The Polar Vortex transmigrated from the West coast to the East coast and the numbers tell the story:

Phoenix, Az.

Maximum Median Minimum

81F 60F 39F

Heating Cooling Growing

151 4 295

Brownsville, Tx.

M M M

84F 58F 32F

H C G

233 21 272

Miami, Fl.

M M M

85F 68F 46F

H C G

55 152 551

Honolulu, Ha.

M M M

82F 73F 61F

H C G

0 246 691

Los Angeles, Ca.

M M M

85F 63F 44F

H C G

93 17 369

How about them apples?

What about Orlando, i would think the city itself couldn't have gone much below 33 this year.

Edited February 2, 201412 yr by Dakotafl

36F Merritt Island, Fl

34F here at Leu Gardens, just north of downtown Orlando.

My fiancee lives in Altamonte Springs, about 10 miles north. It has been down to 32F there, with frost.

By popular demand/ Orlando, Fl. at the Int. Airport:

M M M

86F 59F 30F

H C G

234 45 277

Looking a little bit like the Rio Grande

It certainly didn't get below 32F in Maitland (between Altamonte and Orlando) or I would see signs of it. I only see signs of a bit of frost on a few plants. I bet the low was 33F or so. We used to be basically identical to the Orlando Int'l Airport on the coldest mornings, now we are warmer, as it definitely did not get down to 30F here (and I have noticed this repeatedly the last few years). My royals get 1/3 - 1/2 defoliated by a low of 30F. They are untouched. Looking at the garden, it may as well be Ft. Lauderdale. I was out near Deland at Blue Springs recently and it doesn't really appear to have dropped past 30F or so even up there. I saw some partially fried bananas, some totally defoliated, some hardly touched. White bird of paradise untouched. Despite the trouble further north, this winter's absolute low here has been far above the historical average. I have a yard FULL of zone 10 plants still alive and healthy after this winter's "chill".

The prescient point of this collection of information has little to do with each places minimum temperature experienced. The substance of these numbers reveals "climate". It is the combination of Cooling, Heating, Growing, Maximum, Median and Minimum that ultimately accounts for the variety of Palms and other vegetation that can be grown.

The choice of these factors, without consideration of precipitation and humidity, reveals my own foibles as a Floridian. I take the ready availability of H2O as a given and it certainly is not. That stated, the combination of these six (6) factors plays a large role in the identification of what variety of vegetation can be grown in your particular spot on this planet. Drawing conclusions on one variable will take you down the wrong rabbit hole.

I calculated our January average here (OIA) as 69F/48F, which is just very slightly below average. Up north (Midwest, NE) the averages must be WAY below normal. This winter will no doubt be a reset moment for zone pushers in these areas. It looks like many palms in the DC area will survive. I'm guessing the palms planted out in Chicago won't be so lucky, even with protection (short of a heated enclosure).

Looking around my area shows that this winter has been slightly more cooler than average, it was that stretch back in January, i live in a cold spot and we got down to 31f so we were colder than most of the Orlando metro, but i doubt it went much under 33f in most of my area, i saw untouched bottles and certainly many of the coconut palms on the mainland did great.

The barrier island didn't drop below 35f, but that's normal.