Wodyetia/Fox Tail Palm - is it dead?

Hi All,
We have a large 12' Foxtail Palm in our front yard and wanted advice on it's health. It was planted back in 2010, and has done great every winter, up until this last winter which was rough. We are in the Tampa Bay area. We had temps in the mid to high 20's this winter, and haven't seen our Foxtail look this sickly since we've had it. We do not see a visible spear, however the middle is still lush green...with the ends still frayed from the winter. There is still quite a few dead palms at the bottom that haven't fallen off yet.Does it still have a chance? Is there any way to help it? We would hate to have to remove it. I've attached pics. Thanks for any advice in advance!

Understand as I respond that I do not personally grow any palms so I'm speaking from observing the sago palms, that are not quite hardy to this zone but still keep getting planted everywhere as a landscape plant. They typically grow five to ten years before a harsh winter mass kills them all. So long as they have green growth still visible in the center, they pull through and recover until the next harsh winter. Palms seem to be pretty resilient. When they actually die it is unmistakable as there isn't be any green growth at all. Sometimes it takes a little time for the already killed leaves to dry to a brown color, but I think we're sufficiently far into summer that this would have already occurred. Be patient with your palm as it shakes off the shock.

That's great news! I was hoping that it still had a chance since it still has a green center. Our  queen palms died from this winter as well, and they were visibly dead with no signs of green. I hope it pulls through, and thank you so much for your advice!!

I can't grow Wodyetia here but I do have a lot of Archontophoenix and Rhopalostylis palms which are structurally similar to Wodyetia. Your palm is showing the classic signs of catastrophic stress damage with all the dead old leaves, but there are green young leaves, which probably means the growing point is undamaged and in a surprisingly short time the old leaves will have fallen away and you will see no sign of damage at all. However,... if there is no new spear by now this is not a good sign. Have you tried posting this question on the IPS palm forum? You will get response from Florida palm enthusiasts with more specialised knowledge of palms than you are likely to find here.


Casie, I hate to appear to malign your advice in any way but sago palm is actually Cycas revoluta which despite outward appearance and common name is actually totally unrelated to the palm family!

Thank you ben. That kind of information is exactly why I made sure to identify what it is I was basing my information on. I am glad that the conclusion I came to was still in the right ball park for the actual palm, though.

We do have a native palm here. I've even seen it grown in the wild, but I've never been really tempted to grow one for myself.  Most I've ever been tempted was the time Central Texas Gardener had a guest showing a cold hardy date palm.

Hi Ben,
I tried to sign up to the Palm Talk forum but they haven't accepted me yet I to the group. Not sure if that's the same place? Thank you for your input, I appreciate it very much!