We have just return from Phoenix and saw these plants all over down there, upon my return I find them in a garden centre. Will they survive planted in the ground in the CHilliwack area, or do I have to keep it in a pot sheltered in the winter? Cheers Marjorie
While a few people have had success growing them outdoors in sheltered locations, for the most part it is safest to bring them indoors over winter. There is a Youtube video about one growing in Cloverdale, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RNY_GvUWXI, but you will notice it is right next to the house, under the eaves, in a sunny location. Although sago palms (Cycas revoluta) are quite cold hardy, it is the copious rain on our Wet Coast that eventually does them in.
Yes, I've tried it, and it wasn't happy no matter where I put it - full sun, good drainage burnt it. Shadier and moister made it sulk. It survived the first winter I put it out, which had a minimum of -7c, but it just looked miserable. So I tossed it. Too prickly anyway for something that won't grow. I think Sunset Cycads is right - our cool, wet weather lasts too long, where in other zone 7-8s, the spring warms and dries up faster.
That's a cycad, not a palm. True that some unhelpful characters in the nursery trade tell lies and call it a palm, but that's not something that sould be encouraged or tolerated.
People do the same with Cordyline australis, when of course it isn't a palm. I guess some things look like palms, so that's what they call them.
