Silver Thatch Palm
Also called Florida silver palm, and it will grow in three hours of sun
Coccothrinax argentata
Photo: Longleaf Design
Why it works here
The leaves are green on top and bright silver underneath, so the whole palm flashes in a breeze. That is the reason to plant it. It is state listed threatened in Florida because development ate most of its natural range, which runs from Palm Beach County south to the lower Keys, so Stuart is just north of where it grows wild. It is the most forgiving of the three native palms I use on light: UF notes it will grow straight up and give you that blue silver accent even in a spot getting only two or three hours of sun, which makes it genuinely useful under an oak or on a shaded side yard where nothing else reads well. It is also the best salt performer of the group and it is a larval host for the monk skipper. Honest caveat: it is slow, and it is small. It will not screen anything for a decade.
Care
Sharp drainage, then almost nothing. Water to establish, then take it off irrigation. Do not fertilize it like a lawn palm, because it evolved on limestone with nothing in the soil and it wants lean and dry. No spikes, no trunk wounds, no over pruning.
Common problems
People buy the wrong palm. Silver thatch, Florida thatch, and Cayman silver thatch are three different plants that share names, so check the botanical name on the tag: Coccothrinax argentata is the one you want.
Slow. A 3 gallon plant is a fifteen year project to reach 8 ft. Buy the size you want to look at.
It is not on the current lethal bronzing host list, which is good news, but absence from a list of twenty one species is not proof of immunity and UF says outright the host range could grow. So I still would not plant a row of them.
Overwatering and overfeeding. That is how most of these die in a landscape, not from pests. UF says no pests or diseases are of major concern on this palm, and that matches what I see.
Common questions
Will it work in shade?
Better than almost any palm. Two or three hours of sun and it still grows straight and holds the silver. It is one of the few I will use under existing canopy without hedging.
Can I use it as a hedge?
Technically yes, and you will be waiting a very long time. At this growth rate a hedge of them is a fifteen year plan. I would rather use it as a repeated accent and put something faster behind it.
It is threatened, so where do I even get one?
Licensed Florida native nurseries, and mostly in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County, so it is usually a special order for a Stuart job. One thing to check: some field grown stock in the trade is collected rather than propagated. For a state listed plant, ask the nursery which it is.
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