Farthest North in Florida That Adonidias Can Be Grown?

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Hi Everyone,

I am curious how far north in Florida (Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast) that Adonidia merillii can be grown?  I have two that are a little over 3ft. tall in overall height that I planted right off my front patio that faces east south-east toward the Laguna Madre (.6 of a mile to my east) in a cool to mild 10A winter Climate, so I hope they will survive and even fruit one day.  I would really like to have the beautiful red fruits at Christmas time on my palms.  I will try to take some photos of them tomorrow afternoon and put a link to them on here.

John

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

East coast: I have seen some ugly but surviving ones in the ground in downtown Titusville about 1/4 mile west of the intercoastal waterway (Indian River). They were planted in Titusville as a roadside planting. They grow great in Cocoa Beach / Cape Canaveral which isn't quite as northerly as Titusville. 

Edited May 11, 2016 by Cocoa Beach Jason

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

28 minutes ago, Cocoa Beach Jason said:

East coast: I have seen some ugly but surviving ones in the ground in downtown Titusville about 1/4 mile west of the intercoastal waterway (Indian River). They were planted in Titusville as a roadside planting. They grow great in Cocoa Beach / Cape Canaveral which isn't quite as northerly as Titusville. 

Thanks, Jason.  I would think they would do pretty well in Titusville, especially near the Indian River, but look like what you described in the inland areas around New Smyrna Beach and on the north side of Orlando.

John

[RedRabbit]

They're pretty sensitive to the cold; not quite as much as coconuts, but not that much less. On the west coast I'm thinking New Port Richie right by the gulf is probably the northern limit barring a terrible winter. On the east coast I'd guess beachside New Smyrna Beach might have a few older adonidia in protected locations. 

 

It might surprise some people that North Tampa actually has a few pre-2010 adonidias (South Tampa has plenty): 

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.0870702,-82.5277117,3a,75y,183.23h,82.51t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sydm5ld2lv9RXtO7W0R-O1w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.0591535,-82.515197,3a,15y,54.82h,91.36t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1szxoiWZ_laUc63cSzRyWVvg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

The common factor with those are they're planted right next to a home, it makes a big difference. Here are a bunch that met an early demise a few miles south: 

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.0255696,-82.5475381,3a,75y,148.45h,72.8t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sDmgj4JNfSJacNxqs1y7luw!2e0!7i3328!8i1664!6m1!1e1

 

I doubt having a lake .6 miles to your east makes a difference. Your best bet longer term would be planting them right next to your house, but they'll still be somewhat marginal. 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2016 by RedRabbit

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

30 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Thanks, Jason.  I would think they would do pretty well in Titusville, especially near the Indian River, but look like what you described in the inland areas around New Smyrna Beach and on the north side of Orlando.

John

I would say Titusville is disadvantaged by being further from the ocean (although near Indian River). 

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

20 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

They're pretty sensitive to the cold; not quite as much as coconuts, but not that much less. On the west coast I'm thinking New Port Richie right by the gulf is probably the northern limit barring a terrible winter. On the east coast I'd guess beachside New Smyrna Beach might have a few older adonidia in protected locations. 

 

It might surprise some people that North Tampa actually has a few pre-2010 adonidias (South Tampa has plenty): 

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.0870702,-82.5277117,3a,75y,183.23h,82.51t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sydm5ld2lv9RXtO7W0R-O1w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.0591535,-82.515197,3a,15y,54.82h,91.36t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1szxoiWZ_laUc63cSzRyWVvg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

The common factor with those are they're planted right next to a home, it makes a big difference. Here are a bunch that met an early demise a few miles south: 

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.0255696,-82.5475381,3a,75y,148.45h,72.8t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sDmgj4JNfSJacNxqs1y7luw!2e0!7i3328!8i1664!6m1!1e1

 

I doubt having a lake .6 miles to your east makes a difference. Your best bet longer term would be planting them right next to your house, but they'll still be somewhat marginal. 

 

 

I would be surprised if New Smyrna has adonidias of any real age. My guess is they were killed in 2010 in that area. But I am not there enough to opine definitively. Since there is a juvenile coconut in New Smyrna (for a limited time only) I imagine there might be some young adonidias for the time being. They are likely not a long term palm in New Smyrna.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Cocoa Beach Jason

[Eric in Orlando]

They are almost identical to coconuts in hardiness. But their advantage is being a smaller palm so easier to protect and can be planted in smaller, more protected locations than coconuts.

[RedRabbit]

On 5/10/2016, 10:45:14, Cocoa Beach Jason said:

I would be surprised if New Smyrna has adonidias of any real age. My guess is they were killed in 2010 in that area. But I am not there enough to opine definitively. Since there is a juvenile coconut in New Smyrna (for a limited time only) I imagine there might be some young adonidias for the time being. They are likely not a long term palm in New Smyrna.

I agree, when I say NSB I mean maybe a few in protected locations. That's not great, but better than somewhere like Jax where there's just zero chance whatsoever. 

[Eric in Orlando]

There are some in NSB that survived the 2009-10 winter as well as in Orlando.

The best one I ever saw in Orlando was across the lake from Leu Gardens on a some land between another lake. It was planted out around 1994-95 and had grown well and was tall, maybe 15-16ft and fruited heavily. It survived the 2009-10 winter but was damaged. But the next winter was another cool/cold one but not as bad as the previous winter. It didn't survive that one. Adonidia are just like coconuts as they don't tolerate long cool/cold spells. Ironically a house a few blocks away planted 2 groups of triple trunk Adonidia in summer 2009. They are in a warm spot next to a lake but not as protected as where the tall one was. Both groups survived. But they were shorter, 5-6ft so probably got protection from the heat of the house. They had damage from both winters but have grown well since.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Thanks all for the responses.  I have mine planted about 8 ft. off the front porch facing east-southeast, so they are protected from cold north winds in the winter.

[RedRabbit]

24 minutes ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Thanks all for the responses.  I have mine planted about 8 ft. off the front porch facing east-southeast, so they are protected from cold north winds in the winter.

I'd suggest about 1ft off the wall... That's what I'm doing with a few of my palms at least.

[Davidl]

Anywhere it does not freeze or frost in Florida they will do fine. 

[SubTropicRay]

A tidbit of info, the 2010 freeze killed more than one Adonidia all the way to western Dade county.  The duration of cold that year had a big impact.  Of course, this is an anomaly but it can and does happen.  The same was true for Coconuts.

[PalmatierMeg]

The freeze of 2010 killed a majority of Adonidias in Cape Coral - mine were shielded by the house and lanai so surivived with severe foliar damage. This species was way over-planted and neglected anyway so the cull was due. Surviving palms didn't flower and set seeds for two years.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

On May 10, 2016 at 9:22:50 PM, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Hi Everyone,

I am curious how far north in Florida (Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast) that Adonidia merillii can be grown?  I have two that are a little over 3ft. tall in overall height that I planted right off my front patio that faces east south-east toward the Laguna Madre (.6 of a mile to my east) in a cool to mild 10A winter Climate, so I hope they will survive and even fruit one day.  I would really like to have the beautiful red fruits at Christmas time on my palms.  I will try to take some photos of them tomorrow afternoon and put a link to them on here.

John

John, I'd ask you this, what would you consider a successful planting?  If it survives 1 winter, 5, 10, or never freezes to death?  IMO, most of he FL peninsula is too cold for the "never freezes" answer.  In fact, probably less than 10% of FL is warm enough that Adonidia palms will never die of cold.  Where I live, Adonidia might make it a winter or two in a carefully selected setting.  In town, they can probably get 5-10 years on average between killing cold.  But some years, they are going to look really bad by spring...lots of brown blotches, spots, yellow leaves, and stunted new leaves.  It doesn't have to reach 32 for that kind of damage to start, it starts around 40.  Chilling injury also seems to suppress flowering so the red fruits may never develop.  In your area, if you get fruit before it dies of cold, I'd say thats pretty darn good.  Corpus is a zone push, even in a mild microclimate.  

[Xenon]

Here are some Adonidia in S. Texas after a severe freeze: TX Adonidia post-freeze 

You can compare them to the the royal and foxtail palms just around the block (to the right) and also the Ficus elastica, F. benjamina, and the papayas. Coconuts were completely defoliated, some died. 

Weather history:

2/2/2011: 46/32

2/3/2011: 35/28

2/4/2011: 42/30

2/5/2011: 59/37