- If you appreciate the waxy fronds and silhouette of the sago palm but don't want to worry about the aulacapsis scale problems, consider virgin palm (Dioon edule). Although aulacapsis scale can appear on the virgin palm, it doesn't spread wildly or usually become harmful to cycads in the genus Dioon. Grow virgin palm in the same landscape settings as a sago palm. Virgin palm tolerates a fair amount of winter cold, making it appropriate to grow outdoors in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8b and warmer. It sustains frond damage when it drops to 15 to 20 degrees F.
- A native cycad of southern Georgia and across Florida, coontie (Zamia pumila) bears feathery green leaves like the sago palm but remains more of a tidy, mounding, shrublike plant. If you like the look of a small sago palm with hardly any trunk, a coontie may make a comparable aesthetic equivalent. Grow coontie in full sun to partial shade in a well-drained soil. It tolerates light freezes and survives in USDA zones 8 and warmer.
- Native to South Africa, the woolly cycad (Encephalartos lanatus) is cold-hardy and tends to not be harmed by aulacapsis scale. This cycad grows slowly and eventually develops a stemlike trunk just like a sago palm. Woolly cycad leaves are felted and light green when young, eventually maturing to be less fuzzy and more light gray-green. This cycad grows best in full sun in well-drained soils and survives winter cold down to 9 degrees F, making it hardy in USDA Zone 8a and warmer.
- If winter cold tolerance and wet soil conditions exist in your garden where you would have liked to grow a sago palm, plant a needle palm (Rhaphiophyllum hystrix) instead. The needle palm is a true palm but remains a multibased shrubby palm. The deeply segmented leaves are dark green and create a tropical feel to a landscape. Native to the American Southeast, needle palm grows slowly but readily survives winter cold down to minus 5 degrees F. Grow needle palm in USDA zones 6b through 11.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -