Saw Palmettos you see off of I-10

I took some from a buddy's land. They've been in the ground for about 3 years now and they're just starting to really go. The little ones take a long time to establish and send down a taproot. I've read the big ones are really hard to transplant because of the taproot. I had a 50% survival rate on the ones I dug.

Are these on the interstate right of way? I don't think anybody would give a sh*t if you pulled one from there. I wouldn't go yanking them off of private property without permission, though.

I'd just go around the spillway in LaPlace off Airline Highway. You could have your pick of 1000''s of them right off the road that goes out to the lake.

$10-$30 for a good one at a nursery. I guess times are tough for some.

not for a big one usually. Those are $80 plus. The plants grow very slowly until they set a root, it’s not really a good nursery plant (because they can’t be dug and potted)

My property is loaded with all sizes, you’re welcome to dig as many as you want.

Sabal minor is a really striking garden plant. The dense patches along I-10 are very impressive when much of the swamp forest is leafless. I have one grown from seed 25 years ago. Mature now it's about 6' tall and wide, half a day sunlight and wet soil. Another planted from a nursery 10 years ago remains small.

The mature one is still slow going with about 1 new leaf and 1 flower stalk sprouting each year. It isn't bothered by freezing weather. Nurseries can be careless about names mixing up Sabal minor (good), Sabal palmetto,(tall) Sabal mexicana (cold sensitive), etc,

If you get one, try to give it some wind shelter. High winds will shred the fronds. It doesn't hurt the plant but it will look tattered until new fronds are sprouted months/years later.