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That's pretty cool! I know they are hard to dig up but you should try If you haven't already

I'm very glad to hear!

So I have a stupid question: it looks like moss at the moment. When do individual plants start emerging? Does a bunch of them coalesce into a single organism?

It has been so sad to see the cold damage people suffered south of me. We get these zone changes as the weather gets warmer and we think we can grow one more exotic palm. Then every 1-15 years there is a bad one and so many palms either die or are so damaged it takes years to recover. At one time or another, I've had the heads come off my Windmill palms. But you never know when that new spear will finally emerge so don't chop it down anytime soon!. Night temps down to 9 degrees, days below 32 and they all sailed right through it. The ice and packed snow are still in 4' piles around our little post office. I have 18' T. fortunei palms, Sabal minors and Rathidophylum palms in the ground. Still you hold your breath and pray! They were supposed to handle the cold and they did.....not one brown frond. As always the potted Chamaerops came inside. I also lost it several years ago, even covered with Christmas tree lights.

Look what is rising from the ashes !!! A volunteer ribbon palm Livistona decora. Legacy of all the beautiful ribbon palms that once graced these roads The young queen palms starting to pop up are looking good overall. Here is one at the work office that is definitely not protected

Thank you very much, Bodie🤗 Yes, I'm feeling better every day.

It's a beautiful day in Houston

Mixing up "tropical" and "equatorial" is aprt of it, tropical is a climate status not a latitude, but it is also most prevalent at those latitudes so they are the "tropics" instead of "equatorial zone" or something else. Just like "polar" and "arctic" and "tundra" aren't exactly the same but very similar. Mixing up geography and ecology/climatology is part of it, but the other part is the unique nature of many locales means they can't be just lumped into a classification together and get the same results with gardening. The subtleties matter every time.

It adds a nice color backdrop. Dave you saw this at Dorian's house when the Pam Society last visited his garden here in Leucadia.

Just go to the olive oil section at HEB where you can buy Texas grown olive oil. There are several suppliers online that will ship to you too. It's not a massive industry but it certainly isn't one guy with a few olives either. There might be a flop in one production area or farm in Texas, but it certainly isn't a state wide thing. Because TX olive oil continues to be produced and sold in a not insignificant quantity. HGC has cheap plumerias. They aren't labeled so you can buy when they're flowering or take your chances. Not sure about the seeds, but don't think they aren't true to seed

Next week, our hardy palm enthusiasts head for Vietnam. I can't make it this year but it doesn't keep me from learning more about the critically endangered palms in Vietnam. Vietnam’s vegetative biodiversity has been severely impacted by decades of war, rapid industrialization, and illegal logging. While the country has successfully increased its total “forest cover”, much of this is compromised, consisting of monoculture plantations (like acacia or rubber) rather than rich, biodiverse natural forests. The damage” in Vietnam is no longer just about the quantity of vegetation, but the quality of the ecosystem as well. Current problems include:· Fragmentation and “Empty Forest” Syndrome: While green cover exists, many forests are fragmented. Intense snaring and hunting have removed seed-dispersing animals (monkeys, birds, small carnivores) leading to “empty forests” (where trees and palms cannot naturally reproduce or move seeds across the landscape. · The Rise of Monocultures: Large areas have been replanted with exotic species like Acacia and Casuarina. These grow fast and provide timber but offer almost no habitat for native wildlife and fail to support the complex undergrowth found in primary jungles. · Endangered Flora: According to the 2024 Vietnam Red List the number of threatened plant species in general has risen to 656. · Soil Degradation: In areas like the Central Highlands and Coastal Dunes, the loss of original vegetation has led to severe soil erosion and a loss of the “seed bank”,…the natural store of seeds in the soil that allows a forest to bounce back… Vietnam is a biodiversity hotspot for palms, but many species are restricted to small “refugia”. The most critical locations for endangered palms include: Region Notable Endangered Palms Key Habitats Central Vietnam (Quảng Ngãi, Thừa Thiên Huế) Truongsonia lecongkietii, various Licuala species Steep, moist slopes in the Truong Son (Annamite) Range. Northern Limestone Karsts (Hạ Long Bay, Ninh Bình) Guihaia grossifibrosa (Dragon Scale Palm) Clinging to the sheer cliffs of ancient limestone "towers." Southern Highlands (Đà Lạt, Lâm Đồng) Pinanga and Calamus species Subtropical montane forests often threatened by coffee plantations. National Parks (Cúc Phương, Bạch Mã, Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng) Multiple endemic rattan (climbing palms) Dense, undisturbed primary rainforests. You cannot rebuild without the original genetic material. Locating and protecting the remaining “mother trees and palms” is a top priority as they are sources for indigenous seeds. There needs to be a move away from commercial nurseries that foster monocultures. Local nurseries would focus on Framework Species by growing off a mix of indigenous trees and palms that grow fast and have big crowns to shade out weeds, nurture seedlings and attract seed-dispersing wildlife. Connecting fragmented patches of forest will also allow wildlife to move about dispersing seeds. This gives you a quick overview of how Vietnam is working to bring back ecosystems that were lost due mostly to human excess and war. Those of you going to the Vietnam biennial are taking a trip of a lifetime!

This map is wrong even in 2014. On both coasts. Fort Myers to the coast of Lee county should be included. And too far north on the east coast. Didn't attach the map. Can't find it now.

In cultivation, the term "ultra-tropical" is used instead, and refers to at least zone 12, a zone which rarely dips below 50, and usually has never been below 40. Bermuda and Key West are zone 12a, barely, and both can be chilly and even 10b Coconut palms stuggle somewhat in Bermuda due to a lack of high heat, with the annual temp there barely above 70 (21 C), a good 5 degrees F (3 C) cooler than Miami. The most equatorial islands in the world such as Palmyra Atoll and Nauru have never been below 70, and many other near equatorial low elevation regions have never been below 60, and are those 13b etc zones that the USDA started designating when it added Puerto Rico to it's purview. Nauru would be zone 14 if USDA graded it, and it also gets enough year round rain to be climate type Af, equatorial tropical rainforest climate. So I guess only Nauru is "truly tropical". If only it wasn't degraded by poor soil and destructive phosphate mining that left it with little ecological succession.

Master gardeners I've known for many years always warned me against overwatering cold damaged plants. The plants ability to uptake water is greatly compromised because of the damaged tissue. With the extended drought this year, I'm not sure that's good advice. I believe the drought conditions leading up the freeze exacerbated the extent of damage the plants sustained across the state. The plants were already stressed before being blasted by cold air. You're hobbling around on one leg and someone comes up from behind and pushes you down. It's no wonder you fell and got a concussion.

I think "Great Dismal Swamp" just became my new official name for our patch of land. Sort of related but I found a 2nd native here growing in a clump of trees under a cedar tree the other day. If I had to guess it's 2 or 3 years old and had to have been planted by a bird.

I think I've got the jungle room dialed in to where I can keep these alive. We'll see if I can get some seeds for a reasonable price later on in the year after I make some room.

I really don't like where technology is heading. I mean tbf there are lots of big accounts that pay for bots to boost their viewership for monetization so I get that, but so many apps and websites now require full face scans to verify that you're a human and I'm not gonna go all Randy Quaid here but all of this stuff goes into a database. I've read that they're monitoring social media comments to determine what areas are "problematic" now (I am not going to get political, this is my escape zone from that), I'm just saying I don't like where things are going. I don't like that we're giving AI so much control over everything. I don't think people realize how many jobs it's going to replace. It has its purposes for sure, i mean I've used it in research for plant info and looking up info on grants because it's easier than digging through hundreds of pages of redundant websites and old intermittently working forums. But I don't think it should be involved with health insurance or the military on any level. But yeah. I mean, to get back on topic, it's all about tracking, (mostly) for advertising. I don't think I'm at the point where I put my phone in a Faraday bag when I'm not using it, but the advertising tracking is insane. I've got a tablet I only really use for streaming to my Chromecast, and I'm terminally online. I'll like a post on Instagram or a tweet and the ads follow me for weeks. I'll ask Sancho if he needs to poop and start getting ads for Charmin (they already know I buy Charmin). I'll say the word insulin out loud and get ads for all the diabetes sensors (they know I'm diabetic). If I were to say stuff like this 15 or 20 years ago, everyone would think I'm paranoid. Today, it's just like - yep. I get ads for grow lights and Miracle Gro constantly. I'm single so I get ads for AI dating apps all the time. In a month or two I'll get flooded with apps for MLB.tv. I know I just wrote like a 2 page screed going slightly sideways from where you were going, and this is probably gonna lead to me getting flooded with ads from the online therapists..... But like I dunno what we can do about it. The fact of the matter is, we're the product. Our information and our attention is all up for sale. It's crazy Orwellian. The reality is there's computers watching and reading everything we do and sniffing through our texts and we pay 75 bucks a month for the right to carry these little things in our pockets that listen to what we say and watch where we go and pretty much our only other option is to go Amish. Edit - I bought some electrolyte drink mix yesterday. I liked a tweet from a friend about making a drink. I'm almost 2 years sober lol.

Get the 50 pound palmgain one on seedworldusa dot com

Yeah I'm aware of that that's what actually got me into doing some more research on this topic. I've been looking all over Facebook and the Internet for any post about this topic. Sadly there's not much information (Other than Palmtalk and some Facebook threads) I hope that changes eventually. I know Gary Haller did a post on his website about some possible ones in Virginia well that's at least what I heard

Also in Virginia Beach they grow great there. I've also seen them grow in Central north Carolina places like Raleigh etc

First, let's forget the latitudes and the straight lines that define the "tropics". You and I both know that's BS. There are some mountainous places on the equator that never freeze but you can't live without a light jacket on a daily basis. Cool and comfortable days followed by chilly nights that never approach the freezing mark is by definition temperate. I don't care if that's on the Equator or the north pole. Defintion Temperate: Moderate temperatures, not too hot or too cold, with averages often around 50F. Ceroxylon palms look very tropical and grow at high altitudes in Andes but it's downright cool in the daytime fog and the temps never truly warm. At night, it's in the 40's for hours. That's no more tropical than a beach location in the Mediterranean. Good old AI Vertical Zonation: Temperature is primarily determined by altitude. Lower areas (up to ~4,900 ft) are tropical/subtropical, mid-elevations (roughly 7,500–11,500 ft) feature mild, temperate, or "eternal spring" climates, and high elevations (>14,000 ft) are consistently cold and alpine. Alpine climates on the equator? Who knew.

I realize I haven't lived here for very long but I have read numerous articles on the failure of the Olive crop in Texas, and what a flop it all was. I have yet to see a "Texas Grown" olive, and have inquired at a bunch of the better nurseries in Houston about olives and they have all told me the same thing. They don't even recommend using the trees for ornamental reasons as they can get killed to the ground here. I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one, unless you can show me evidence to the contrary. I have no issues admitting that I am misinformed or downright wrong. Since you've got your Plumeria in the ground I'm going to do the same this weekend. I only have one but I'm concerned it wasn't cool enough in my shed where it was stored dry and upside down. It's not looking so great. Any leads on where to get them at at discount? As in less than $20/each? One other question. When people are selling plumerias grown from seed, it's a crapshoot as to what you'll get, right?

Disney World Landscaping Cleanup Underway After Historic Cold Outbreak (photos in article)

I would suggest looking up older posts on here (from a few years back). Whether or not there are remnant populations of Sabal minor in Virginia have been discussed extensively on Palmtalk more than once.

I got mine yesterday late. Please check your spam files as recently some of my IPS notifications went there. Or you can private message me your email right now and I’ll forward mine to you.