Question
I just planted 100 Canary Island palms.  They were about 2-3 years old, in 5 gallon containers.  A week after they were in the ground we got some cold weather here in Southern California.  It seems like many of those palms look dead, the inner most leaves have lost their color and have now become yellow and dried looking.  I also have other palms, Queens, and other Canaries, but they were not damaged.  The temperature only went down to the mid 20's.  Could that have damaged the Canaries...I thought that they were cold tolerant??  The inner branches are now easy to pull out on the yellow palms...does that imply they are dead??  What else could have killed them, and is there a chance that they will survive this???

Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Answer
Hi Walt, mid 20's is dangerous for all the palms you mentioned, especially those that are young and in containers; if the newer fronds pull out easily then that is a sure sign of terminal stress, wait however and see if after the fronds are shed, any new ones emerge in the next month. Provide adequate irrigation in the mean time, but be careful not to wet those roots too much. Patience is the key now...wait.....and watch. Nick