normally would be locally. Hmmm. When I was manager of the IPS bookstore, I sent probably hundreds of copies of the booklet overseas (previous and less accurate edition, though).

I didn't ask anybody, I just checked their website and they don't include the book in their bookstore. Maybe I'll send them an email asking for more info.
Thanks palmbob.

Basilio:

This book is indeed available thru the IPS Bookstore and we ship anywhere in the world. The cost of the publication is $10.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling to Greece. We except Visa and Mastercard. Unfortunately the weblisting that you refered to is maintained by the Palm Society of Southern California and unfortunately hasn't been updated for more than a year. Within the next few weeks we will have a listing thru the International Palm Society website Please check out that website in a few weeks. All ordering instructions should be posted there then.

Tim Cooke
IPS Books

Reading the original question I say go for it. I get tired of hearing people ask if they should try a palm that is half/1 zone out of their range. If you want that palm try it. I live in Minnesota and am growing palms after a vist to California. You are lucky to be living in Cali where a lot of palms grow.

Well the reason I asked is that I would rather not have something that is marginal or just getting by..