Palms of Macon

These days, when people think about the trees that grow in Macon, Georgia, they usually think of the Cherry Blossom Trees we Maconites celebrate yearly, but they seldom consider Macon's palms. Macon is definitely not known for being a "palmy" city. Of course, the cherry blossoms (Prunus x Yedoensis) were imported from Japan, and they have been widely propagated in Macon. So too were Camellias, for that matter, but did you know that there are two species of palm that are actually native to Middle Georgia (Sabal minor and Rhapidophyllum hystrix)? Furthermore, at least two species of palm are naturalized in Macon, and at least two more are commonly grown here and have proven to be cold-hardy here.

Being surprised to learn all of this, myself, I have been putting together a photodirectory of Macon's palm trees. I thought I should share it with those of you who might be interested. You can visit my "Palms of Macon" site here:

http://www.vandea.com/garden/palmsofmacon.html

Enjoy!

This message was edited Oct 17, 2006 9:05 PM

This message was edited Oct 17, 2006 9:06 PM

Thank-you. These are wonderful photographs!
We noticed, that when we drove to the Macon area recently, more and more gardeners were planting palms, both native and not. The house next to the one my FIL just built (in Byron) is owned by a man who is clearly a wonderful gardener. He had his own little palm and tropical style oasis going. Pretty much on that street, everyone else just grew giant grass. His garden really stood out! Won't he be so pleased when his trees look as majestic as the palms you pictured above!

GGG

Ick! Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana)! It's cheap and it's big. You get a lot of bang for your buck, and that's why people plant it, but it's an invasive, noxious weed, and should never be planted (imho). Besides, it makes a great nest for rats and snakes. Who knows what's living in there?

I agree that your FIL's neighbor will be much better off in the long run. I should add, as you have noted, that palms are really taking off south of Macon in Houston and Peach Counties. There's an Ace Hardware in Bonaire (Houston County) that sells lots of nice, cold-hardy varieties. Their selection, in fact, is better than one can find at any nursery in Macon, proper.

Thanks for the reply, GGG. Glad you liked the pictures. :)

Wow, those are great pictures! Some of those places are still familiar to me. I lived there from '92 to '97. When I first moved to Macon, I lived near Edna Place and Napier Avenue.
Thanks for sharing. I can believe anything will grow here in Ga. It's the middle of October and 80 outside!!
Next time I come through I will pay more attention to landscape and stop in Nuway for lunch!

Susan

I have 4 kinds of palm myself
Along with bamboo, cyperus papyrus, a white bird of paradise, and a satsuma orange tree all growing outside. I just planted the white bird this summer but all else did pretty well last winter and should do well this winter.

Hey, Alan. Great job! I enjoyed your photographs of Macon palms. I'm a fellow Maconite and a garden-o-holic. I'm also a landscape architect here in Macon. Thanks. I enjoyed. Rob

Alan,
Outstanding photos and directory! I live in Forsyth ( Monroe Co. ) and never dreamed we had so many variaties of palms hardy in our area. Phil W.

I have a question back to you alan... Are there any native bamboo species to georgia? I'm curious.

And has anyone ever heard of the ogeechee lime tree that is supposed to be hardy here?

Thanks for the pictures. My "used to be" neighbor planted a palm about 8 years ago. I was skeptical since I grew up in Florida and didn't think palms would grow here. The "new" neighbor dug out all the azaleas and put that yucky pampas grass,,,,,,
Elaine (Lizella)

Hello, all. Thanks for all the kind comments about my palm pages. I'm glad you enjoyed them.

mcorps1983: To be honest, I am not very knowledgeable about bamboo. I know there's at least one species that is naturalized in this area (I've seen it in my various jaunts through the swamps), but I couldn't say which one or ones might be truly native. Sorry.