In The Garden: What type of palm is this.

I have a palm tree that didn't make it through our last winter. The top of it is dead, but new shoots are coming out near the bottom. I am trying to find out what I can do to save what is left of this tree.

Thanks View attachment 65518

 

Looks like a Yucca to me...

 

Cordyline australis. Very common. Sold as annual bedding plant in small pot as well as a larger specimen. May be seen offered under made-up combinations (Dracaena 'Spikes') and synonyms (Dracaena indivisa). Not hardy enough to keep intact top through winters like the last one. Hardy enough to grow back from the crown (point where roots and stems meet) after repeated episodes of the top dying.

Cut the frosted top off above the crown.

 

Thanks for the reply. So, do you think I should just top the tree and not cut it down to the new growth?

 

Not even completely hardy here, it would not live through one winter there. But people may be using it as an annual, a use for which it is sold here. Top of specimen shown has been frozen during the winter and collapsed, it is not the normal appearance.

Cut it off just above the new growth, which usually comes from the crown.

 

This tree has been in our yard for over 17 yrs. This is the first time we have ever had a problem with it. Ron, isn't the crown at the top? The reason I ask is there is no new growth there its all at the bottom (3rd picture). I really do appreciate all your input. We also have what I think is a windmill palm and it also has been here for 17yrs. Guess we were lucky until this last winter.

 

Note my above description of the crown as the point where the stems and roots meet. It's usual when these get zapped for the whole top to go, be replaced by new tops from ground level. A single-trunked one that had grown above my head appears to have been killed completely in my garden north of Seattle.

The last time it was like this was in 1990. Plants installed since then have not been exposed to the same level of cold - until this past winter.

As these plants in particular are only hardy to something like 15-20 degrees F. another recent winter did take out many of the purple cordylines here while leaving green ones in the vicinity (the same planting, in one instance near me) alive. So, unless these were all a specific, more tender cultivar apparently the purple pigment being visible is a mark of additional vulnerability. Purple individuals occur abundantly in seed batches. These may sometimes be separated out by growers and offered as a different item.