Zone 10 Trees And Palms In Corpus Christi, Texas

January 26, 2016

Here are some photos of Zone 10 trees and palms in Corpus Christi, Texas that I took this past weekend. I hope you enjoy them. We have other Zone 10 trees and plants that I will try to get some photos of this week, including: Bottle Palms, Royal Poincianas, Mangoes, Papayas, Avocadoes, Mexican Limes, Sea Grapes, etc.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1701831233392435&set=a.1701831043392454.1073741829.100006967231159&type=3&size=750%2C1000

January 26, 2016

That is really nice! 10a seems to be the point where things start looking really tropical. What's the lowest temp you've had in the past several years? How cold was the 2010 freeze?

January 26, 2016

46 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Here are some photos of Zone 10 trees and palms in Corpus Christi, Texas that I took this past weekend. I hope you enjoy them. We have other Zone 10 trees and plants that I will try to get some photos of this week, including: Bottle Palms, Royal Poincianas, Mangoes, Papayas, Avocadoes, Mexican Limes, Sea Grapes, etc.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1701831233392435&set=a.1701831043392454.1073741829.100006967231159&type=3&size=750%2C1000

Except for coconuts, it looks like you're growing the same stuff as on Brevard County islands in Florida.

January 26, 2016

2 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Here are some photos of Zone 10 trees and palms in Corpus Christi, Texas that I took this past weekend. I hope you enjoy them. We have other Zone 10 trees and plants that I will try to get some photos of this week, including: Bottle Palms, Royal Poincianas, Mangoes, Papayas, Avocadoes, Mexican Limes, Sea Grapes, etc.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1701831233392435&set=a.1701831043392454.1073741829.100006967231159&type=3&size=750%2C1000

All the first photos were taken at the Texas A&M University Corpus Christi Campus all the way through the Foxtail Palms and the last photo of the white Hibiscus, the other photos were taken on Ocean Dr., and here in Flour Bluff near where I live. The photo of the Hong Kong Orchid Tree is from my yard. By the way, speaking of Coconut Palms, by this time next year, I hope to have more of them established here.

January 26, 2016

1 hour ago, Opal92 said:

That is really nice! 10a seems to be the point where things start looking really tropical. What's the lowest temp you've had in the past several years? How cold was the 2010 freeze?

I am not sure how cold it got here in 2010. I will try to look that up for you. In 2011, there was a bad freeze here in which it got down to at least 27F and stayed below 32F for over 24 hours. That was the freeze that killed all but one Coconut Palm here. The only survivor is the one that I posted the photo of on Ocean Dr., but it was defoliated and later recovered. Since then, where I live in Flour Bluff, the winter lowest temps have been 34.5F in 2012, 33.6F in 2013, 36.3F in 2014, and so far the lowest I have had here is 38.3F. I did lose my 3 Green Malayan Dwarf Coconut Palms I had in my yard over the last two winters, not because of hard freezes, but because over those two winters, we had 2 straight weeks each winter and other times too throughout the winter when our highs were only in the upper 30's to low 50's with many more lows in the 30's and low 40's than we should have had at a time when my highs and lows should have been from the mid 60's to low 70's and lows from about 50F to 54F. The last two winters were unusually damp and CHILLY. This winter, to the contrary has been unusually mild, so far a high end 10B winter.

January 26, 2016

The Ficus benghalensis is impressive! Even in the Valley, the 2011 freeze torched most of the Ficus (especially F. benjamina). There is a big F. macrophylla at Moody Gardens in Galveston that sailed through the 2011 freeze and also a large F. elastica that is recovering. Did not get pics, but a few weeks ago the royal palms there were flowering.

Would love to see the size of the royal poincianas and seagrapes in Corpus Christi...

Edited January 26, 2016 by Xenon

January 26, 2016

8 minutes ago, Xenon said:

The Ficus benghalensis is impressive! Even in the Valley, the 2011 freeze torched most of the Ficus (especially F. benjamina). There is a big F. macrophylla at Moody Gardens in Galveston that sailed through the 2011 freeze and also a large F. elastica that is recovering. Did not get pics, but a few weeks ago the royal palms there were flowering.

Would love to see the size of the royal poincianas and seagrapes in Corpus Christi...

Hey Jonathon,

I will try to get some for you and everyone else this week. I have a photo of my poinciana that I could post. It is from last fall and only about 7ft. tall (not too impressive), but there are some others around town that are significantly bigger. They have almost lost all their leaves though, after having kept about 50% of their leaves almost all winter.

John

January 28, 2016

Great photos, that coconut looks a little bit sorry but the fact that it is there at all is impressive. If only I had the 3 million to buy the house that it's sitting with I'd be sure to take better care of it and let it grow out.

January 28, 2016

49 minutes ago, Xerarch said:

Great photos, that coconut looks a little bit sorry but the fact that it is there at all is impressive. If only I had the 3 million to buy the house that it's sitting with I'd be sure to take better care of it and let it grow out.

My sentiments exactly. If either one of us could buy the place, we would literally have the MOST VALUABLE COCONUT PALM IN THE WORLD, LOL! (especially to us Palmtalk coconut fanatics). I think it is penciling in the trunk because of the 2011 freeze and from being over trimmed. For some reason here in South Texas, homeowners and business owners LOVE to be unnecessarily fleeced out of their money by smooth talking palm trimming scheisters who make a business out of selling people on palm trimming aka PALM BUTCHERING here and in the RGV. Us palm nuts are trying very hard to wake people up to the absurdity of regular palm trimming (BUTCHERING) and the absolute LUNACY of paying someone for such an unnecessary service! PALM ALWAYS LOOK SO MUCH BETTER WITH A FULL CROWN OF LEAVES! They are particularly bad about BUTCHERING the Washingtonias here twice per year at the two worst times to trim a palm, in May going into hurricane season, when they need a full healthy crown of leaves to help disperse hurricane winds around the palm, and again in the late fall around late November to early December, when they need their full healthy crown of leaves to help protect the bud from any potential severe freeze. Stupidity knows no bounds here in Redneck Texas!

January 28, 2016

37 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

My sentiments exactly. If either one of us could buy the place, we would literally have the MOST VALUABLE COCONUT PALM IN THE WORLD, LOL! (especially to us Palmtalk coconut fanatics). I think it is penciling in the trunk because of the 2011 freeze and from being over trimmed. For some reason here in South Texas, homeowners and business owners LOVE to be unnecessarily fleeced out of their money by smooth talking palm trimming scheisters who make a business out of selling people on palm trimming aka PALM BUTCHERING here and in the RGV. Us palm nuts are trying very hard to wake people up to the absurdity of regular palm trimming (BUTCHERING) and the absolute LUNACY of paying someone for such an unnecessary service! PALM ALWAYS LOOK SO MUCH BETTER WITH A FULL CROWN OF LEAVES! They are particularly bad about BUTCHERING the Washingtonias here twice per year at the two worst times to trim a palm, in May going into hurricane season, when they need a full healthy crown of leaves to help disperse hurricane winds around the palm, and again in the late fall around late November to early December, when they need their full healthy crown of leaves to help protect the bud from any potential severe freeze. Stupidity knows no bounds here in Redneck Texas!

The trimming mania is pretty bad in S. Florida too. It kills me to see the trees culled of (say) beautiful green coconuts -- piles of them waiting to be taken who knows where. Maybe to a big roadside stand down in Davie where they sell them in every way possible.

I think that, here at least, the palm trimming has as much to do with fears of liability (coconuts especially) as with aesthetics.

January 28, 2016

3 minutes ago, PompanoBeach said:

The trimming mania is pretty bad in S. Florida too. It kills me to see the trees culled of (say) beautiful green coconuts -- piles of them waiting to be taken who knows where. Maybe to a big roadside stand down in Davie where they sell them in every way possible.

I think that, here at least, the palm trimming has as much to do with fears of liability (coconuts especially) as with aesthetics.

I know the aesthetics argument, but I don't understand it. Like I said above, palms always look much better with a full crown of leaves and Coconut Palms always look better and more natural with their nuts on them. If people are worried about the occasional falling coconut, they could just post warning signs saying "BEWARE OF FALLING COCONUTS!". I would never trim them off my palms unless I had a coconut farm that was shipping out fresh green coconuts for the coconut water, which is better from young green coconuts than from older ripe ones (the older ripe ones with brown husks are the ones good for sprouting, since young green nuts won't sprout).

Davie would probably be a decent more rural (and hopefully less strict area) for someone like me to have a few acres and an all organic nursery with my house, but the prices there would be prohibitive for me, though I may be able to buy something around Lake Okeechobee one day.

January 29, 2016

Seems that Corpus Christi lies almost at the same latitude as Tampa, how does it differs climate/weather wise?

January 29, 2016

18 hours ago, Coconutman said:

Seems that Corpus Christi lies almost at the same latitude as Tampa, how does it differs climate/weather wise?

Hey Zachary,

Corpus Christi lies at 27.76*N and Tampa lies at 27.95*N, so Corpus is just very slightly south of Tampa, but for all practical purposes the same latitude. Corpus Christi's normal high and low for Jan. is 67F/47 (but for a few days in early Jan., the normal low drops to 66F), and the all time record low is 11F. Tampa's normal high and low for Jan. is 70F/51F, with an all time record low of 18F. Corpus is classified as a Zone 9B Climate, but there is a thin line of 10A along the east end of Ocean Dr. (the street along the bay front), here in Flour Bluff where I live (a small peninsula on the east side of town), and on North Padre Island. I think most of Tampa is classified as Zone 10A, with probably a few thin areas of Zone 10B around the peninsula on the south side of town and adjacent areas along the shoreline.

Also, Corpus Christi is affected more often and more severely by continental Arctic air masses than Tampa is. Tampa has the benefit of the Gulf being to its west and northwest to buffer it more in these cold Arctic outbreaks, whereas Corpus Christi has the Gulf to its east, with only a little buffer of water effect from Corpus Christi Bay and Nueces Bay on its north side. Also, Tampa has the benefit of many inland lakes and spring fed rivers nearby to it northeast, north, and north/northwest that probably offer a little more buffer effect moderating Arctic fronts.

The rainfall is quite a bit different too, with Corpus Christi average about 31.76" per year, and Tampa averaging over 48" per year. We both however, have humid climates, with high humidity in the summer months.

John

January 29, 2016

Just now, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Hey Zachary,

Corpus Christi lies at 27.76*N and Tampa lies at 27.95*N, so Corpus is just very slightly south of Tampa, but for all practical purposes the same latitude. Corpus Christi's normal high and low for Jan. is 67F/47 (but for a few days in early Jan., the normal low drops to 66F), and the all time record low is 11F. Tampa's normal high and low for Jan. is 70F/51F, with an all time record low of 18F. Corpus is classified as a Zone 9B Climate, but there is a thin line of 10A along the east end of Ocean Dr. (the street along the bay front), here in Flour Bluff where I live (a small peninsula on the east side of town), and on North Padre Island. I think most of Tampa is classified as Zone 10A, with probably a few thin areas of Zone 10B around the peninsula on the south side of town and adjacent areas along the shoreline.

Also, Corpus Christi is affected more often and more severely by continental Arctic air masses than Tampa is. Tampa has the benefit of the Gulf being to its west and northwest to buffer it more in these cold Arctic outbreaks, whereas Corpus Christi has the Gulf to its east, with only a little buffer of water effect from Corpus Christi Bay and Nueces Bay on its north side. Also, Tampa has the benefit of many inland lakes and spring fed rivers nearby to it northeast, north, and north/northwest that probably offer a little more buffer effect moderating Arctic fronts.

The rainfall is quite a bit different too, with Corpus Christi average about 31.76" per year, and Tampa averaging over 48" per year. We both however, have humid climates, with high humidity in the summer months.

John

Sorry, typo in reference to our normal daily high, it should say (.... the normal high drops to 66F),...

January 30, 2016

Thanks John, It was really interested in maybe relocating somewhere in South Texas or FL? Seeing that both climes offers similar experiences, sans winter temps and precipitation.Also I used to live in North Tampa so maybe I'm missin the place!

Edited January 30, 2016 by Coconutman

January 30, 2016

2 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Hey Zachary,

Corpus Christi lies at 27.76*N and Tampa lies at 27.95*N, so Corpus is just very slightly south of Tampa, but for all practical purposes the same latitude. Corpus Christi's normal high and low for Jan. is 67F/47 (but for a few days in early Jan., the normal low drops to 66F), and the all time record low is 11F. Tampa's normal high and low for Jan. is 70F/51F, with an all time record low of 18F. Corpus is classified as a Zone 9B Climate, but there is a thin line of 10A along the east end of Ocean Dr. (the street along the bay front), here in Flour Bluff where I live (a small peninsula on the east side of town), and on North Padre Island. I think most of Tampa is classified as Zone 10A, with probably a few thin areas of Zone 10B around the peninsula on the south side of town and adjacent areas along the shoreline.

Also, Corpus Christi is affected more often and more severely by continental Arctic air masses than Tampa is. Tampa has the benefit of the Gulf being to its west and northwest to buffer it more in these cold Arctic outbreaks, whereas Corpus Christi has the Gulf to its east, with only a little buffer of water effect from Corpus Christi Bay and Nueces Bay on its north side. Also, Tampa has the benefit of many inland lakes and spring fed rivers nearby to it northeast, north, and north/northwest that probably offer a little more buffer effect moderating Arctic fronts.

The rainfall is quite a bit different too, with Corpus Christi average about 31.76" per year, and Tampa averaging over 48" per year. We both however, have humid climates, with high humidity in the summer months.

John

I really don't think anywhere in Tampa is considered 10b, not even St Pete would be considered 10b. I know the zones changed a lot since the 80's but I would be very surprised if any 10b zones where located in Central Florida, but I could be wrong?

January 30, 2016

1 minute ago, Palmaceae said:

I really don't think anywhere in Tampa is considered 10b, not even St Pete would be considered 10b. I know the zones changed a lot since the 80's but I would be very surprised if any 10b zones where located in Central Florida, but I could be wrong?

I think a lot of the immediate coastal areas are 10B, such as St. Petersburg Beach, Melbourne Beach, etc. You don't think the shoreline areas around McDill and the adjacent shoreline areas around the bay front would stay at 35F or above on their coldest morning each winter?

January 30, 2016

10 minutes ago, Coconutman said:

Thanks John, It was really interested in maybe relocating somewhere in South Texas or FL? Seeing that both climes offers similar experiences, sans winter temps and precipitation.Also I used to live in North Tampa so maybe I'm missin the place!

Zachary,

Brownsville and Tampa have an almost identical winter time climate. Brownsville averages I think the same temps as Tampa at 70F/51F for the high and low in January. The only real difference in the two locations is in rainfall, in which like I said above, Tampa gets a little over 48" per year, and Brownsville gets about 26" to 27" per year. If you like growing Coconut Palms and Royal Palms, the Coconuts can get to be 40-45ft. tall there in overall height (tall varieties) and the Malayan Dwarfs can get to be about 20-25ft. tall in overall height, and they can both produce coconuts there when they are adequately watered in the dry summer time. Royal Palms that are adequately watered there can grow to be about 50-60ft. tall there, and you can grow other neat tropical trees like Royal Poincianas (big ones), Hong Kong Orchid Trees, Sea Grapes, Mangoes, Avocadoes, Papayas, etc.

The cost of home and land there is ridiculously low compared to Central and South Florida too. For what the cost of a newer 4br, 2ba. home in a regular middle class neighborhood would cost you in Florida, you could probably get a similar sized home on an acre or two off land along one of the sought after resacas in the Brownsville area.

John

P.S. An added benefit of the Rio Grande Valley is that the pace of life is a lot slower and stress is a lot less than in the Florida rat race!

January 30, 2016

25 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

I think a lot of the immediate coastal areas are 10B, such as St. Petersburg Beach, Melbourne Beach, etc. You don't think the shoreline areas around McDill and the adjacent shoreline areas around the bay front would stay at 35F or above on their coldest morning each winter?

Most of my experience in that area was in the 80's so that makes me think on the colder side . But that being said if you drive around those areas they look nothing like South Florida. If you drive around Cape Coral/Ft Myers it looks like South Florida, and of course the further south you go the more tropical it looks. You don't get that look in Tampa, anywhere, and even in St Pete you don't get that look, but it is more tropical looking than Tampa. I remember seeing the Wasingtonia's being defoliated in Tampa in the freezes we had in the 80's, and you really had to look for a coconut palms in St Pete, as there were only a few.

I know that was the 80's but it did happen and can happen again, but I hope not. With my experience in St Pete I even find it hard to believe it is 10a, I always considered it 9b, except for the immediate southern coast on Tampa Bay. Anna Maria island is the exception as I can see that as 10a. Also we need to realize the duration of cold weather is longer in Central Florida and the average temps are lower than South Florida.

January 30, 2016

I also remember how the cold 80's devestated Dr Youngs garden in Tampa, and he lived in a nice micro climate. Even Kopsick lost a lot of palms in that decade.

There are warm periods and cold periods in history. There were lots of mature coconut palms on Clearwater beach in the 50's, then in '62 a freeze killed most of them. They were planted again and grew great until '77 when again they were killed. Then we had the very cold decade of the 80's.

I remember vividly in one of the '80 freezes I was driving near Kopsick and it was 25 degrees and the very large banyan near that park was froze almost to the ground.

January 30, 2016

16 minutes ago, Palmaceae said:

Most of my experience in that area was in the 80's so that makes me think on the colder side . But that being said if you drive around those areas they look nothing like South Florida. If you drive around Cape Coral/Ft Myers it looks like South Florida, and of course the further south you go the more tropical it looks. You don't get that look in Tampa, anywhere, and even in St Pete you don't get that look, but it is more tropical looking than Tampa. I remember seeing the Wasingtonia's being defoliated in Tampa in the freezes we had in the 80's, and you really had to look for a coconut palms in St Pete, as there were only a few.

I know that was the 80's but it did happen and can happen again, but I hope not. With my experience in St Pete I even find it hard to believe it is 10a, I always considered it 9b, except for the immediate southern coast on Tampa Bay. Anna Maria island is the exception as I can see that as 10a. Also we need to realize the duration of cold weather is longer in Central Florida and the average temps are lower than South Florida.

The average yearly minimum for the Whitted airport since 1987 is 38.75˚. All of the data from before 1987 comes from the St. Pete/Clearwater airport in a colder spot though, so it's hard to figure the average while including the freezes of the '80s. That being said, the data from the St. Pete/Clearwater airport goes back to 1914, and if you replace all of the pre-1987 data with the data taken from that airport, the average comes out to be 35.8˚, so I find it likely that parts of St. Pete (Kopsick) would just fall within 10b.

That being said, I'm not convinced that Tampa has more than a few slivers of 10a long-term. There are very few coconut survivors from 2010, and no 100+ year old royals (like you see in Bradenton and Palmetto). Around USF I would say is a cold 9b, as there are very few crown-shafted palms that have been there longer than 10 years. Davis island seems like a 10a climate, but places just a little further in like Seminole Heights or Ybor don't seem much warmer than around USF.

Once you get down to Manatee county, things really warm up, and you see royals as old and tall as anything you see in South Florida, and pretty nice coconuts in some spots, with some Jamaican talls on Anna Maria island with over 50 feet of trunk. I feel safe saying that Anna Maria is 10b long-term, with Bradenton being 10a.

January 30, 2016

7 minutes ago, Zeeth said:

The average yearly minimum for the Whitted airport since 1987 is 38.75˚. All of the data from before 1987 comes from the St. Pete/Clearwater airport in a colder spot though, so it's hard to figure the average while including the freezes of the '80s. That being said, the data from the St. Pete/Clearwater airport goes back to 1914, and if you replace all of the pre-1987 data with the data taken from that airport, the average comes out to be 35.8˚, so I find it likely that parts of St. Pete (Kopsick) would fall within 10b.

That being said, I'm not convinced that Tampa has more than a few slivers of 10a long-term. There are very few coconut survivors from 2010, and no 100+ year old royals (like you see in Bradenton and Palmetto). Around USF I would say is a cold 9b, as there are very few crown-shafted palms that have been there longer than 10 years. Davis island seems like a 10a climate, but places just a little further in like Seminole Heights or Ybor don't seem much warmer than around USF.

Once you get down to Manatee county, things really warm up, and you see royals as old and tall as anything you see in South Florida, and pretty nice coconuts in some spots, with some Jamaican talls with over 50 feet of trunk.

Understood Keith, just my reality was the '80's . I do remember going across the Skyway and getting into Manatee county and seeing those royals, I always loved going south! I saw many royals in St Pete killed in the 80's.

I am sure you know that if you look at a coconut in St Pete, like the 2 talls at Kopsick, they look nothing like the ones further south. Even the ones here in Cape Coral/Ft Myers do not look as nice as the ones in Miami.

January 30, 2016

1 minute ago, Palmaceae said:

Understood Keith, just my reality was the '80's . I do remember going across the Skyway and getting into Manatee county and seeing those royals, I always loved going south! I saw many royals in St Pete killed in the 80's.

Yeah, my first two winters of having a palm collection was the back-to back onslaught of long-term cool weather in 2010 that made all the tropicals miserable, so I understand being a bit conservative about where to draw the zone lines. I'm very wary about zone-pushing because of it, so my only marginals are my coconuts (which I've always got one or two in pots so I can start over again if needed).

January 30, 2016

2 minutes ago, Zeeth said:

Yeah, my first two winters of having a palm collection was the back-to back onslaught of long-term cool weather in 2010 that made all the tropicals miserable, so I understand being a bit conservative about where to draw the zone lines. I'm very wary about zone-pushing because of it, so my only marginals are my coconuts (which I've always got one or two in pots so I can start over again if needed).

It is just strange that here in Cape Coral we are considered 10a, but 120 miles north of here in St Pete it is also 10a. I undestand how the zones work but Cape Coral 10a has to be different than Central Florida 10a, you know what I mean?

January 30, 2016

Just now, Palmaceae said:

It is just strange that here in Cape Coral we are considered 10a, but 120 miles north of here in St Pete it is also 10a. I undestand how the zones work but Cape Coral 10a has to be different than Central Florida 10a, you know what I mean?

From the climate stuff I've looked into, you're tropical, St. Pete is sub-tropical. The yearly minimums might be the same, but you warm up faster during the day, and have higher lows for the non-cold front days.

It definitely limits the tropical palms that can be grown when the average low during a normal January day is 50˚, despite being 10a (or 10b).

January 31, 2016

On 1/29/2016, 8:00:12, Zeeth said:

The average yearly minimum for the Whitted airport since 1987 is 38.75˚. All of the data from before 1987 comes from the St. Pete/Clearwater airport in a colder spot though, so it's hard to figure the average while including the freezes of the '80s. That being said, the data from the St. Pete/Clearwater airport goes back to 1914, and if you replace all of the pre-1987 data with the data taken from that airport, the average comes out to be 35.8˚, so I find it likely that parts of St. Pete (Kopsick) would just fall within 10b.

That being said, I'm not convinced that Tampa has more than a few slivers of 10a long-term. There are very few coconut survivors from 2010, and no 100+ year old royals (like you see in Bradenton and Palmetto). Around USF I would say is a cold 9b, as there are very few crown-shafted palms that have been there longer than 10 years. Davis island seems like a 10a climate, but places just a little further in like Seminole Heights or Ybor don't seem much warmer than around USF.

Once you get down to Manatee county, things really warm up, and you see royals as old and tall as anything you see in South Florida, and pretty nice coconuts in some spots, with some Jamaican talls on Anna Maria island with over 50 feet of trunk. I feel safe saying that Anna Maria is 10b long-term, with Bradenton being 10a.

Thanks for sharing that about Whitted being 10b since 1987, I wouldn't have guessed that but it isn't a big surprise either since it is right on the bay.

I'm a local and overall I fully agree with your post. I feel like all of Tampa is 9b. The last hardiness map I saw shows 9b extending north to about the Pasco/Hernando boarder, but I agree USF feels on the very low end of 9b or just 9a. Supposedly South Tampa is 10a, but I don't buy it. From what I've seen just watching the local news MacDill never seems any warmer than TIA. Having said that, there are a few coconut palms scattered throughout South Tampa particularly on Harbor Island, Davis Islands, and Beach Park. There are actually a few in Beach Park that are large enough to look like they were planted prior to 2010. :huh: In any event, when you cross a bridge into Pinellas County I think it is pretty clear you go up 1 level of hardiness from anything in Tampa.

I totally agree that Anna Maria is 10b, all the barrier islands from AMI south are from what I can tell. Also, I don't know if you've been to Cortez but it looks like something out of the Keys so I think 10b extends onto mainland Manatee a little ways.

Edited January 31, 2016 by RedRabbit

January 31, 2016

8 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

Thanks for sharing that about Whitted being 10b since 1987, I wouldn't have guessed that but it isn't a big surprise either since it is right on the bay.

I'm a local and overall I fully agree with your post. I feel like all of Tampa is 9b. The last hardiness map I saw shows 9b extending north to about the Pasco/Hernando boarder, but I agree USF feels on the very low end of 9b or just 9a. Supposedly South Tampa is 10a, but I don't buy it. From what I've seen just watching the local news MacDill never seems any warmer than TIA. Having said that, there are a few coconut palms scattered throughout South Tampa particularly on Harbor Island, Davis Islands, and Beach Park. There are actually a few in Beach Park that are large enough to look like they were planted prior to 2010. In any event, when you cross a bridge into Pinellas County I think it is pretty clear you go up 1 level of hardiness from anything in Tampa.

I totally agree that Anna Maria is 10b, all the barrier islands from AMI south are from what I can tell. Also, I don't know if you've been to Cortez but it looks like something out of the Keys so I think 10b extends onto mainland Manatee a little ways.

Yeah, that area around Cortez sticks out so far into the water that it's practically it's own island as far as microclimate goes. I meant more downtown Bradenton as 10a, those two little peninsulas at the end are probably 10b too.

January 31, 2016

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2016‎ ‎3‎:‎50‎:‎43‎, Xenon said:

The Ficus benghalensis is impressive! Even in the Valley, the 2011 freeze torched most of the Ficus (especially F. benjamina). There is a big F. macrophylla at Moody Gardens in Galveston that sailed through the 2011 freeze and also a large F. elastica that is recovering. Did not get pics, but a few weeks ago the royal palms there were flowering.

Would love to see the size of the royal poincianas and seagrapes in Corpus Christi...

Jonathon,

Here are some photos of local Sea Grapes. There are others around here, but these are some of the best ones I know of. There is a pretty nice group of them along the bay front downtown in front of the American Bank Center, but I haven't been there in a while and I try to avoid the downtown area as much as possible now due to a lot of street construction going on there. I have a 3 gal. potted Sea Grape from a seed off one of the downtown ones. The first photos is of one on the side of a house along Laguna Shores with the Laguna Madre right behind the house. The next four are of nice large ones growing on North Padre Island, and the last photo is of mine in my front yard, which is probably not a Texas grown Sea Grape since I bought it from Tree of Life Nursery in San Benito in the Valley about 3 years ago, and they get all their plants form Florida. It has done better here than I thought a Florida grown one would.

John

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1703743223201236&set=oa.1658904554370041&type=3&size=1000%2C750

January 31, 2016

29 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Jonathon,

Here are some photos of local Sea Grapes. There are others around here, but these are some of the best ones I know of. There is a pretty nice group of them along the bay front downtown in front of the American Bank Center, but I haven't been there in a while and I try to avoid the downtown area as much as possible now due to a lot of street construction going on there. I have a 3 gal. potted Sea Grape from a seed off one of the downtown ones. The first photos is of one on the side of a house along Laguna Shores with the Laguna Madre right behind the house. The next four are of nice large ones growing on North Padre Island, and the last photo is of mine in my front yard, which is probably not a Texas grown Sea Grape since I bought it from Tree of Life Nursery in San Benito in the Valley about 3 years ago, and they get all their plants form Florida. It has done better here than I thought a Florida grown one would.

John

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1703743223201236&set=oa.1658904554370041&type=3&size=1000%2C750

Nice to see some decent Sea Grapes in Texas. I was recently in Cocoa Beach Florida and was (as I have been in the past) impressed by the solid hedge of Sea Grape right on the dune at Jetty Park. It's a great looking plant and is so tolerant of beach conditions (minus cold tolerance). John yours looks a little nicer than the other photos I think, I don't know if it was just that particular photo but yours looks less beat up, looks cleaner, like the ones I was referring to in Florida. Maybe you water it more, I wonder what the difference is.

January 31, 2016

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2016‎ ‎3‎:‎50‎:‎43‎, Xenon said:

The Ficus benghalensis is impressive! Even in the Valley, the 2011 freeze torched most of the Ficus (especially F. benjamina). There is a big F. macrophylla at Moody Gardens in Galveston that sailed through the 2011 freeze and also a large F. elastica that is recovering. Did not get pics, but a few weeks ago the royal palms there were flowering.

Would love to see the size of the royal poincianas and seagrapes in Corpus Christi...

Jonathon,

Here are some photos of local Royal Poincianas. The first one is on the south side of a house along Ocean Dr. with the Corpus Christi Bay right behind the house. It is only about 1/2 mile down the street from the largest Coconut Palm in Corpus Christi. The second photo is of the largest Royal Poinciana in a group of about 10 of them planted at a dentist's office in Flour Bluff on the east side of Corpus. The last photo is of mine in the backyard. It has kept about 25% of its leaves even on this last day of January due to the very mild winter we are having. There are some other ones around town too that are pretty nice looking.

John

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1703752783200280&set=oa.1658910234369473&type=3&size=1000%2C750

January 31, 2016

1 hour ago, Xerarch said:

Nice to see some decent Sea Grapes in Texas. I was recently in Cocoa Beach Florida and was (as I have been in the past) impressed by the solid hedge of Sea Grape right on the dune at Jetty Park. It's a great looking plant and is so tolerant of beach conditions (minus cold tolerance). John yours looks a little nicer than the other photos I think, I don't know if it was just that particular photo but yours looks less beat up, looks cleaner, like the ones I was referring to in Florida. Maybe you water it more, I wonder what the difference is.

Hi Ammon,

You are right, mine does look a little better and greener, which really surprises me since it one apparently grown in Florida from parentage that is used to milder winters and more rainfall than we have here. I guess it is the fact that I apply my high quality MicroLife All Biological Organic Fertilizer in slow release granular form to it twice a year and I apply MicroLife Ocean Harvest 4-2-3 and Medina Hasta Gro Lawn as organic foliar sprays to it several times throughout the year. I also water it every couple of months when it is not raining, and I think the others are basically on their own with just rainfall, which averages about 29" per year on the island and about 31" to 32" in town.

John

February 1, 2016

6 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Hi Ammon,

You are right, mine does look a little better and greener, which really surprises me since it one apparently grown in Florida from parentage that is used to milder winters and more rainfall than we have here. I guess it is the fact that I apply my high quality MicroLife All Biological Organic Fertilizer in slow release granular form to it twice a year and I apply MicroLife Ocean Harvest 4-2-3 and Medina Hasta Gro Lawn as organic foliar sprays to it several times throughout the year. I also water it every couple of months when it is not raining, and I think the others are basically on their own with just rainfall, which averages about 29" per year on the island and about 31" to 32" in town.

John

I'm sure the fertilizer doesn't hurt but I'll bet its mostly the water. The ones in Florida that looked great were growing in pure sand which of course has a very poor nutrient carrying capacity. But that area gets 50 in. of rain per year which I'm sure helps a lot. Just keep up what you're doing I guess as long as it continues to look good, your temps are going to be the biggest threat anyway.

February 1, 2016

20 minutes ago, Xerarch said:

I'm sure the fertilizer doesn't hurt but I'll bet its mostly the water. The ones in Florida that looked great were growing in pure sand which of course has a very poor nutrient carrying capacity. But that area gets 50 in. of rain per year which I'm sure helps a lot. Just keep up what you're doing I guess as long as it continues to look good, your temps are going to be the biggest threat anyway.

I sure wish we had the Florida rainfall here, or even just 10" per year more would make me happy. I think if I can start keeping it watered every 2 weeks from now on when It's not raining, as opposed to just every 2 months when it's not raining, then it should double in size in the next couple of years (from 6ft. tall now to 12ft. tall). By the way, that part of the yard where it is planted is about 90 to 95% sand, almost as sandy as what they grow in on the beaches in Florida and the Caribbean.

February 2, 2016

On January 30, 2016 at 23:01:07, RedRabbit said:

From what I've seen just watching the local news MacDill never seems any warmer than TIA.

I was checking through the old records and I came upon something interesting that "Subtropic Ray" has mentioned in the past. Macdill was warmer than TIA consistently, every year until the winter of 2005/2006. Every year since then has been colder in Macdill than TIA. I'm wondering if this has to do with the increased urbanization in Tampa, whereas Macdill has stayed the same, or if the sensor at Macdill was moved to a different location at that time.

February 2, 2016

56 minutes ago, Zeeth said:

I was checking through the old records and I came upon something interesting that "Subtropic Ray" has mentioned in the past. Macdill was warmer than TIA consistently, every year until the winter of 2005/2006. Every year since then has been colder in Macdill than TIA. I'm wondering if this has to do with the increased urbanization in Tampa, whereas Macdill has stayed the same, or if the sensor at Macdill was moved to a different location at that time.

Very interesting Zeeth, I can't think of a good reason why Macdill would be cooler than TIA. Macdill has water on 3 sides of it and then South Tampa to the north witch is more urban than the area north of TIA. It would be tempting to think something is wrong with the thermometer at Macdill. lol

February 2, 2016

1 hour ago, RedRabbit said:

Very interesting Zeeth, I can't think of a good reason why Macdill would be cooler than TIA. Macdill has water on 3 sides of it and then South Tampa to the north witch is more urban than the area north of TIA. It would be tempting to think something is wrong with the thermometer at Macdill. lol

I agree, being south of TIA and with water on three sides it should be milder. The Naval Air Station over here in Corpus Christi has water on three sides too and is east southeast of the airport, and is significantly milder at night in the winter by about 3F to 7F on most nights.

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Zone 10 Trees And Palms In Corpus Christi, Texas

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