Poll on Florida hardiness zones

[robert Lauriault]

Your reply to my post is fascinating to say the least! How can I obtain your revised map when it is completed?

As to trying some of the tropical palms you mention, I have been tempted, but I am held back by two factors: One is the cost of the plants and the effort involved in fetching them and planting them, and two, which is the more persuasive factor, is the knowledge that even if they survive, the cold will at the least inevitably damage them and they will become unsightly, perhaps requiring long periods of recovery or having no complete recovery at all. Nevertheless, I can be impulsive, so I could very well snag one of these tropical species when passing a nursery down south.

And by the way, many years ago (1980's !!!) I did try both a coconut and a Royal in Melrose, Florida in a similarly warm microclimate where I operated a commercial organic citrus grove for twenty years. The coconut died, not from a freeze, but from intolerably low ambient temperatures (I had it well protected from freezes), and the Royal from failure of the 200 watt bulb that I had enclosed in the plastic covering.

[kinzyjr]

2 hours ago, robert Lauriault said:

Your reply to my post is fascinating to say the least! How can I obtain your revised map when it is completed?

As to trying some of the tropical palms you mention, I have been tempted, but I am held back by two factors: One is the cost of the plants and the effort involved in fetching them and planting them, and two, which is the more persuasive factor, is the knowledge that even if they survive, the cold will at the least inevitably damage them and they will become unsightly, perhaps requiring long periods of recovery or having no complete recovery at all. Nevertheless, I can be impulsive, so I could very well snag one of these tropical species when passing a nursery down south.

And by the way, many years ago (1980's !!!) I did try both a coconut and a Royal in Melrose, Florida in a similarly warm microclimate where I operated a commercial organic citrus grove for twenty years. The coconut died, not from a freeze, but from intolerably low ambient temperatures (I had it well protected from freezes), and the Royal from failure of the 200 watt bulb that I had enclosed in the plastic covering.

I have an assortment of Google Maps that I generated by uploading NOAA data into a database and running analytics on it.  The analytics generate Excel sheets that can be used to plot data points based on the stations' latitude and longitude coordinates.  The current 50-year map that I took the screen grab on is available on the first link below.  When I make edits/updates, I share them here on the forums - usually in the Make Your Own Zone Map thread.

Links to current maps:

• Map of NOAA Stations with limited combinations: https://tinyurl.com/35ud2aap
• Map of Composite Stations (combined NOAA data): https://tinyurl.com/4bb84a6u
• Florida Impact Freezes (1981-2022): https://tinyurl.com/mrydsa34
• Florida Impact Freezes (1835-1977): https://tinyurl.com/yc4et6hk

A couple of threads you might be interested in:

• Florida Weather Station Data: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/66320-florida-freeze-and-weather-station-data/
• Make Your Own Zone Map: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/6179-make-your-own-zone-map/

I have a few Foxtail (Wodyetia bifurcata) seedlings I can send if you want to roll the dice on these.  They tend to handle chill better than frost, and all of mine come from parents that survived all of the January 2008/2010/2018/2022 cold events. 

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana and Archontophoenix teracarpa are still flowering at this point, but if you want a few of those, let me know.  The teracarpa is not an officially recognized species, but Hollis Gardens plants them out in the open and doesn't get any damage on them from frost.

Melrose.... you just love those old citrus towns!  When I moved here, US-27 was still all orange groves.  Now it's all apartment buildings and AirBnB rentals.  Being that you operated a citrus grove, you'll probably be interested to know that the Florida Citrus Mutual building next to Lakeland City Hall is slated for demolition.

[robert Lauriault]

Thanks for your reply! I will pour over your maps for hours!

I would appreciate a few seedlings of the three species you mentioned, but I hate to ask you to go to all the trouble of sending them. My girlfriend lives in Clermont and when she isn't up here, I go down there. Maybe we could arrange a meet or something one weekend??? But if you had rather send them, my address is 14219 E. CR 325, Hawthorne, FL 32640. 

I was shocked when I went down to visit my girlfriend for the first time last month. Not a citrus tree to be seen within miles of the Citrus Tower!  I well remember the thrill of seeing the groves from the top of that tower before the freeze of '62. Of course even afterward it was impressive until the eighties. How depressing it is down there now! One has to look really hard to find any small corners of real country now. 

Yes, I do love the old citrus towns up here. I lived just outside Melrose for 24 years and before that in McIntosh. when Buddy Huff still had his 400 acre grove on the hills above Orange Lake. I am often in Micanopy just up the road. I taught at UF, so I have lived in Gainesville or within communting distance most of my adult life. 

My email is lauriault10@gmail.com in case you had rather communicate that way.