Remarkable palms of Tampa Bay

[kinzyjr]

An update to a few of the plantings at Lake Hollingsworth:

Zombia antillarum - now flowering

Coccothrinax crinita - added some size

Dypsis leptocheilos - added some size

And our Main Street Archies:

[kinzyjr]

Some more at Lake Hollingsworth:

Beccariophoenix alfredii

Chambeyronia macrocarpa

Carpoxylon macrosperma

Licuala peltata 'sumawongii' and Thrinax radiata

An Archontophoenix (?)

Hyphaene coriacea

[RedRabbit]

Decent sized gumbo limbo growing in Dunedin. I've not seen many of these growing in Pinellas County, much less northern Pinellas.

Edited August 1, 2021 by RedRabbit

[kinzyjr]

Some palms from a jungle-style garden in Bartow (previously posted in its own thread): https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/58073-nice-royal-and-overall-property-in-bartow-fl/

Wodyetia bifurcata full of ripe fruit

Roystonea regia

Caryota mitis

Not in the same garden, but not far away, a Delonix regia

[RedRabbit]

19 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Some palms from a jungle-style garden in Bartow (previously posted in its own thread): https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/58073-nice-royal-and-overall-property-in-bartow-fl/

Wodyetia bifurcata full of ripe fruit

What is that behind the foxtail?

[GottmitAlex]

1 hour ago, RedRabbit said:

What is that behind the foxtail?

Looks like a Kentia or a coconut.

[kinzyjr]

1 hour ago, RedRabbit said:

What is that behind the foxtail?

 

10 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

Looks like a Kentia or a coconut.

@Eric in Orlando ID'ed it as Archontophoenix cunninghamiana on the original thread.  There have been a lot of palms and other foliage plants added to the garden over the years, so who knows what else might be lurking back there.

[kinzyjr]

A nice Adonidia merrillii triple that has been around a while and sets fruit every year.  This set has been around 10+ years and survived at least the 2010-2011 winter, but not certain on the 2009-2010 winter.  If you play around with the Google Maps views, you can watch them grow up throughout the years.  This set is also one of the highest in elevation in peninsular Florida at roughly 240ft. above sea level.

 

[chinandega81]

Wowm

10 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

A nice Adonidia merrillii triple that has been around a while and sets fruit every year.  This set has been around 10+ years and survived at least the 2010-2011 winter, but not certain on the 2009-2010 winter.  If you play around with the Google Maps views, you can watch them grow up throughout the years.  This set is also one of the highest in elevation in peninsular Florida at roughly 240ft. above sea level.

 

Wow, good thing it's protected by that house, the area around the house seems very exposed and open. Probably a great mini-micro climate. Is there a low area near by for cold air drainage?

[ruskinPalms]

I’m honestly amazed at what you all have found especially in Bartow. Gives me hope for what I have planted here because I don’t think my climate/zone is too much different than there. 

[ruskinPalms]

I guess it is worth mentioning that there is town in hillsborough county called Mango. So I guess they grew mangoes there once, right?

[kinzyjr]

13 hours ago, chinandega81 said:

Wow

Wow, good thing it's protected by that house, the area around the house seems very exposed and open. Probably a great mini-micro climate. Is there a low area near by for cold air drainage?

Yes, the house provides a perfect windbreak from the north and the west winds.  There is very good cold air drainage here due to all of the hills in this area.  From here to the Highland Park Church is roughly a mile away down Lakeland Highlands Rd, and the land goes from an elevation of ~240ft to 130ft. over that span.  @JJPalmer has been in the area and can attest to the elevation changes.

4 hours ago, ruskinPalms said:

I’m honestly amazed at what you all have found especially in Bartow. Gives me hope for what I have planted here because I don’t think my climate/zone is too much different than there. 

The last 30 years for Bartow have yielded a relatively high average compared to what I would have expected (~32F).  I think the big issue in this area is if you have an open lot or field and get a lot of frost.  If you have driven down US-98 from Lakeland to Bartow in the winter, you'll see the cow pastures coated with frost pretty often.  Then you get into town, and there isn't so much frost of course.  The NOAA weather station in Bartow is just a bit west of US-98 on Stuart St. if you're interested in where the NOAA records were recorded.

[palmsOrl]

I always enjoy reading your detailed analysis of your area's topographic effects on the cold air masses that it experiences.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

On 1/18/2021 at 1:21 PM, JJPalmer said:

As promised - here are some pics of Kopsick. I’m sure there have been plenty posted previously - but what’s a few more?! Not sure why, but it appears there’s quite a bit of compression happening with these pics - sorry they’re not more clear. 

I have hundreds of photos of this, and all around St Pete.  It's almost a little creepy that we walk / go to almost all of the same places, and even take pics of the same trees / properties / houses.     I'm not eve sure that I know of another PalmTalker that lives in St  Pete.   Get outta my territory!  LOL  JK.    I love our amazing city! 

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

One of many tall coconut palms  on our little island in southern Tampa Bay / St Pete.  This one is on my street at the foot a bridge leading onto the island.    I was told this one is about 30 years old.  There are quite a few in south St. Pete, many tall / large ones that have been here for decades.    Being surrounded by water really helps push this zone to a 10A/B.   Ill take a walk around and post more pics from down here. Lots of great stuff  here. 

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

On 9/2/2019 at 1:47 AM, RedRabbit said:

Town 'N' Country - Hillsborough & Sheldon

Not looking good now, but these coconuts managed to survive the freezes of 2010:

They're the most northern survivors I'm aware of in Hillsborough County.  

On a related note, this is probably also the approximate line for where Zone 10 ends along Tampa Bay. There were previously some coconuts directly on the bay in Oldsmar that didn't make it. Further, I haven't seen any strangler figs growing in the Upper Tampa Bay Park. When you put it all together, that area probably isn't 10a despite being right on the bay.

Id say that is about right.  Id extend that 9B down to 275 / Howard Frankland bridge even.  Downtown Tampa is also a 9B.  South Tampa is a chilly 10A.    Town N country I don't see as being a long term coconut area.  Ive seen it get to mid/ upper 20's there in the 4+ years I have lived in the area now. 

[JJPalmer]

5 minutes ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Id say that is about right.  Id extend that 9B down to 275 / Howard Frankland bridge even.  Downtown Tampa is also a 9B.  South Tampa is a chilly 10A.    Town N country I don't see as being a long term coconut area.  Ive seen it get to mid/ upper 20's there in the 4+ years I have lived in the area now. 

Seems to me you'd enjoy our thread on Florida zones here: 

 

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

6 minutes ago, JJPalmer said:

Seems to me you'd enjoy our thread on Florida zones here: 

 

Yep!  I've read that thread many many times.   I think it was one of the first 10 threads I read when I joined in 2009.  I lived in Washington D.C. then and all my life until 2017.   

[RedRabbit]

2 hours ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Id say that is about right.  Id extend that 9B down to 275 / Howard Frankland bridge even.  Downtown Tampa is also a 9B.  South Tampa is a chilly 10A.    Town N country I don't see as being a long term coconut area.  Ive seen it get to mid/ upper 20's there in the 4+ years I have lived in the area now. 

There are some older coconuts in the Westshore Business District so I'm pretty sure that area is 10a. South of Kennedy in downtown Tampa is 10a, but north of there I'm not so sure. I agree on South Tampa being 10a, though the spine of it is less convincing. I'm still not 100% sure what to make of that peninsula in Oldsmar. There's a lot of z10 plants there, but no older coconuts or ficus aurea so I'm thinking it's maybe a cold 10a whereas places like Beach Park and Davis Islands are a bit more solidly 10a. 

You're right about TNC being on the cold side, but you had 20s the past 4 years? You might be in a particularly cold area because I don't think that's representative of TNC as a whole.  

Edited August 24, 2021 by RedRabbit

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

13 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

There are some older coconuts in the Westshore Business District so I'm pretty sure that area is 10a. South of Kennedy in downtown Tampa is 10a, but north of there I'm not so sure. I agree on South Tampa being 10a, though the spine of it is less convincing. I'm still not 100% sure what to make of that peninsula in Oldsmar. There's a lot of z10 plants there, but no older coconuts or ficus aurea so I'm thinking it's maybe a cold 10a whereas places like Beach Park and Davis Islands are a bit more solidly 10a. 

You're right about TNC being on the cold side, but you had 20s the past 4 years? You might be in a particularly cold area because I don't think that's representative of TNC as a whole.  

Where I am in South St Pete, the coldest its been on my thermometer has been 38.  DTSP did once reach 32F briefly on winter.  That was the time we hit 38 at my place on the water.    At that time TNC area was in the mid to upper 20's.    Id agree with DT Tampa for the most part.    Once you get away from the tall buildings though to the north and east its a 9B at best.  West shore / kennedy is 10A yeah. Its close to the bay. I do remember a few times that downtown Tampa has hit upper 20's since I've lived here.    I've always wondered about that little peninsula in Oldsmar.  Seems like it would be at least a cold 10A to me. 

[RedRabbit]

5 minutes ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Where I am in South St Pete, the coldest its been on my thermometer has been 38.  DTSP did once reach 32F briefly on winter.  That was the time we hit 38 at my place on the water.    At that time TNC area was in the mid to upper 20's.    Id agree with DT Tampa for the most part.    Once you get away from the tall buildings though to the north and east its a 9B at best.  West shore / kennedy is 10A yeah. Its close to the bay. I do remember a few times that downtown Tampa has hit upper 20's since I've lived here.    I've always wondered about that little peninsula in Oldsmar.  Seems like it would be at least a cold 10A to me. 

Ahh, that’s right, I remember you mentioning you were in South St. Pete. The comment about TNC threw me off for a second! All of Hillsborough might as well be Arctic tundra compared to the awesome little microclimate you live in. 

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

1 hour ago, RedRabbit said:

Ahh, that’s right, I remember you mentioning you were in South St. Pete. The comment about TNC threw me off for a second! All of Hillsborough might as well be Arctic tundra compared to the awesome little microclimate you live in. 

Hahaha!  Right?  My friends live in Wesley Chapel and that IS the arctic to me. I always joke with them about being in the "great white north" when I go up to visit them.  LOL   

I definitely chose my microclimates very carefully when moving here.  Of course it helped a lot that I had visited here many times prior to moving. 

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

Had a few errands to run today, one of which took me to central Pinellas, Largo.  A slightly cooler more inland Pinellas zone 10A .  While I didn't see much spectacular (accept for a very large Mule) , there are Notable palms here.   You don't see many tall coconuts here accept mainly at the beaches.    However they are definitely being planted in yards.   None are very big though.    Lots of very tall bismarckia nobilis,  lots of tall healthy old queens, and tall foxtails.  A shout out to someone using Florida Natives as well  as they had a nice  Acoelorrhaphe Wrightii clump as a center specimen planting.  Also in the neighborhood I was in there were a remarkable amount of tall Butias, and a few very tall ones.  Also a decent number of fairly large / tall X Butiagrus / Mule palms.  Photos below.  Enjoy!    

Apologies for the photos not being in the order I had intended.  

 

 

 

[JJPalmer]

Some impressively tall coconuts given they are smack dab in the middle of Pinellas County.  Saw several other cocos in the immediate vicinity - really impressive. 

https://goo.gl/maps/BtWGVebi3hANmnrY7

Edited August 28, 2021 by JJPalmer

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

Some Coconuts and a few (I think) Veitchia arecina from my condo complex, and the Island I live on, Coquina Key.  First 4 pics and last 2 pics are from my condo complex. The rest are just from around the island.   There are  a lot on the island, too many to photograph, but this give you the idea. 

 

 

[kinzyjr]

This Wodyetia bifurcata (Foxtail) has been growing for 10+ years near the Bartow Courthouse:

May 2011:

June 2016:

August 2017:

May 2018:

August 2019:

March 2021:

[RedRabbit]

There are a number of queen palms growing wild in Hammock Park in Dunedin. It is common to see this in Florida, but usually the palms look sickly from malnutrition. The ones at Hammock Park, however, are some of the tallest I’ve seen anywhere. Here are two of them (one is in the background):

I’m not sure how they’ve been able to do so well on their own. Unfortunately, several have recently been cut down so the city may be trying to slowly remove them. 

Edited August 29, 2021 by RedRabbit

[kinzyjr]

Today's submission is from just outside the Lakeland UHI.  For those who are fans of @Merlyn's Turning a Water Oak Forest into a Tropical Paradise in NW Orlando thread, the landscapes here are very similar with a lot of tall oaks providing the necessary shelter from frost to grow tender palms.

The area in question:

Archontophoenix triple:

Caryota towering over a two-story house:

Adonidia merrillii - formerly a triple - there were lots of other in the area:

Dypsis lutescens reaching the height of a close-by second story window - lots of these in the area as well:

Some flowering Wodyetia bifurcata with the largest (not photographed unfortunately) ~30ft.:

Dypsis decaryi approaching maturity:

 

[JJPalmer]

Pre-2010 Royal all the way up here in East Lake off Lansbrook golf club. Not sure how impressive it is, but this area has to be quite chilly. 

[kinzyjr]

The area in question:

Some coconuts getting a trunk in the Edgewater Beach area in Lakeland.  This area had a few large, trunking coconut palms before the winters in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011:

I believe these are Archontophoenix used to decorate a few new rest stops along the walking path on the west side of Lake Parker:

[RedRabbit]

4 hours ago, JJPalmer said:

Pre-2010 Royal all the way up here in East Lake off Lansbrook golf club. Not sure how impressive it is, but this area has to be quite chilly. 

East Lake isn't too bad. Royals are scattered here and there until around Dale Mabry where it seems to get quite a bit colder. There are very few royals east of Dale Mabry and north of Hillsborough that survived 2010.

1 hour ago, kinzyjr said:

The area in question:

 

Some coconuts getting a trunk in the Edgewater Beach area in Lakeland.  This area had a few large, trunking coconut palms before the winters in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011:

 

I believe these are Archontophoenix used to decorate a few new rest stops along the walking path on the west side of Lake Parker:

Interesting find @kinzyjr. That area must have a pretty good microclimate.  

Edited August 30, 2021 by RedRabbit

[kinzyjr]

A Roystonea regia at ~180-200ft in elevation on Harrells Nursery Road in the Lakeland Highlands.  This is a three freeze survivor (Jan. 2008/2010/2018) that flowers and sets fruit.  You can see it nearly defoliated after the December 2010 freeze by looking at the May 2011 image on Google Maps.

[kinzyjr]

Not a palm, but I know @RedRabbit likes Polyalthia longifolia.  These currently decorate both parking garages on Orange St.:

[RedRabbit]

39 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Not a palm, but I know @RedRabbit likes Polyalthia longifolia.  These currently decorate both parking garages on Orange St.:

 

 

That’s awesome, thanks for sharing @kinzyjr! They’re planted as an accent tree all over Thailand, glad to see them in Florida now too!! 

Edited September 5, 2021 by RedRabbit

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

Some Variegated Livistona Chinensis  at Kopsic in St. Pete.  These are new in the last few years I believe.  They are going to be beautiful when they get big! 

Also another palm that has no ID (unfortunately there are lots at Kopsic with either no ID or incorrect ID.)    I'm not sure what it is.  Some type of Veitchia ?  Maybe Arecina or Joannis?  Not sure really.   Anyway,  Is this variegated? or is something wrong with it?  It has been this way for a couple years now, but looks fairly healthy.  

 

 

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

Very tall Phoenix SP along Crescent Lake near downtown St. Pete. There are two, but one has grown up through a very large old oak.  You can see some of its crown in the background.   You don't see many very tall Phoenix species here like this that are NOT Dactylifera.  These two have to be some kind of hybrid.  I'm going to guess possibly Dactylifera X Reclinata as its got a skinnier trunk and the leaflets on the  fronds are soft, and the fronds bend alot more similar to Reclinata.  This palm really sways in the wind too.   If anyone else has a guess Id be curious to hear what you think.   

Near by is a very nice  clump of fruiting Carpentaria Acuminata.  I wish these were used more.  They are beautiful palms!  (thats what they look like to me on all counts anyway. )

[palmsOrl]

Definitely Carpentaria acuminata in the last photo.

[kinzyjr]

A few of the nicer Wodyetia bifurcata (Foxtails) in Bartow:

Floral Lakes

Gibbons St.

Main St.

[kinzyjr]

Some late 2010 Roystonea regia in Babson Park:

https://www.google.com/maps/@27.8329796,-81.5263966,3a,90y,338.01h,87.36t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLdmNpJYwA2m-wiSRthnESg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

[chinandega81]

11 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Some late 2010 Roystonea regia in Babson Park:

https://www.google.com/maps/@27.8329796,-81.5263966,3a,90y,338.01h,87.36t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLdmNpJYwA2m-wiSRthnESg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

What happened to the diseased palms in this photo? It doesn't look like cold damage or a lack of water. Is there some disease? I have seen MANY royals suffer from whatever this is in South Florida as well. Is it a severe nutrition deficiency?