Jump to content
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT LOGGING IN ×
  • WELCOME GUEST

    It looks as if you are viewing PalmTalk as an unregistered Guest.

    Please consider registering so as to take better advantage of our vast knowledge base and friendly community.  By registering you will gain access to many features - among them are our powerful Search feature, the ability to Private Message other Users, and be able to post and/or answer questions from all over the world. It is completely free, no “catches,” and you will have complete control over how you wish to use this site.

    PalmTalk is sponsored by the International Palm Society. - an organization dedicated to learning everything about and enjoying palm trees (and their companion plants) while conserving endangered palm species and habitat worldwide. Please take the time to know us all better and register.

    guest Renda04.jpg

Southern Oregon - Brookings


Chester B

Recommended Posts

I made my first trip to Brookings, Oregon and I was not disappointed in what I saw.  Lots of exotics that I can't grow here in Portland and many of them were huge.  I had 10 minutes that I was granted to drive around and snap photos.  I seemed totally suspicious so only managed to get a few decent shots.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any photos of Washingtonia palms.  I did also see some Pygmy date palms planted in a front of a store but had not idea as to how long they had been in the ground.  Apparently Brookings has an unusual climate.  I took this from Wikipedia

The Brookings area has a cool-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csb).  According to the Trewartha climate classification, it has a subtropical climate (despite being a little farther north than Chicago in latitude) and is among one of the northernmost North American locations to have one.

Brookings has cool winters during which intense rainfall is broken by weeks of cool, sunny weather. It has mild, dry summers with average rainfall in July and August of less than 1 inch (25 mm) per month. There are an average of only two afternoons annually with high temperatures of 90 °F (32.2 °C) or higher and an average of 1.5 mornings with low temperatures of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The record high temperature was 108.2 °F (42.3 °C) on July 9, 2008. The record low temperature was 18 °F (−7.8 °C) on December 8, 1972.

The wettest calendar year in Brookings was 1996 with 123.90 inches (3,147 mm) and the driest 1976 with 43.34 inches (1,100.8 mm). The most rainfall in one month was 36.90 inches (937.3 mm) in December 1996. The most rainfall in 24 hours was 17.00 inches (431.8 mm) on October 14, 2016. Snow is rare in Brookings, averaging only 0.7 inches or 0.018 metres per year, but 10 inches (0.25 m) fell in January 1916.[17]

Due to its location, Brookings is subject to winter (and less frequently summer) temperatures considered unusually warm for the Oregon Coast or for that matter, the North Coast of California. Temperatures can reach 70 to 100 °F (21.1 to 37.8 °C) throughout the year. This is due mostly to its situation at the foot of the Klamath Mountains, from which winds compress and warm the air flowing onto Brookings. This is called the Brookings effect or Chetco effect, similar to the warm dry Santa Ana winds of coastal Southern California.

Brookings CIDP 1.JPG

Brookings CIDP 2.JPG

Brookings CIDP 4.JPG

  • Like 5
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also quite surprised to see  stuff like Araucaria, Tibochina ( Princess Flower ) that far north.  Makes me wonder what other surprises are grown up there. 

Pretty sure the Yucca in your pictures is indeed Yucca elephantes / gigantea.. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, SailorBold said:

Wow !!  that is amazing..    So what is the zone?  Everything looks great..

It’s zone 9b. I think I just scratched the surface on what people were growing there. Lots of plants I didn’t recognize. Big eucalyptus everywhere as well as citrus trees. 
 

Now I want to get a vacation property there just to have the garden. 
 

 

  • Like 4
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crazy that a town with the equivalent latitude of Chicago has just as warm/warmer winters than we have here in Houston. But that’s what the Pacific does. Beautiful pictures.

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I’ve been looking for about yr to buy property on Oregon Coast.  Waiting for right property.   Climate looks good there. 

 

 

Curious on your comment you were granted 10 min to drive around n take pics ?  Ummm seems odd,  and you should be able to drive around take as many photos n tour all you want your not on private property.   I know some people can be weirded out but still...... can’t control air.  Like telling a smoker you can’t smoke outside lol 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My wife wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as I was, hence the 10 or 15 minutes. :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tell me about it. My wife thinks I’m crazy. There’s far less healthy interests/hobbies. 

Edited by Meangreen94z
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Everything looks very lush and healthy. I wonder if Brookings's relative isolation from other palmy areas will help prevent the spread of diseases and pests like the Red Palm Weevil. Nice pics!

Mike in zone 6 Missouruh

Link to comment
Share on other sites

wow i am so jealous. that is amazing. you know the rent and cost of living there is much less than up here in Salem, Keizer, and Portland. i am debating on moving there

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/13/2019 at 2:09 PM, Meangreen94z said:

Crazy that a town with the equivalent latitude of Chicago has just as warm/warmer winters than we have here in Houston. But that’s what the Pacific does. Beautiful pictures.

The global wind currents flow from west to east and that is why our coast is so much more mild than the east coast. East coast states actually function more like a continental climate and have little influence from the atlantic ocean. Florida is obviously different but that is due to other factors.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Hi @Chester B I've just bumped into this old (ish) post - what a surprise!  Brookings used to be my main family holiday destination when I was in my late teens and living in Ashland.  I'd insisted on drive-abouts as much as my family could tolerate them and they were always worth it.  There are definitely Washingtonia about and doing well, though they aren't as common as the Phoenix, which are the most impressive palms around there by some distance.  There's a Washingtonia in Azalea Park at least, and I know of a few out of town.  These trips made me really want a Phoenix canariensis, but unfortunately it didn't work out in Ashland.

The most exciting plant I saw there was an Archontophoenix cunninghamiana which looked to be doing well, just in front of a modest house in the town on one of the little streets south of 101.  I wonder how it's doing now - no street view unfortunately, the place is even too remote for Google!  I'd be surprised if there was a further north Archontophoenix planted out in North America (if indeed that one is still around).

I had often thought I would end up living in Brookings so that I could grow loads of amazing palms, also with that dramatic scenery on my doorstep.  Work and many other things have taken me a very different direction though!

  • Like 2

Manchester, Lancashire, England

53.4ºN, 2.2ºW, 65m AMSL

Köppen climate Cfb | USDA hardiness zone 9a

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like to go back sometime, but its a bit of trek from here, I think about 6 hours.  Hopefully it will happen some time soon.  I have seen Washingtonia palms there in abundance and saw a real estate listing I posted somewhere on here with a house with a decent sized queen palm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Revisiting this.... How crazy would it be if we all pooled in together and decked out a property in exotics together 😄

That might be disastrous.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMG_2328.thumb.JPG.78d769205917db1c167e1f09c455e728.JPG

4 hours ago, Zach K said:

Revisiting this.... How crazy would it be if we all pooled in together and decked out a property in exotics together 😄

That might be disastrous.

 

 I have lived in Brookings for 40 years and it is getting more subtropical every year.  Last hard freeze 30 F was about 5 years ago for one night.  Summers are getting colder with dense fog in July, August and Sept. and are becoming more like winter, while Dec., Jan, and Feb. are becoming more like summer.  Oxymoron for sure, but it is true. 

I have a 40 year old Satsuma Mandarin tree that produces sweet tangerines in Jan and Feb., an orchard of Feijoa or Pineapple Guava that produce wonderful fruit in Nov. to Jan., a Meyers Lemon, Ponderosa Lemon and Persian Lime all that produce fruit.  IMG_2323.thumb.JPG.ed4dca57be00c109db58cd3556eccab0.JPG

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dude, that is insane. Couple questions, how would one go about trying some of that Oregon grown exotic fruit? Also whats that palm in the back there?? A queen?

Also the whats the address of those MASSIVE Jubaeas?? This place keeps getting more awesome every time I look into it or drive by it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/29/2022 at 7:46 PM, Banana Belt said:

... Summers are getting colder with dense fog in July, August and Sept. and are becoming more like winter, while Dec., Jan, and Feb. are becoming more like summer.  Oxymoron for sure, but it is true. ...

Interesting. That's something that seems nearly impossible to conceptualize, yet it's happening.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brookings has a very good microclimate for growing plants. Interesting what's able to grow there because it gives me a good idea of what will grow here. April to the early october we are warmer and October to the end of march Brookings is warmer. Pretty similar to the Scilly isles a the lowest temperature they got too last winter was 39f. Any Rhopalostylis sapida or Howea forsteriana growing there?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Foxpalms said:

Brookings has a very good microclimate for growing plants. Interesting what's able to grow there because it gives me a good idea of what will grow here. April to the early october we are warmer and October to the end of march Brookings is warmer. Pretty similar to the Scilly isles a the lowest temperature they got too last winter was 39f. Any Rhopalostylis sapida or Howea forsteriana growing there?

It is surprisingly wet there in Brookings, certainly compared to London. A whopping 78 inches vs 22 inches in London. I mean 5 months, from November - March, average 10+ inches of rain each month, which is excessively wet. Like really wet. The fact that the driest year on record is only 43 inches is pretty extreme in itself.

Despite that it is also significantly sunnier as well too, which isn't surprising since it is at 42N compared to 51N for London. An average high of 66-67F during July though is really quite poor as well. Glasgow in Scotland at 55N actually averages slightly higher July maximums than Brookings. And Scotland's summers are crap!

The extremely wet winters and coldish summers in Brookings probably cause some issues for some palm species and exotics. No chance of cacti surviving there, unlike in London. I have my suspicions about stuff like Brahea Armata and Washingtonia Filifera surviving there as well due to the winter deluges. Robusta's may be okay though.

  • Like 1

Dry-summer Oceanic climate (9a)

Average annual precipitation - 18.7 inches : Average annual sunshine hours - 1725

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

It is surprisingly wet there in Brookings, certainly compared to London. A whopping 78 inches vs 22 inches in London. I mean 5 months, from November - March, average 10+ inches of rain each month, which is excessively wet. Like really wet. The fact that the driest year on record is only 43 inches is pretty extreme in itself.

Despite that it is also significantly sunnier as well too, which isn't surprising since it is at 42N compared to 51N for London. An average high of 66-67F during July though is really quite poor as well. Glasgow in Scotland at 55N actually averages slightly higher July maximums than Brookings. And Scotland's summers are crap!

The extremely wet winters and coldish summers in Brookings probably cause some issues for some palm species and exotics. No chance of cacti surviving there, unlike in London. I have my suspicions about stuff like Brahea Armata and Washingtonia Filifera surviving there as well due to the winter deluges. Robusta's may be okay though.

Except desert plants. If a palm can survive the cool wet winters there it probably will here in the cooler but drier winters here. The fact queen's can grow in Brookings is a good sign they will do well in the south of the UK with cooler summers than London. Places along the south coast.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The colder summers in Brookings is related to dense marine layer of fog which is pulled on-land from off the cold Pacific by the intense heat and higher pressures inland.  Also the nearshore ocean water is getting colder in summer because of the increase in up-welling of dense very cold water from the deep ocean.  I am a scuba diver that uses a drysuit with a thick polar undergarment, thick gloves and complete 7mm hood with broad face mask to tuck under the hood.  Temperatures of our ocean during summer is between 48 and 58 F related to the up-welling.  Temperatures of the ocean during winter are between 52 and 60 F.  98% of the time air flow or wind comes from out of the west either from SW, West or NW most of the year. 

The coastline in Southern Oregon is Northwest to Southeast with hills and mountains inland that face Southwest.  During Winter the sun is lower in angle and because there is rarely fog during these shorter days, the sun reflects off the ocean and onto these hills and slopes facing southwest giving a near double exposure of sunlight.

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 I have lived in Brookings for 40 years and it is getting more subtropical every year.  Last hard freeze 30 F was about 5 years ago for one night.  Summers are getting colder with dense fog in July, August and Sept. and are becoming more like winter, while Dec., Jan, and Feb. are becoming more like summer.  Oxymoron for sure, but it is true. 

Pacific influence is evening things out year round.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, SeanK said:

 I have lived in Brookings for 40 years and it is getting more subtropical every year.  Last hard freeze 30 F was about 5 years ago for one night.  Summers are getting colder with dense fog in July, August and Sept. and are becoming more like winter, while Dec., Jan, and Feb. are becoming more like summer.  Oxymoron for sure, but it is true. 

Pacific influence is evening things out year round.

That's the Way, no doubt about it. 

The Pacific Ocean is over 1/3 of the Earths surface and the largest influence on climate world wide.  It takes more than 12 hours commercial jet to fly across and it stretches from Pole to Pole and tropics to tropics.  There are no continents between and no large islands and the Pacific is deep without major shallows throughout with possible exception at the extreme southwest near New Zealand.  Pacific Ocean is the remnant of the primeval ocean that covered the Earth billions of years ago except it is deeper.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Banana Belt said:

The colder summers in Brookings is related to dense marine layer of fog which is pulled on-land from off the cold Pacific by the intense heat and higher pressures inland.  Also the nearshore ocean water is getting colder in summer because of the increase in up-welling of dense very cold water from the deep ocean.  I am a scuba diver that uses a drysuit with a thick polar undergarment, thick gloves and complete 7mm hood with broad face mask to tuck under the hood.  Temperatures of our ocean during summer is between 48 and 58 F related to the up-welling.  Temperatures of the ocean during winter are between 52 and 60 F.  98% of the time air flow or wind comes from out of the west either from SW, West or NW most of the year. 

The coastline in Southern Oregon is Northwest to Southeast with hills and mountains inland that face Southwest.  During Winter the sun is lower in angle and because there is rarely fog during these shorter days, the sun reflects off the ocean and onto these hills and slopes facing southwest giving a near double exposure of sunlight.

 

It's definitely a very interesting climate the colder water definitely regulates the temperature there alot. The water temperature in the Scilly isles is between 50-58f in winter and 64-68f in the summer and here in London the sea is between 45-50f in the winter and 67-73f in the summer. Because the gulf stream brings clear warmer water with lots of macronutrients up from the Carribbean the south coast of the UK and especially far south west Cornwall and Scilly isles has lots of cold water coral reefs and impressive marine life. Has Brookings got any impressive marine life there? Some areas of mainland Cornwall have hills that trap in the sea air and are facing south except they don't have the Brookings effect pretty much the same plants grow there CIDP, jubaea chilensis, Washingtonia robusta, butia and some more uncommon ones around such as syagrus romanzoffianana, archontophoenix cunninghamiana, livistona, Rhopalostylis sapida and howea.

Edited by Foxpalms
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Banana BeltHave you made a thread of all the palms and plants growing around Brookings? Theres surely got to be lots of 9b and 10a plants there that haven't been posted on palm talk before given how good the climate is for its latitude for the USA.  

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Foxpalms said:

@Banana BeltHave you made a thread of all the palms and plants growing around Brookings? Theres surely got to be lots of 9b and 10a plants there that haven't been posted on palm talk before given how good the climate is for its latitude for the USA.  

Not yet, I need to go around, take pictures, talk with some of the owners I know (which are most of them), figure out what palm species they are because I am a noivice on palms. 

Ocean life off South Coast Oregon is all cold water creatures, Pictures as follows;

IMG_2194.thumb.JPG.ef9550fe0666071662f66e711b2bed02.JPGIMG_2219.thumb.JPG.5813e350d0fbf242e966f59d7dd2c243.JPG

 

 

 

  • Like 4
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Banana Belt Amazing what's in the ocean around Brookings, just as amazing as the plants that grow there. Here are some photos of the Cornish marine life. Photos of the sharks are mine rest is off Google. I did have a few good underwater videos of the blue sharks snorkelling with them but I need to get those of my go pro, annoyingly my go pro ran dead just before when a massive mako shark swam past me. I don't know if I'd scuba dive in cold water though, too cold in my opinion, it was cold enough near surface level!

Screenshot_20221002-000940261 (1).jpg

Screenshot_20221002-000929889 (1).jpg

Screenshot_20221002-000838958 (1).jpg

Screenshot_20221002-000822621 (1).jpg

Screenshot_20221002-000804801 (1).jpg

Screenshot_20221002-000739944 (1).jpg

Screenshot_20221002-000506167 (1).jpg

Screenshot_20221001-235113195 (1).jpg

Screenshot_20221001-235036285 (1).jpg

Edited by Foxpalms
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Foxpalms:   Wow! The Cornish marine is absolutely beautiful.  I am jealous, the water is so clear and the colonial anenomes are amazing, and if I am not mistaken in one picture it looks like coral.  Our marine water off Brookings is rarely more than 5 feet visibility, with a olive green color like unrefined olive oil.  Our ocean is also rough with two to five meter swells, of course I don't go diving when it's like that, but I will go when swells are 1 meter.  I will be 70 very soon and each year gets a little harder for me to go diving.  Wearing a dry suit with 30 lbs. of lead weight, 35 lb steel tank, speargun, regulator and other attachments total weight of gear is close to 90 lbs.  I do about 20 dives a year all solo as there is no one else in this community of 10,000 people who will go diving, certainly none of the young people. 

If i were living in the British Islands, I would move to my ancestors homeland of Cornwall and go diving all the time. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Banana BeltAmazing underwater shots. Ive always wondered what oregon diving looked like. 

From one fellow Oregonian to another, If you could take pictures, videos etc of the palms in Brookings/Harbor (along with locations preferably) that would be amazing. Talk to the owners as well, see if any of them, or yourself would experiment with other palms besides Washies and CIDP's. It would be so cool to see more archontophoenix cunninghamianas, livistonas, Rhopalostylis sapidas (personally I would love to see this one), howeas and even plants like philodendrons or devils ivy.

Any chance I can get, I'm driving 6 hours to get down there!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a fascinating thread, thanks to all the contributors !  :greenthumb:

  • Like 1

San Francisco, California

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, Zach K said:

@Banana BeltAmazing underwater shots. Ive always wondered what oregon diving looked like. 

From one fellow Oregonian to another, If you could take pictures, videos etc of the palms in Brookings/Harbor (along with locations preferably) that would be amazing. Talk to the owners as well, see if any of them, or yourself would experiment with other palms besides Washies and CIDP's. It would be so cool to see more archontophoenix cunninghamianas, livistonas, Rhopalostylis sapidas (personally I would love to see this one), howeas and even plants like philodendrons or devils ivy.

Any chance I can get, I'm driving 6 hours to get down there!

Zach out of your list there is a big Archontophoenix there, photos have been posted previously.  As well I have seen photos of Howeas there too,  Philodendrons depending on the species are hardy in the Portland area but I have seen large ones at the coast.

Other interesting specimens are all the citrus, Pygmy dates and Norfolk island pines.  I'm sure there is so much more but these are plants I have seen myself.

 

Edited by Chester B
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Zach K said:

@Chester BI saw the pictures, simply magnificent. I meant maybe there's more. What type of large Philos have you seen at the coast?

 

Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a novice when it comes to Palm trees, I don't know all the names or species but I have always loved Palms.  There are several places up the Chetco River that have different kind of palms and also up the Winchuck River.  There is a big house down at the mouth of the Chetco on the North side.  I knew the people who built the house and they purchased about 8 big Washingtonia Fan Palms from a guy down the street from me and had them transplanted to their new home.  They also put in other big palms, varieties I don't know.   Strange how some people will move in to Brookings, buy a property with nice palms on it and then sell the palms to someone else who just moved in that is looking for big palms to purchase and transplant to their new place.   I have seen palms on trucks going up and down the roads and highways, always wondered what it was all about. 

I never thought about what people would pay for Palms,  I just love the looks and music palms will make in the breeze.  Our Jubaea for example are like wind chimes, making a really beautiful clacking sound in a gentle breeze.   Fan palms will sometimes whistle if the wind blows just right.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/30/2022 at 8:31 AM, Zach K said:

Dude, that is insane. Couple questions, how would one go about trying some of that Oregon grown exotic fruit? Also whats that palm in the back there?? A queen?

Also the whats the address of those MASSIVE Jubaeas?? This place keeps getting more awesome every time I look into it or drive by it.

Yes, 35 years old from seed.  Jubaea are 40 years old from seed.  The Feijoa are the blue green bushes foreground of the Jubaea.  I sell some in local farmers market and also to a Rum Distiller up in Charleston, Or.   Otherwise we eat Fresh feijoa first part of winter, make wine and for a real treat dry the fruit.  Dried Feijoa is absolutely delicious. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Banana Belt said:

The Feijoa are the blue green bushes foreground of the Jubaea.  I sell some in local farmers market and also to a Rum Distiller up in Charleston, Or.   Otherwise we eat Fresh feijoa first part of winter, make wine and for a real treat dry the fruit.  Dried Feijoa is absolutely delicious. 

These are very hardy fruits.  There is a U-pick Fejoia farm out in Beaverton/Hillboro which is colder than the metro area.  I believe the bushes are around the same age as yours.

https://www.vialfamilyfarm.com/upick

They are more common than you think, as quite a few nurseries around here sell a number of varieties.  My three flower but are just getting to the point where they will reliably produce fruit.  I had some last year for the first time and I quite like them, especially with the skin on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...