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Posted
2 minutes ago, SEVA said:

Thanks.  Many folks are surprised at what can grow here, but this part of VA is within the Southeastern Evergreen Forest Region (Coastal Plain from east TX to the James River in VA).  I just wish more folks would take advantage of our warm climate.  The queen is something I do not expect, of course, but it would be nice to see more of the others.  I'll see the occasional palm here and there, but not many until heading to VA Beach.  

I have carefully watched the weather in VA for many years now during the winters, and I have noticed that Southeast of Petersburg the tempatures can be much higher then north and west of it. I remeber it being 45 some days here while it was 60 just Southeast of Petersburg. I believe that this is the area that the climate truly starts to change a little bit to a "warmer" winter. Here is a screenshot of last winter during one of the coldest days, it was freezing at my location, but from the Petersburg area and Southeast it was in the 40s. I feel like palms like Trachys should be fully hardy there, knowing that there is an old one growing down the street from me. 

SmartSelect_20190708-210122_Gallery.jpg

  • Upvote 2

PalmTreeDude

Posted
7 hours ago, mdsonofthesouth said:

Lovely garden! 

Thanks.  Fortunately, we had an average to slightly warmer winter this past year with the lowest temperature reading of 15 F.  Let's hope this continues, because it's been a while since I've had to replace anything and it's finally starting to take off.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted
6 hours ago, Chester B said:

Looks fantastic.  The citrus rootstock is most likely Poncirus trifoliata, which is hardy down to zone 5 I believe.

Thanks.  I thought Poncirus trifoliata was deciduous.  Is this true?  The Citrus/ Poncirus I have never loses its leaves unless there is an abnormally cold winter.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted
6 hours ago, RJ said:

The only time I would ever see horse tale growing on it's own was in pretty wet area's. (This was zone 4b-ish) Are you in a low spot?

This part of the yard is moderately well-drained with loamy sand.  There is a swamp behind the house though.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted

@SEVA how long has your Birmingham's been in the ground and at what size were they planted ? 

T J 

Posted
18 minutes ago, SEVA said:

Thanks.  I thought Poncirus trifoliata was deciduous.  Is this true?  The Citrus/ Poncirus I have never loses its leaves unless there is an abnormally cold winter.

It is. So I guess it’s not that. I know they use it for rootstock because it’s so tough. I have a Yuzu that retains some leaves during winter, but I guess you won’t know what it really is until you get some fruit. 

Posted
4 minutes ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

@SEVA how long has your Birmingham's been in the ground and at what size were they planted ? 

They were planted in the summer of 2016.  I think they were about the size of the Sabal palmetto that I will post soon, maybe slightly larger.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted
1 minute ago, Chester B said:

It is. So I guess it’s not that. I know they use it for rootstock because it’s so tough. I have a Yuzu that retains some leaves during winter, but I guess you won’t know what it really is until you get some fruit. 

Hopefully I won't have to wait too much longer before it blooms, as I am curious.  I guess only time will tell.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted

Sabal palmetto

0708191153.jpg

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted

Here's the queen while a storm was rolling in this afternoon.

0708191618_HDR.jpg

  • Like 3
  • Upvote 1

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted

Nice job there.  Love the path. What is the height of your Sabal Minors?  

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@tntropics - 60+ In-ground 7A palms - (Sabal) minor(8 large + 27 seedling size, 3 dwarf),  brazoria(1) , birmingham(3), etonia (1) louisiana(4), palmetto (1), riverside (1),  tamaulipas (1), (Trachycarpus) fortunei(7+), wagnerianus(1+),  Rhapidophyllum hystrix(7),  22'  Mule-Butia x Syagrus(1),  Blue Butia odorata (1), Serenoa repens (1) +Tons of tropical plants.  Recent Yearly Lows -6F, -1F, 12F, 11F, 18F, 16F, 3F, 3F, 6F, 3F, 1F, 16F, 17F, 6F, 8F

 

Posted
1 hour ago, SEVA said:

They were planted in the summer of 2016.  I think they were about the size of the Sabal palmetto that I will post soon, maybe slightly larger.

How would you rate there speed of growth ? 

T J 

Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, SEVA said:

Thanks.  Fortunately, we had an average to slightly warmer winter this past year with the lowest temperature reading of 15 F.  Let's hope this continues, because it's been a while since I've had to replace anything and it's finally starting to take off.

 

I thought my ultimate low this year was 4F but in actuality it was 7.8F (had a sensor issue). We had some real cold spells this past winter, but overall it wasn't terrible...but nothing really is after January 2018.  Heres hoping the solar minimum we are about to enter isnt as bad as some claim it will be!

 

BTW I believe we have the same yucca, I have 2 that were labeled "Blue Sentry" that look like skinny leaf gloriosa. Bullet proof and beautiful to boot!

Edited by mdsonofthesouth

LOWS 16/17 12F, 17/18 3F, 18/19 7F, 19/20 20F

Palms growing in my garden: Trachycarpus Fortunei, Chamaerops Humilis, Chamaerops Humilis var. Cerifera, Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, Sabal Palmetto 

Posted
12 hours ago, Allen said:

Nice job there.  Love the path. What is the height of your Sabal Minors?  

Thanks.  The one (well, 2 together) I posted photos of I just measured at 61 inches from the ground surface to the tallest frond.  Those keep getting larger each year.  The 2 in the photo here were measured at about 34 inches in height.  These do not appear to be growing any larger, just always growing new fronds (much slower than the larger ones).

0708191200_HDR.jpg

  • Like 1

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted
12 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

How would you rate there speed of growth ? 

Their growth rates are pretty decent in my opinion, but I haven't grown too many Sabals to really compare to say palmetto for example.  They are a bit slower than Butia odorata, but faster than Sabal minor.  I have a third Birmingham that grows a bit slower, but is on a drier site.  They range between heights of 58-64 inches from the ground surface to the tip of the tallest frond.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted
2 hours ago, mdsonofthesouth said:

 

I thought my ultimate low this year was 4F but in actuality it was 7.8F (had a sensor issue). We had some real cold spells this past winter, but overall it wasn't terrible...but nothing really is after January 2018.  Heres hoping the solar minimum we are about to enter isnt as bad as some claim it will be!

 

BTW I believe we have the same yucca, I have 2 that were labeled "Blue Sentry" that look like skinny leaf gloriosa. Bullet proof and beautiful to boot!

Interesting.  I have 2 of these.  I saved them from a pile of cut up yucca from a friend's yard.  They had a clump that was over 6 ft tall, but I don't know the exact height before they were removed.  I just remember the stems reminded me of a serpent.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted
10 minutes ago, SEVA said:

Interesting.  I have 2 of these.  I saved them from a pile of cut up yucca from a friend's yard.  They had a clump that was over 6 ft tall, but I don't know the exact height before they were removed.  I just remember the stems reminded me of a serpent.

 

They did something like that last year in Ocean City, MD. Seemed every street had piles of dug up yucca removed to replace with new yucca (weird) and other plants. Wish I would have taken a good mess of them but was worried the 3 hour trip would be an issue.  Still kicking myself as there were large and small specimens that would have been great....especially for free!

LOWS 16/17 12F, 17/18 3F, 18/19 7F, 19/20 20F

Palms growing in my garden: Trachycarpus Fortunei, Chamaerops Humilis, Chamaerops Humilis var. Cerifera, Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, Sabal Palmetto 

Posted
15 hours ago, SEVA said:

Thanks.  Many folks are surprised at what can grow here, but this part of VA is within the Southeastern Evergreen Forest Region (Coastal Plain from east TX to the James River in VA).  I just wish more folks would take advantage of our warm climate.  The queen is something I do not expect, of course, but it would be nice to see more of the others.  I'll see the occasional palm here and there, but not many until heading to VA Beach.  

This. Tidewater is at the northern end of the Southeastern Coastal Plain floristic providence and many broadleaf evergreens find their northern limit in this region with a few ranging slightly further north into Delaware or MD. Coming from a Florida where I’ve resided for a decade prior to moving to Norfolk, and having grown up on the gulf coast, I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the same plants can be grown here. An amazing variety of BLEs can be grown here as well as a surprising number of tropical perennials including bananas (not just basjoo), gingers, alocasia, colocasia,  duranta, cestrum, brugsmania and so on. 

  • Like 1
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Jeremy Breland
itinerant public garden horticulturist
A native of the US Gulf Coast: USDA hardiness zone 8b-9b; AHS heat zone 8-9, Sunset climate zone 28; Trewartha climate classification: Cf-humid subtropical; Hot and humid summers with occasional droughts, warm and wet winters punctuated by cold snaps.

Currently in New Orleans, LA, zone 9b, heat zone 8

Posted
On 7/7/2019 at 10:54 PM, SEVA said:

The Butia odorata, Syagrus romanzoffiana, and Rhapidophyllum hystrix are the only palms visible, but there are 4 Trachycarpus fortunei in there.

0704191615_HDR.jpg

How long have your Butias been in the ground? Do you protect them? If so, can you detail your protection method. We lost all of our odoratas in the recent winters of late, with the last one in the Subtropical Garden giving up the ghost after the winter of 2017-2018. The only surviving Butia is eriospatha and it’s located in the Subtropical Garden. 

  • Like 1

Jeremy Breland
itinerant public garden horticulturist
A native of the US Gulf Coast: USDA hardiness zone 8b-9b; AHS heat zone 8-9, Sunset climate zone 28; Trewartha climate classification: Cf-humid subtropical; Hot and humid summers with occasional droughts, warm and wet winters punctuated by cold snaps.

Currently in New Orleans, LA, zone 9b, heat zone 8

Posted
51 minutes ago, JMBreland said:

How long have your Butias been in the ground? Do you protect them? If so, can you detail your protection method. We lost all of our odoratas in the recent winters of late, with the last one in the Subtropical Garden giving up the ghost after the winter of 2017-2018. The only surviving Butia is eriospatha and it’s located in the Subtropical Garden. 

The largest/ oldest has been in the ground for about 8 or 9 years I believe.  The most recent of the 5 I have was planted in 2017.  I didn't used to protect them until the past few winters.  I started with using little pop-up greenhouses and Christmas lights, but I've used just burlap and Christmas lights the past 2 winters now that they're larger.  They didn't need protection this past winter, but I decided to since I've been out of state for college.  I wrap lights around the trunk from the ground surface up to just above the base of the newest fronds.  I then wrap burlap around the trunk.  Since most winters aren't cold enough to defoliate Butias, I leave the fronds exposed.  If I can get the photos off my old phone, I'll post some here.  With this protection method you can barely tell that they're wrapped.  I only had the lights on when temperatures were forecast to drop to or below about 15 F.  Sorry to hear about the loss of the Butias.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted
1 hour ago, JMBreland said:

This. Tidewater is at the northern end of the Southeastern Coastal Plain floristic providence and many broadleaf evergreens find their northern limit in this region with a few ranging slightly further north into Delaware or MD. Coming from a Florida where I’ve resided for a decade prior to moving to Norfolk, and having grown up on the gulf coast, I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the same plants can be grown here. An amazing variety of BLEs can be grown here as well as a surprising number of tropical perennials including bananas (not just basjoo), gingers, alocasia, colocasia,  duranta, cestrum, brugsmania and so on. 

Also @SEVA:

Do you know where this province’s northern limit is? I found a map of the forest provinces here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/48672.

I think it may go north of the James River immediately on the coast, but I’m not sure. I think it would be interesting to learn my forest province, but in any case, I would likely be borderline.

 

Posted

You did a fantastic job! I love it. 

Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

Posted

This is really an amazing garden, by the way. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it in Virginia! Good job.

  • Like 2
Posted
1 hour ago, sevapalms said:

Also @SEVA:

Do you know where this province’s northern limit is? I found a map of the forest provinces here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/48672.

I think it may go north of the James River immediately on the coast, but I’m not sure. I think it would be interesting to learn my forest province, but in any case, I would likely be borderline.

 

According to the map from one of my forestry texts, the James River is the approximate northern limit.  It's a general map of the dominant species found there.  It's just saying that is the general location where the broadleaf evergreens and conifers end as the dominant species.  North and west of that region is dominated by oaks and pines known as the Oak-Pine Forest Region.  The map in the link you shared looks to be more detailed, but I'm having trouble loading it on my phone.  I'll have to take a look at it from a computer.

24 minutes ago, sevapalms said:

This is really an amazing garden, by the way. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it in Virginia! Good job.

Thank you.  I'm always testing what can grow here.  Always open to suggestions too.

  • Upvote 1

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted
1 hour ago, NC_Palms said:

You did a fantastic job! I love it. 

Thank you.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted (edited)
23 hours ago, PalmTreeDude said:

I have carefully watched the weather in VA for many years now during the winters, and I have noticed that Southeast of Petersburg the tempatures can be much higher then north and west of it. I remeber it being 45 some days here while it was 60 just Southeast of Petersburg. I believe that this is the area that the climate truly starts to change a little bit to a "warmer" winter. Here is a screenshot of last winter during one of the coldest days, it was freezing at my location, but from the Petersburg area and Southeast it was in the 40s. I feel like palms like Trachys should be fully hardy there, knowing that there is an old one growing down the street from me. 

SmartSelect_20190708-210122_Gallery.jpg

I can definitely see this too, especially during snow events. For example, here is a map of the early December 2018 snow event totals:6236F079-10EF-4232-9714-EA89BF23FAD2.thumb.jpeg.9f89c43b6d603776199d5565c0326cca.jpeg

As you near the coast in most snow events, the snow totals drop off dramatically.

4 hours ago, SEVA said:

According to the map from one of my forestry texts, the James River is the approximate northern limit.  It's a general map of the dominant species found there.  It's just saying that is the general location where the broadleaf evergreens and conifers end as the dominant species.  North and west of that region is dominated by oaks and pines known as the Oak-Pine Forest Region.

That seems to be relatively accurate. The forest around my house is a mix of evergreen and deciduous oaks, loblolly pines, Persea species, hollies, maples, sweetgums, and wax myrtles. Bald cypress and tupelo species are in wetter areas. The peninsula between the James and York is probably in a transition zone (given that all boundaries aren’t definite, obviously).

Edited by sevapalms
more information
Posted
 
 
 
22 minutes ago, sevapalms said:

The peninsula between the James and York is probably in a transition zone (given that all boundaries aren’t definite, obviously).

I've always considered the James River to be the vague boundary line between the temperate deciduous forest to the north and the subtropical coniferous forest to the south. Of course, microclimates exist thus allowing many of the traditional Southern evergreen species to be found along the immediate coastline of the Chesapeake Bay much farther north to at least the southern portion of Maryland's western shore.  

  • Upvote 1

Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

Posted
18 hours ago, sevapalms said:

I can definitely see this too, especially during snow events. For example, here is a map of the early December 2018 snow event totals:6236F079-10EF-4232-9714-EA89BF23FAD2.thumb.jpeg.9f89c43b6d603776199d5565c0326cca.jpeg

As you near the coast in most snow events, the snow totals drop off dramatically.

That seems to be relatively accurate. The forest around my house is a mix of evergreen and deciduous oaks, loblolly pines, Persea species, hollies, maples, sweetgums, and wax myrtles. Bald cypress and tupelo species are in wetter areas. The peninsula between the James and York is probably in a transition zone (given that all boundaries aren’t definite, obviously).

I remember always wishing for snow when I was in school, but was usually left disappointed because it rarely ever did.  When it did, it would melt away within a few hours.  Some years it wouldn't snow at all.  I remember they cancelled school once due to the threat of snow and it just rained.  Every couple of years or so (like 5-7) there will be a decent snow storm dropping a couple of inches.

In the forests around here you can find evergreen species like: Magnolia grandiflora, Magnolia virginiana (evergreen to semi-evergreen), Ilex opaca, Persea palustris, Quercus virginiana, Quercus hemisphaerica, Ilex glabra, Ilex coriacea, Pinus palustris, Pinus serotina, Pinus taeda, Pinus echinata, Morella cerifera, Cyrilla recemiflora (semi-evergreen), and Chamaecyparis thyoides to name a few.

Some deciduous trees/shrubs around here are: Taxodium distichum (I've seen a few var. imbricarium as well), Nyssa bicolor, Nyssa aquatica, Quercus michauxii, Quercus falcata, Quercus pagoda, Quercus lyrata, Asimina parviflora, Berchemia scandens, Acer rubrum, Oxydendrum arboreum, Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriodendron tulipifera, and Symplocos tinctoria to name a few.

These are just some of what I've observed.  I could go on, but the lists would get pretty long.

 

  • Like 1
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USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted

I forgot about this Serenoa repens.  Someone had ripped theirs out of the ground and I planted them on the edge of the woods.  I thought they had died, but I noticed this last year.  It looks like a seedling, but I planted mature trunks.  Maybe a seed was in there somehow?  I'm not sure, but when I dug a little last year, it appeared to be coming from the trunk.

0708191209.jpg

  • Upvote 2

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted

The oldest of my Butia odoratas is indeed going to bloom.  The last time it bloomed was 2016, so this is a welcome sight.  The others have never bloomed.

0709191249.jpg

  • Like 2

USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, SEVA said:

I remember always wishing for snow when I was in school, but was usually left disappointed because it rarely ever did.  When it did, it would melt away within a few hours.  Some years it wouldn't snow at all.  I remember they cancelled school once due to the threat of snow and it just rained.  Every couple of years or so (like 5-7) there will be a decent snow storm dropping a couple of inches.

In the forests around here you can find evergreen species like: Magnolia grandiflora, Magnolia virginiana (evergreen to semi-evergreen), Ilex opaca, Persea palustris, Quercus virginiana, Quercus hemisphaerica, Ilex glabra, Ilex coriacea, Pinus palustris, Pinus serotina, Pinus taeda, Pinus echinata, Morella cerifera, Cyrilla recemiflora (semi-evergreen), and Chamaecyparis thyoides to name a few.

Some deciduous trees/shrubs around here are: Taxodium distichum (I've seen a few var. imbricarium as well), Nyssa bicolor, Nyssa aquatica, Quercus michauxii, Quercus falcata, Quercus pagoda, Quercus lyrata, Asimina parviflora, Berchemia scandens, Acer rubrum, Oxydendrum arboreum, Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriodendron tulipifera, and Symplocos tinctoria to name a few.

These are just some of what I've observed.  I could go on, but the lists would get pretty long.

 

Snow around here is definitely unreliable. In the 2017-2018 winter I probably had a total of a foot, but this year I had none.

I do have magnolia grandiflora in the forest around my house, but I assume they’re naturalized. I don’t think they’re listed as native in Virginia, but I could be wrong. I don’t have any magnolia virginiana though, which is kind of ironic. I do have tulip poplars, elms, hickory, and birch trees, just to add on to my original list of deciduous trees.

Edited by sevapalms
extra info added
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Posted
1 hour ago, sevapalms said:

Snow around here is definitely unreliable. In the 2017-2018 winter I probably had a total of a foot, but this year I had none.

I do have magnolia grandiflora in the forest around my house, but I assume they’re naturalized. I don’t think they’re listed as native in Virginia, but I could be wrong. I don’t have any magnolia virginiana though, which is kind of ironic. I do have tulip poplars, elms, hickory, and birch trees, just to add on to my original list of deciduous trees.

Most sources say Magnolia grandiflora is naturalized, but I've read a few that say it's native.  Either way, it fits right in and I quite enjoy seeing them.  Given that plants migrate and their ranges change over time, I wonder at what point will a species be considered native (if ever)?

  • Like 2
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USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

Posted
3 hours ago, SEVA said:

Either way, it fits right in and I quite enjoy seeing them.  Given that plants migrate and their ranges change over time, I wonder at what point will a species be considered native (if ever)?

True. It’s very pretty to see the green in a (mostly) gray forest during the winter. I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be considered native, to be honest. Even during the worst winters, it doesn’t get any damage. Maybe it may be listed as naturalized because the trees in the forests may be the offspring of ornamental planted trees, but magnolia grandiflora has been planted here at least since the 1800’s, so it’s hard to tell whether it’s native or naturalized because of plantings. Maybe it’s range got suppressed in the past by an extremely cold period, but that would be very hard to figure out.

Posted
7 hours ago, sevapalms said:

Snow around here is definitely unreliable. In the 2017-2018 winter I probably had a total of a foot, but this year I had none.

I do have magnolia grandiflora in the forest around my house, but I assume they’re naturalized. I don’t think they’re listed as native in Virginia, but I could be wrong. I don’t have any magnolia virginiana though, which is kind of ironic. I do have tulip poplars, elms, hickory, and birch trees, just to add on to my original list of deciduous trees.

I saw a couple fairly small Magnolia grandiflora in the woods growing alongside Fairfax County Parkway in Herndon, Va during my most recent visit.  At the time, when I saw them, I knew they must be naturalized.

It is amazing how much different the flora of N. Virginia (Fairfax County) is from that of Berks County, PA, if you are paying attention.  I lived in each locale for a couple years and in May 2018 I drove down to Virginia for a visit.  While the trees and other deciduous species were just leafing out in PA (we had a cold winter and spring), it looked like mid-summer in the DC area, the trees were all deep green and lush.  I went out in the evening to the sounds of frogs, crickets and other insects.  I don’t remember hearing much in the way of insects (or noisy amphibians) in PA and I remember thinking it felt almost tropical in comparison to PA!

All in all, the flora in Berks County, PA is much more represented by floral species found in humid continental / cool temperate climates, while much of the vegetation in the DC area is warm temperate to subtropical.

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Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

I saw a couple fairly small Magnolia grandiflora in the woods growing alongside Fairfax County Parkway in Herndon, Va during my most recent visit.  At the time, when I saw them, I knew they must be naturalized.

It is amazing how much different the flora of N. Virginia (Fairfax County) is from that of Berks County, PA, if you are paying attention.  I lived in each locale for a couple years and in May 2018 I drove down to Virginia for a visit.  While the trees and other deciduous species were just leafing out in PA (we had a cold winter and spring), it looked like mid-summer in the DC area, the trees were all deep green and lush.  I went out in the evening to the sounds of frogs, crickets and other insects.  I don’t remember hearing much in the way of insects (or noisy amphibians) in PA and I remember thinking it felt almost tropical in comparison to PA!

All in all, the flora in Berks County, PA is much more represented by floral species found in humid continental / cool temperate climates, while much of the vegetation in the DC area is warm temperate to subtropical.

It’s really interesting driving down from north to south on I-95 and then turning to the coast, especially during the spring. The weather and vegetation are completely different in areas only a few hundred miles from each other.

Edited by sevapalms
  • Upvote 1
Posted
22 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

I saw a couple fairly small Magnolia grandiflora in the woods growing alongside Fairfax County Parkway in Herndon, Va during my most recent visit.  At the time, when I saw them, I knew they must be naturalized.

It is amazing how much different the flora of N. Virginia (Fairfax County) is from that of Berks County, PA, if you are paying attention.  I lived in each locale for a couple years and in May 2018 I drove down to Virginia for a visit.  While the trees and other deciduous species were just leafing out in PA (we had a cold winter and spring), it looked like mid-summer in the DC area, the trees were all deep green and lush.  I went out in the evening to the sounds of frogs, crickets and other insects.  I don’t remember hearing much in the way of insects (or noisy amphibians) in PA and I remember thinking it felt almost tropical in comparison to PA!

All in all, the flora in Berks County, PA is much more represented by floral species found in humid continental / cool temperate climates, while much of the vegetation in the DC area is warm temperate to subtropical.

This is very true. I was raised in Lebanon County, PA and I remember when traveling to Havre de Grace, MD and noticing how the ecology seemed more similar to the Carolinas than to neighboring Lancaster County, which was less than 50 miles away. 

One that is cool about PA is that it’s very easy to notice when the flora changes. In the Appalachian Mountains of northern Lebanon County the flora is surprising primarily evergreen with lots of white pine, eastern hemlock and rhododendron. The rest of the county is within the piedmont and is almost entirely deciduous.   

14 hours ago, sevapalms said:

It’s really interesting driving down from north to south on I-95 and then turning to the coast, especially during the spring. The weather and vegetation are completely different in areas only a few hundred miles from each other.

One thing I love is traveling I-95 in the spring and fall and noticing the changes. There is a huge difference between Fredericksburg and Richmond and Richmond and Rocky Mount in terms of the climate and local ecology. 

  • Upvote 2

Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

Posted

Southern yellow pines like shortleaf are native to the mason Dixon and in certain areas so are loblollies. Long leaf can live in a lot of the DMV but only native to extreme SE VA. I'm in the western Piedmont of Maryland and we have loblollies, shortleaf and tons of crepes and magnolia grandfloria planted about. While crepes drop leaves, the magnolia don't thankfully. Love looking out and seeing a beautiful green magnolia and loblollies in the dead of winter when all the deciduous trees look dead. Evergreen for life!

  • Upvote 1

LOWS 16/17 12F, 17/18 3F, 18/19 7F, 19/20 20F

Palms growing in my garden: Trachycarpus Fortunei, Chamaerops Humilis, Chamaerops Humilis var. Cerifera, Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, Sabal Palmetto 

Posted (edited)
On 7/11/2019 at 12:37 AM, palmsOrl said:

I saw a couple fairly small Magnolia grandiflora in the woods growing alongside Fairfax County Parkway in Herndon, Va during my most recent visit.  At the time, when I saw them, I knew they must be naturalized.

It is amazing how much different the flora of N. Virginia (Fairfax County) is from that of Berks County, PA, if you are paying attention.  I lived in each locale for a couple years and in May 2018 I drove down to Virginia for a visit.  While the trees and other deciduous species were just leafing out in PA (we had a cold winter and spring), it looked like mid-summer in the DC area, the trees were all deep green and lush.  I went out in the evening to the sounds of frogs, crickets and other insects.  I don’t remember hearing much in the way of insects (or noisy amphibians) in PA and I remember thinking it felt almost tropical in comparison to PA!

All in all, the flora in Berks County, PA is much more represented by floral species found in humid continental / cool temperate climates, while much of the vegetation in the DC area is warm temperate to subtropical.

That’s interesting. I used to live in the DC area, last time I was there was early March ‘17 and the flora generally looked quite similar to the flora of NYC/Long Island, aside from it being 3-4 weeks ahead (looked like late March in NYC). This could be a coastal (NY) vs inland (PA) thing though, a few “southern” plant species native ranges ride coast all the way to the NYC area.

I will say though, evergreens are more abundant in DC, even though the majority of them are the same evergreens found in NY there’s simply more of them. There are more stands of bamboo in the woods and a lot more southern magnolias planted around, Yucca rostrata and Yucca aloifolia are also very abundant, in NYC/LI Yucca gloriosa and Yucca filamentosa rule the roost, Yucca rostrata is rare (but fully hardy) and I’ve never seen Yucca aloifolia (my fav Yucca). The Southern Mags in DC were grand and looked like the species plant, while here in NY the smaller cultivars greatly outnumber the true Southern Mags. Crape Myrtles, though bare, were no larger than those of NY. Shortleaf Pine’s native range stops here, though Pitch Pine is the most common pine here by far.

One exotic evergreen that I actually see more of in NY than DC are Monkey Puzzle Trees, they're from Chile and hate excessive heat, the best looking ones are planted in the shade, and the ones that die out are almost always the ones planted in full sun.

Edited by cm05
Posted

Here in the pine barrens the forest is mostly pitch pine. Sweet bays are mixed in wetter areas and there are also many cedars. Holly and rhododendrons are also found. The flora is very different even just 20 miles west of me near philly where it is purely deciduous. My yard has very old pitch pines which almost don’t even look like pitch pines since they are so tall now.

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  • Like 4
Posted
On 7/9/2019 at 2:52 PM, sevapalms said:

Also @SEVA:

Do you know where this province’s northern limit is? I found a map of the forest provinces here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/48672.

I think it may go north of the James River immediately on the coast, but I’m not sure. I think it would be interesting to learn my forest province, but in any case, I would likely be borderline.

 

This paper details the boundaries and characteristics of the North American Southeastern Coastal Plain floristic providence. The map in there more or less follows the same boundaries as the Outer Coastal Plain Mixed Forest Providence (gray region) in the publication you linked to. The northern limit is in NJ according to the forest providence map and the floristic providence extends this northern limit slightly to include long Island, NY.

  • Upvote 1

Jeremy Breland
itinerant public garden horticulturist
A native of the US Gulf Coast: USDA hardiness zone 8b-9b; AHS heat zone 8-9, Sunset climate zone 28; Trewartha climate classification: Cf-humid subtropical; Hot and humid summers with occasional droughts, warm and wet winters punctuated by cold snaps.

Currently in New Orleans, LA, zone 9b, heat zone 8

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