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Hey All, Haven’t had much to update since we have had a record warm December in the Midwest (Z6). Nothing is protected yet and likely won’t be for a few more weeks according to the forecast. Having them to look at through Christmas and going into January has been trippy for a lifelong midwesterner LOL. Hope you enjoy. Everything is ready to be protected if I ever need to this winter!

Hey guys/girls, First time poster here. My names Dan and I’m from Western Australia. Have created this garden pretty much from scratch over the past 6 months. I have roughly 18 different species of palms and would love to get a few more of the rarer ones, but there’s not too many places here to find any. Still have a lot I want to do to the garden next step will be to lay lawn over all the sand out the front. Please enjoy the photos and ignore all the crispy ends as it’s been 40’C plus for the past 5 days.

Warm 10a in the greenhouse.

It may be a winter wonderland out there, but in here we're still zone 13.

Most of my bamboo is almost flat. Sierra is loving this.

Last couple, flowering Mad fox and Dictyosperma furfuraceum. Thanks for looking!

Hey, everyone from the PNW .. hang in there plants are tougher than humans.....i always look at the bright side ...id rather get are cold outta the way now.....if we can get a nice spring..! I've seen bamboo flattened for a week a bounce back!

-3C and lots of snow in Tofino this morning. Pretty cold for Canada’s warmest climate right on the west coast of the Island. Can’t say I’ve ever surfed in the snow before, should be interesting! -8.3C was my low back in Nanoose last night. Most of my tenders should breeze through these temps. I figured as long as I stay above -10C I’m in the clear and all my palms should be fine.. The only thing I’m worried about is my big Acacia, but it looked healthy when I left yesterday. I guess I’ll see in a few days.

Gave a nice warm shower to my: Phoenix Robellinii Washingtonia Robusta Trachycarpus Fortnei

Just got home.... looks like it melted pretty good today when I left this morning it was 32 with about 4 to 5 inches on the ground....palms look beat down a bit from the weight but pulled threw...eucs were champs...

Here's a couple more in pots that I've recently acquired, sitting on my patio sheltered from rain mostly (brought indoors now until the cold passes). Got Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera (bluish), and Sabal minor. Hope all your plants are staying healthy during the snow and ice!

A VERY rare sight ...Not the Sunrise, ...Me being awake to capture it, lol #Not an early morning person -at all - ( Except when headed out on an adventure / road trip ) Rolled over and noticed the bright red orange glow entering the room through the blinds.. Worth getting out of bed, ..for a minute or two.. haha. Wider view.. Pulled in a bit..

Doesn’t feel like that to me. Almost 4” last night and our coldest nights are the next 4.

Here is my nitida before the freeze in February took it out with 9° F. Two years from a strap-leaf liner it was one of my fastest growers. I replaced it with a decora I grew from seed.

I'm seriously zone pushing here in Jax on Pottsburg Creek. Have a few royals, foxtails, Archontophoenix and what is supposed to be a Dypsis hybrid (though most likely a pure triangle) growing. I'm adding a few more questionable Dypsis and Syagrus to the mix in the spring as well. Oh yeah, forgot about the Adonidia merillii in the pot now for 15+ years and the newly added potted Satakentia liukiuensis.

I will get a more recent pic. Meanwhile, here is the palm as planted in august 2011. Ken told me it sat in a container too ling but he said this palm would be fine with a little care.

Couldn’t help myself, the horn shaped spathe finally fell off…….a fountain of flowers. It’s good to look up once in awhile. Tim

I got this c alba blue from Ken johnson in 2011(?). I was in a 45 gallon(?) plastic tub. Ken said it sat too long in that tub so he gave me a great price.. You can tell from the leaf bases how much trunk it had when I planted it. Its chugging along, coming back after IRMA. Anybody else out there growing this palm?

Hey all, My wife and I spent the afternoon on Sunday at Bill and Theresa’s up in Cardiff. They’re great hosts and have a beautiful home on a hillside perhaps 1/4 mile from the ocean. He’s been growing palms longer than I have and has an extraordinary amount of big, mature palms. His biggest challenge is the occasional big wind event and the small amount of salt that makes its way from the water. As the afternoon sun was waning, it created some decent lighting for a couple of pictures. A few examples, looking out the upper deck and a wonderful example of a SoCal spindle palm

Last night low was predicted to be 18F, it only got down to 28F, no complaints! But tonight is the same low temp which I don't think we have. I've got some serious icicle coming off the house and some palm trees too. But only in the warmer areas or the garden like next to the house. I want to unwrap everything but know I can't yet, lol. I just want my green jungle back.

Forgot to mention that I have a decora and nitida near Harlingen, TX that made it through 22° F unprotected in February.

It’s melting fast here now. I took the dogs for a walk and water is flowing everywhere. Snow dropping out of trees all over even without the sun or any breeze. It’s foggy from all the snow melting.

mules , pygmies, bizmarcks, queens , and med fans

Yesterday was colder than predicted, but it was better than what they were showing last week. I didn’t quite get everything protected, just ran out of steam. I felt like I wasted my time protecting those plants after the forecast improved, but now I’m glad I did. This cold is lasting longer than predicted. I’m not nearly as stressed as I would be if I hadn’t done it.

Well @Chester B so far it seems like you have stayed warmer than all of the forecasts. Hopefully it continues to hold true. But low 20s isn't bad. Especially with all the protecting you've done.

Milder here overnight at 25°F. My Butia looks sad right now but I did tuck some burlap in the crown before this cold started.

Yes, its almost over and the garden is looking good. Tuesday mornings low was 28F.

Here is mine, 4 years from a strap-leaf liner.

I am down here just north of the old monkey jungle and if we saw a freeze it may have been in 1989. I see Rapha is from Brazil so he may not follow the “Nurse Rachett” metaphor. Nurse Rachett is the “Karen” antagonist in the book and movie One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Jack Nicholson plays a multi time felon, who decides to take the easy way out by playing crazy and going to the funny farm. His character McMurphy brings great spirit to the characters in the funny farm, with the exception of the untouchables, who stare aimlessly out the window. During the group discussions led by Nurse Rachett after medication time, McMurphy constantly challenges said nurse, berating her and rallying his funny farm troops. The final gauntlet occurs when McMurphy commandeers a large run for the border that ends up in a stolen large ship and a comical fishing trip. Nurse Rachett takes final revenge when McMurphy is sentenced to shock therapy. Sadly, he ends up with the untouchables but is saved by the tall Indian, who squeezes the life out of the aimless McMurphy and completes a true jail break in McMurphy‘s honor. Nurse Rachett could be said to be somewhat comparable to the Greek Council that sentenced Socrates to death by Hemlock. A tremendous book by Ken Kesey, the maniacal Merrymaker! I apologize for this off topic panoply but ask forgiveness from the sick and wounded…

2:45am PST. 28 of December 2021: 11C/52F Its raining cats and dogs.

IDK what zone you’re in - will guess 9A based on the vegetation and the style of the house in your photos. If that’s true - I’m gonna go out on a limb here and suggest you try Phoenix pusilla. Supposedly hardy to 9A (the one at the UofA arboretum in Tucson is old as hell and has almost certainly seen sub-20s), very thin trunk (maybe 1.5ft max), small crown and will take all the reflective heat and direct western sun you can give it. The stuff you find documented will tell you it is frost intolerant, but this is generally just hearsay and not good information. I have a baby one that gets frosted constantly - never an issue. And again, Tucson gets cold sometimes. Heres a Google street view capture of the one in Tucson. I didn’t take a photo, so I had to grab this: Jungle Music should have some available for mail order.

So uhh... You doing anything with that pulled sago? My backyard wants to know.

I probably can’t 100% rule out D onilahensis, but they all look like D baronii to me. They can be highly variable but are usually very colourful at that size. The ‘scrunchy’ leaf is completely normal for the first of a new stem. I think it happens because it is trying to develop within the crownshaft of the existing stem.

The Snow photos continue, also, inside the greenhouse plants look good so far. There is no door on the greenhouse. Inside the cage there is hardly any snow.

The one pictured is Pentagonia wendlandii. If you google that, you'll get more information.

Mike, I think it’s called Pentagonium and not Pentagonia, heck I’m not really sure. A quick search surprisingly reveals little information. Took these pics this morning to show the scale and the leaves quickly transitioning from ruby red to green. I need more of them. Tim

Laurajs2011, Welcome to the forum, Can't say for certain, but, take a look at a couple of the following Ficus sp: To me, Ficus benghalensis, & Ficus lutea would stick out as possibilities. Both can get BIG in the ground.

Merlyn, the yellow bamboo is S brachycladum (prolly the nicest bamboo out of 200+ varieties I've grown) and it stays above the water, the water level stops at about the small Pritchardia and spills away. The curcurma-like plant is actually a native orchid, not sure which of the 3 that one is, hopefully a Nun's orchid but 2 of them have deeply veined strap leaves. Near the 2 big aroids is an Areca macrocalyx 'Red' that gets water about 1/3 up the crown shaft but it used to almost fully submerge. The rheophytica is newly acquired and was fully under, the lipstick palm and adjacent aroid there 'Regal Shield' get a nice drink. There are heliconia, volunteer Coleus and volunteer Impatiens that drown (these guys pop up all over, I have impatiens trying to establish in my driveway), the triple palm I forget the species and would appreciate an ID! A couple of bromeliads drown, the Mauritia flexuosa loves it, the Areca vestaria 'Red' seems fine with it, an Areca sp. gets water about a foot up the trunk. Weeds don't seem to mind...several other palm species that are just above the water line in that area. This area was totally hidden with thick brush about 14 months ago and I did not know it was there, I cleared it and decided to painstakingly peel back the thick mat of fern roots in order to expose the lava flow and now I call it the pond. Trying to jungle it up some. Lots of fast growth for a year and it all initially would fully submerge for as much as a day + at a time.

I had to use Merit. Not a fan of using chemicals but had little choice it seemed. It worked.

Sorry, doing battle with upload speeds.. Hedyscepe, one of the best around here when happy. And a very habitat looking sample of Pritchardia hillebrandii

This is just brutal... Wishing the best of luck to all of you and your palms through this event!

I'm a member of a local Arizona Facebook group for palm enthusiasts. A member there found this coconut growing in Mesa, Arizona. I got permission to post the photos so I thought I would share here. My 22 year-old Arizona grown coconut is in a pot in my living room. I guess this person found the right outdoor spot! This inspires me to try again. I did notice a similarity to the famous Corona, CA coconut. Both are surrounded by concrete. I think that might be the key to survival.

Yeah with the sidewalk there any Phoenix is going to be a bad idea. There isn't much space. If you need the vertical height Id try Cham microspadix or Rhapis multifida (dont use excelcia, too aggressive). If no need for vertical height and you want palms then Cham radicalis. Of course if you want to protect it on cold nights given how close it is to your house you could try many of the Calyptrocalyx, boalak is my favorite, but it would probably be work. Most other palms are going to be too wide, you have to have something with small width profile

Holy cow @Scott W, you are really pushing it! Hope they all do well as I have considered an Archontophoenix. @NickJames if I recall your old place is just over in Yulee and can’t recall whether it was you or someone else that posted a pic of a Majesty palm growing at a house there. That post made me get one so we’ll see if I can get lucky.

A few snow photos taken this weekend. Have 6" of snow now it so cold it like powder. Temp has gone up and is now 26F - 28F. chilly but as long as you move around it not bad. Looks like rain by Thursday.

6.00pm and it's still pretty warm, going to be a warm night too.

@Paradise Found the chinensis got covered with nursery pots. The mules got wrapped with fabric and lights since they’re small. 9:30 pm and 32F with light powdery snow falling. So much better than the wet stuff.

This raised bed in progress is next to the stairs. Trying something new and burying these rocks vertically. Not sure if I like it yet…Looks like teeth so I put a gold tooth in the front lol

Virginia Beach, VA