Let ’s try an experimentation : if I say , “ Florida , ” what tree diagram springs to your mind ? A palm tree diagram , of course ! Maybe a tall upright tree with foresighted fronds or one with an arching trunk and fan - shape fronds … But it ’s a ribbon tree diagram .
And this mental picture we have of Florida can inspire many a garden . But if you wish your Florida landscape painting project to look original , you will need to choose a laurel wreath tree that you could also find out in Florida !
There are 12 palm tree diagram species that are aboriginal to Florida . However , thanks to its warm and soft mood , the “ Sunshine State ” is fill with dissimilar types of palm trees of all pattern and size from many parts of the macrocosm . By “ Florida ribbon tree diagram , ” we mean a variety which is distinctive of this Southern US state , the Gulf of Mexico – not necessarily a native one .
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You are about to take a sunbathed and visual journeying among the most beautiful palm tree mintage you could find in Florida . This way , you , too , can recreate that “ Florida spirit ” in your garden at the end of this article .
But before identifying and choose Florida ’s most pop type of palms , let ’s sympathize the deep link between Florida , its inhabitants , its clime , and thenar .
Florida and Palms
Why does Florida have so many palm trees ? There are at least two reasons , one natural and one cultural . Florida has the perfect subtropical climate that many laurel wreath trees wish . It is warm and mild .
It is near the ocean , so temperature do n’t get sudden shift . It is also well ventilated , and many medallion trees like it . It is also very sunny , and we know that palm tree tree love the Sun !
For this reason , Florida is home to many aboriginal mintage . Some are menage names too , like cabbage palm , royal palm tree and midget palmetto . But then there is also another reasonableness , which has “ import ” new laurel wreath coinage to Florida …
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Florida has built its mental image around the “ summertime raging climate ” with “ exotic elements , trees and animate being ” . So along with alligators , you do n’t await a fir , do you ? There is a cultural identity that sees palms as typical of Florida …
And when gardens are designed , local palms and palms from other places are introduced .. And so many new , “ foreign ” palm have cropped up along the landscape in Florida .
Shall we hold out the climate of Florida and where you live and equate them ? It ’s very authoritative form palm develop .
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USDA Zones, Palm Trees and Florida
To farm palms you need to be very careful about the climate you inhabit in and the USDA hardiness zone . Every area is divided into what is call off a “ hardiness zone ” .
This is basically say you the temperatures that your climate gets . These are scream USDA hardiness zones and you could literally check which zona you are in online .
These zone go from 1a , which is the frigid , to 12b , which is the hot . But only Puerto Rico reaches zone 12 b and only Alaska goes below zone 2b … But you wo n’t even mean about growing palms in Alaska … Most of the USA is contained within zone 3 ( which is reasonably cold ) and zona 9 ( which is pretty hot ) .
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Florida is contained between zones 8 and 10 with the small domain of Florida Keys in zone 11 . Hawaii , California , Arizona and Texas have similar USDA zone . What you postulate to do is to make certain that the palm you take lives in the USDA geographical zone you have in your arena .
Few palm really go under zone 8 or 7 , some get to zone 6 . But this will cover most of the USA , shut just the northern states . Florida palm may not bloom and fruit there , but they will still survive quite merrily .
However , many gardeners have found a way around this : you may grow your Florida palms in containers and shelter them during the inhuman months . Of corse not all Florida palms are suitable for this , and in fact we will tell you which you could grow in containers in the clause .
Now you screw why laurel wreath trees love Florida and Floridians roll in the hay medal tree , but what ’s a palm tree ?
Palm Trees in Florida and Beyond
Whether you populate in Florida or not , a palm tree technically is any Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree belong to the familyArecaceae . However , in common idiom , we also bring cycad to this radical , sometimes called cycad palms . These are ancestral plant that scientifically are very different from palms , but they attend like palm .
For example , cycad are gymnosperms , like conifer . This means that their cum are “ nude ” , not enclosed . These are not flowering plants ! genuine palms of theArecaceaefamily are flowering plant , which are flower plants .
You will understand how the distinction between flowering and non flowering is vast for a plant scientist . But in garden centers you will often find cycad and tangible laurel wreath next to each other .
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The inclination we have pick out has some aboriginal cycads too . We chose the gardening definition of palm , of course . What is more , we only chose non native palms that add up from nearby areas that have permanently go to Florida with one exception : crimson waterproofing wax laurel wreath . This is an extraordinary variety which will really tally some spicery to your garden .
But what ’s so exceptional about palm trees ?
The Look of Palm Trees
Palm tree have some unequalled features that jell them aside from all other tree . allow ’s see …
Palm tree have no subdivision . This is arguably the most dramatic dispute . They have individual automobile trunk and at the top they have leave . In fact , the parting of palm trees , usually call “ fronds ” grow straight from the top of the trunk .
These frond or leaves can have two essence human body . Pinnate leaves have a central rib and many leaflets on each side ; these are long leaves . Palmate leaves instead have all the leaflets starting from the same point at the end of the leafstalk and radiate , often forge a buff physique .
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laurel wreath trees and cycads are evergreens . This mean that they harbor onto the leaves also in wintertime . When the leaves conk out , very often the remain dried part forms a cover on the exterior of the palm , like a wintertime coat . Sometimes not all of it , only the top . Other mintage have the whole trunk covered in dried leaves . In some case , these spring very decorative patterns .
Cycads and palms have some gravid differences . cycad can have branch , for example , while palms do n’t . On the other handwriting , palms have prime and fruits , while cycads are more like pine tree trees … They have no flowers and they produce seed without any fruiting soundbox .
Identifying Palm Trees
Themain identification elementsfor palm trees are the leaf or frond shape and size and the shape , size of it and look of the trunk .
They also produce flower and fruit . But this may bet on the climate . For example you may grow a coconut or appointment palm tree without ever seeing a unmarried coconut or palm in your animation . This can be a matter of half a degree to cold a clime or even less .
So we do n’t use flowers and fruits in identification . But in some casing these are so illustrious that we mention them anyway .
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Fine , you live how to “ palm spot ” now , but how about growing palms ? Are there any crown I can give you ?
Growing Palms: Do’s and Don’ts
Palms are usually low care and quite gentle to grow . The chief affair is getting the climate temperature right : decoration are not inhuman intrepid so be particular about the USDA zone .
obscure form that , palm want very well drain land , but most mintage are adaptable to most character of soil , admit miserable soil .
One thing though … never prune a palm tree . You ca n’t keep them short if they are grandiloquent ; cutting a palm mean kill it . Do n’t even bother with dry leaves ! The tree will do everything itself . It will drop down them when they are ready to and keep the part it need to keep for protective covering .
lastly permit ’s dispel a myth : not every thenar like full Sun ! Some tolerate and like partial shade and some even like full shade !
15 Stunning Florida Palm Tree Varieties To Elevate Your Landscape
And now that we have gone through all these important fact and tips , it ’s meter to set sail to Florida and see which beautiful decoration trees we can find there ! For your Florida - exhort garden or terrace , here are the best aboriginal and non - aboriginal palm tree trees types that rise well in the sunshine body politic :
1.Scrub Palmetto (Sabal etonia)
Scrub palmetto is a lovely minor variety of palm you could find native in Florida and it has very special fronds . These are palm-shaped and attach to a prospicient and vertical leafstalk . The leaflets are pointed and blade like , light unripe in color .
But if you really want to recognize it , bet at the overall anatomy of the frond ! Most palmate decoration form buff that are roughly semicircles … Scrub palmetto form and almost utter magnetic disc rather !
Scrub palmetto is very architectural and cosmetic palm you may utilize as a specimen or in groups . It adapts well to both courtly and informal garden designs .
2.Silver Date Palm (Phoenix sylvestris)
Silver date medallion , a.k.a . sylvester palm is a mass medium to large sized thenar tree with a magnanimous crown , excellent to crate tad . The top has farseeing and arching pinnate fronds . These are very wooden-headed and they acquire on top of a layer of keep up dry ones .
The proboscis looks scaly and it ’s fairly thick . On the whole it has a sympathetic and well proportioned looking at , not a spindly one like many medal do .
Silver date palm tree is a grand creation planting tree diagram but also dandy as specimen at the death of a lawn , just before your porch or by a swim pond .
3.Florida Keys Thatch Palm (Leucothrinax morrisii)
Florida Keys thatch laurel wreath is a native tree diagram of that area of Florida and the Bahamas . You might have guessed from the name … It can be unforesightful or grandiloquent , depending in growing condition .
The frond are palmate and almost circular in overall shape , or pump regulate . They form a round pate on top of the thin and passably fluent torso , with some pointing up and some arch down .
Florida keys thatch palm is an elegant tree I would see well growing as a specimen or in spaced clumps by lawns and as a poolside works .
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4.Florida Silver Palm (Coccothrinax argentata)
Florida silver decoration is a Hellenic marvellous and slender thenar tree , like those we see in postal card . The trunk is smooth and just , very improbable and capped by a round summit of frond which looks minor in comparability .
The fronds are palmate and silver blue in color . This cause it prosperous to identify this species of Florida palms .
Florida silver grey palm is a classical looking tree which is big as foundation planting . It also looks good mixed in with other trees , but ensure that they are n’t taller than your ribbon – actually it ’s in effect if they are just under its crown !
5.Paurotis Palm (Acoelorrhaphe wrightii)
Paurotis medal is another classical looking Florida ribbon . It has lustrous green palm-shaped fronds that spring up on long and straight leafstalk . These look upright at the top , but they point out and even down lower down the treetop . The tree trunk front fibrous , a bit like coconut meat coir in appearing and it ’s light grown grayness in people of colour .
Paurotis palm is elegant and sylphlike , with a very upright habit . The frond form a lovely texture , which will calculate great in an alien garden .
6.Florida Cherry Palm (Pseudophoenix sargentii)
Florida cherry palm is also call buccaneer palm , and it really suits the “ plagiarizer island ” look ! It is a medium sized tree with refined retentive and pinnate fronds that curve and twist at the top of the tree .
The trunk is slender , light-headed brownness in color , upright and smooth . It will not resist cold temperatures , so be deliberate about the climate .
Florida cherry red laurel wreath is ideal for a tropic looking for garden . It will adjust as a poolside Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree or even in stately preferences , but in my purview a naturalistic pattern is best for this palm .
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7.Foxtail Palm (Wodyetia bifurcata)
What a beautiful variety of Florida palm is foxtail laurel wreath ! The body are fairly slender , almost white and taper towards the top . The fronds are brilliant green , pinnate and arch .
The fact is that the leaflets do n’t develop two-dimensional on the side of the central rachis … They develop at different angles , give the fronds a three dimensional tone . In fact , they seem like the tails of Fox .
Foxtail palm is highly sculptural and very elegant at the same clip . Everything about it makes it idealistic for most garden options . Just have a look at it and I am sure you will shine in love with it .
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8.Red Sealing Wax Palm (Cytrostachys renda)
Red sealing wax palm is an implication to Florida from Southeast Asia but I want you to see it … It has striking scarlet red petiole and stanch that make an impressive contrast with the bright emerald fronds ! It ’s a magnificent variety and a very strange one … The frond are pinnated and curve but with a rather flat backsheesh . It looks like they have been cut in fact …
Of course you will want red sealing wax medallion in a focal dry pint of your garden , and specially of you require to add push and even drama to your unripe haven .
9.Cabbage Palm (Sabal palmetto)
Cabbage palm is actually the official palm of Florida , the symbol tree diagram of this land … It has a very classical flavour with very good and fairly slender trunks . There are furrow horizontally , and they are jovial brownish in color .
On top of the trunks you will come up the globular crowns made of rooter shaped frond . The green 1 will be nested above the one-time , dry and brown ones , which the works preserves for quite a long time .
Cabbage medal is an iconic Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , very distinctive of Florida , so if you really want to design a garden inspire by this US state , you should really look at growing one !
10.Needle Palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix)
Native of Florida , needle palm has made its way into gardens all over the world . It is a small , midget miscellanea with lovely and sonant looking fronds . These are palmate , very regular in shape , with matter and long aristocratical leaflets that curve every elegantly .
They are deeply green in colour . The automobile trunk is small and almost completely shroud by the foliation . In the end , though it is a tree diagram , it looks like an exotic bush .
Needle laurel wreath is ideal for a tropical looking garden , as backdrop or in clumps . And you are in luck ! This palm is both cold-blooded hardy and it even grows in full nuance !
11.Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor)
Dwarf palmetto is another belittled palm tree native of Florida . It has thin and longsighted petioles that hold fan mold dark-green frond . These look flimsy , brittle and elegant at the same sentence . Some will level almost upward , while others will arch to the sides . The overall look is light-headed and airy , rather than duncical and dense .
Dwarf palmetto is ideal if you have a fairly humid garden or terrace . Unlike other palms , it like damp and shaded position . You see , there is a solution to all problems !
12.Florida Royal Palm (Roystonea regia)
Meet Her Majesty the Queen of Florida , aptly constitute Florida royal palm . Maybe the name total from the monolithic size of the fronds , that can be 13 foot farsighted ( almost 4 meters ) ! This makes the palm worthy of a royal park and in any case gives it an impressive appearance . The emerald fleeceable foliage forms a middling globose diadem on top of very marvellous and unbowed .
The automobile trunk is greyish and smooth with stripes . At the top though , it has a very classifiable green part where the fronds are attach .
Florida royal palm is an enforce tree … It will look dandy in pretty tumid garden . It can suit the tropic look but also the dry one . It can be grown in conventional garden as well , though it will be perfectly at soft in informal designing too .
13.Dominican Cherry Palm (Pseudophoenix ekamanii)
Dominican cherry palm is not actually aboriginal of Florida , but of the nearby Dominican Republic . So it has not had to jaunt much to pass on the coast of Miami . But in horticulture terms is is very decorative .
It has bug out “ Daucus carota sativa shaped ” trunks with dismal and light horizontal zebra stripes . At the top , the fronds are few and pinnate , shiny green in color , glossy and with a lovely okay grain .
It is idealistic for exotic garden , and in special if you want a rarified species . In fact , you’re able to add Dominican cerise palm to your collection as a “ prized plant ” and you will be contributing to its preservation . Yes , because unfortunately it is critically endangered .
14.Saw Palmetto (Serenoa Repens)
Saw palmetto is aboriginal of Florida and quite decorative and original . You will tell apart it because the brilliant green palmate fronds have a exceptional feature …
The leaflets are partly joint , to about half their length ; then , the tips set off , giving it a “ palm-shaped foot or hired man ” coming into court , like a duck … It ’s a little and adaptable cycad , so it also is multi trunked .
It forms big clumps that really give you the approximation of “ tropical ” and “ Caribbean ” , lush and green … It is also suited to shady maculation , so perfect as underwood .
15.Queen Palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana)
Shall we close our list of Florida palms with royalty ? Queen palm too has aristocratic claims thanks to its impressive elegance . The fronds are long , arc and with bending folder . Each frond can have hundreds of these leaflet , up to 494 ! This creates a fine and delicate texture .
The trunk is upright and light colored . It is quiet up to a dry pint , then you have intersect triangular remains of dead and drop off leaf that look like – imagine what ? The jacket crown of a queen of course of study !
Queen laurel wreath is unadulterated for smart and elegant gardens , including modern ones , public parks and even minimalist designs .
The Special Look of Florida Palms
Palms have many more looking at and personality than people recall . Some are more “ desert haven looking ” , like date palms , others , like coconut thenar scream out “ atoll in the Pacific Ocean ! ”
Florida palms or else desegregate the sultry and moist exotic with the sunny and beachside looking at . There are 12 aboriginal species of palm trees in Florida , and a few that have made Florida a “ abode forth from home ” .
As promised , you now know which thenar to choose if you want your garden to have that “ Florida smell ” .
Written By
Amber Noyes was born and provoke in a suburban California town , San Mateo . She agree a master ’s degree in gardening from the University of California as well as a BS in Biology from the University of San Francisco . With experience working on an organic farm , water preservation research , sodbuster ’ marketplace , and plant nursery , she understand what makes plants thrive and how we can better empathise the connectedness between microclimate and flora health . When she ’s not on the land , Amber loves inform people of new idea / things come to to horticulture , especially constitutional gardening , houseplant , and growing plants in a small space .
