Great photos. I love how they line the palm with orchids. I always wondered how long that took!

Here is a short video of my adonidia merrillii and coconut this weekend. The lowest frond on the coconut is the last push of damage from Jan 2018. So with a kind winter, it took 12 months to rebuild the crown. 

 

All it takes is one freeze to wipe all of that out.

As somebody who has always pushed boundaries in numerous zones, I'm pretty aware of the risks!  Both actually did survive 28F last winter.

Edited March 31, 20197 yr by pj_orlando_z9b

some other ficus beauties around Orlando: near corner of Summerlin Ave and Lillian Dr

as palms go, this beauty cocos nucifera can be found at Sea World by the dolphin feeding area.

4 hours ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Here is a short video of my adonidia merrillii and coconut this weekend. The lowest frond on the coconut is the last push of damage from Jan 2018. So with a kind winter, it took 12 months to rebuild the crown. 

 

Thwy are growing back nicely! 

3 hours ago, donalt said:

Thats a good one! 

11 minutes ago, Eric in Orlando said:

Thats a good one! 

Any idea what it is? F benghalensis? 

3 hours ago, donalt said:

as palms go, this beauty cocos nucifera can be found at Sea World by the dolphin feeding area.

Those are really nice queens too.

as palms go, this beauty cocos nucifera can be found at Sea World by the dolphin feeding area.    

those are nice queens, indeed ! when queens are well cared for, they can be outstandingly beautiful. still, nothing beats royals for stunning and dramatic palm beauty ! these pictured line a pond at a duplex development off Bumby just south of Gore Street, Orlando.

one more for the night....these beautiful queens fill the courtyard at Conway Lakes Rehab Center, Orlando. 

1 hour ago, RedRabbit said:

Any idea what it is? F benghalensis? 

Ficus elastica

1 hour ago, Eric in Orlando said:

Ficus elastica

Thanks, I would have thought the leaves on an elastica would be darker...  A semi-mature f elastica is impressive for Orlando. I understand they’re fairly cold sensitive for ficus. 

9 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

Thanks, I would have thought the leaves on an elastica would be darker...  A semi-mature f elastica is impressive for Orlando. I understand they’re fairly cold sensitive for ficus. 

I haven't noticed them much more sensitive than other "banyan" type Ficus. Of the common Ficus, F. benjamina seems the most sensitive.

There are some F. elastica around here getting large. There is a big one just east of downtown Orlando at the Red Cross building .'ll have to get a photo. This is probably the most common Ficus around Orlando as it is so commonly available as a house plant. Often it is planted wayyyyyyy to close to houses as people think its a cute lil plant and don't realize it gets huge.

12 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

Thanks, I would have thought the leaves on an elastica would be darker...  A semi-mature f elastica is impressive for Orlando. I understand they’re fairly cold sensitive for ficus. 

I found it to be one of the most cold-hardy of ficuses.  

Here is a Ficus elastica at the Red Cross on Bumby just north of the 408 tollroad. 

55 minutes ago, Eric in Orlando said:

Here is a Ficus elastica at the Red Cross on Bumby just north of the 408 tollroad. 

That's still pretty small by Brevard county and southward standards.  

The oldest Hyophorbe lagenicaulis that I know of in the Orlando area. It was planted around 1994/95. It was small, maybe 1-2ft and this was before they became commonly available at box stores. It survived the 1995-96 winter and also 2001 and 2009-10. After 2009-10 it was stunted for awhile bit grew out of it. It doesn't look like it gets as good of care now as it used to. 

Coccothrinax argentata and Thrinax radiata near Leu Gardens. 

22 hours ago, Eric in Orlando said:

The oldest Hyophorbe lagenicaulis that I know of in the Orlando area. It was planted around 1994/95. It was small, maybe 1-2ft and this was before they became commonly available at box stores. It survived the 1995-96 winter and also 2001 and 2009-10. After 2009-10 it was stunted for awhile bit grew out of it. It doesn't look like it gets as good of care now as it used to. 

Pretty remarkable, as I remember recording 17F at my parent’s house in Altamonte Springs in Feb. 1996.  That was a really cold microclimate.

Around that time, my parents were on a trip to South Florida, and they wanted to find an unusual “exotic” palm for me, so they brought me back a little Cyrtostachys renda.  We planted it in the ground and needless to say, it didn’t last long!

On 3/31/2019 at 5:08 PM, donalt said:

This certainly rivals ones you would see in South Fl and Hawaii.  Is this at a house on a little lake just off Colonial Dr. near downtown?

1 hour ago, palmsOrl said:

This certainly rivals ones you would see in South Fl and Hawaii.  Is this at a house on a little lake just off Colonial Dr. near downtown?

No I have seen them get bigger than that here.

2 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

Pretty remarkable, as I remember recording 17F at my parent’s house in Altamonte Springs in Feb. 1996.  That was a really cold microclimate.

Around that time, my parents were on a trip to South Florida, and they wanted to find an unusual “exotic” palm for me, so they brought me back a little Cyrtostachys renda.  We planted it in the ground and needless to say, it didn’t last long!

WOW, we had 26f at Leu Gardens in Feb. 1996, the coldest temperature since the 12/89 freeze.

I remember, it was a regular red “mercury” thermometer on side of my parents house, right up against the house, but it definitely read 17F when I was up at like 6:30am.  We had a line of like 5 citrus trees in another part of the yard, on which we had positioned a sprinkler all night.  They were basically all weighted to the ground encased in a solid block of ice that morning.  I believe I was in Fifth grade at the time and later that day there was some ice on the sidewalk at school that lasted until well after noon.  I thought it was so fascinating.

12 minutes ago, palmsOrl said:

I remember, it was a regular red “mercury” thermometer on side of my parents house, right up against the house, but it definitely read 17F when I was up at like 6:30am.  We had a line of like 5 citrus trees in another part of the yard, on which we had positioned a sprinkler all night.  They were basically all weighted to the ground encased in a solid block of ice that morning.  I believe I was in Fifth grade at the time and later that day there was some ice on the sidewalk at school that lasted until well after noon.  I thought it was so fascinating.

what part of Altamonte Springs?

 

 

The Country Creek neighborhood.

ficus elastica is on Summerlin Avenue south of downtown....near Southern Oaks neighborhood.

A house in Colonialtown neighborhood with a Roystonea regia and several nice Ravenala madagascariensis. 

Another nice Ravenala madagascariensis in the Colonialtown neighborhood. 

Nice shaped dypsis lutescens and large Wodyetias in Belle Isle. 

Adonidia at Disney's Epcot by Spaceship Earth. 

Also Wodyetia by Spaceship Earth. 

Please keep this going! It is amazing to see the diverse and large number of palms and foliage. This is incredible zone pushing. Thank you.

Are the Wodyetias at Epcot relatively new? I remember mostly queens around Spaceship Earth. 

What about plumerias?  How big are they in Orlando?

Jim, my grandma has one in the ground, the trunk of which is about 10” in diameter.   It was about 15” tall and had a lovely shape with numerous branches before the January 2018 freeze.  This freeze took it down to just a trunk and a few stubs, so it is obvious that the branches are quite cold sensitive, so I doubt we will be seeing many really large ones in the Orlando area anytime soon, except perhaps in the most sheltered areas downtown.

That said, I see tons of small 1-4” plumeria from recent cuttings.

5 hours ago, Eric in Orlando said:

Also Wodyetia by Spaceship Earth. 

Those last 2 will probably have to be removed soon. The new spears are already pushing against and away from the building- I wonder what the thinking was putting them right under. Maybe when they first got planted there they didn't expect them to last that long.

Edited April 4, 20197 yr by Matthew92