Remarkable palms of Tampa Bay

[RainforestCafe]

16 hours ago, epicure3 said:

The reason you don't see anything 40 years old is because there wasn't anything here 40 years ago.

I was blown away by the lack of damage from this year's cold weather. I believe their new zone is 10a.

Are you living in Lakewood ranch area now?

This year's freeze was a bit of an anomaly in that we stayed so much warmer here on the west coast of Florida for such a bad freeze. Usually we get colder than the east coast at the same latitude. This past winter, Bradenton and Sarasota had the same ultimate low as Miami of 34⁰F, and Lakewood ranch had the same low as West Palm Beach and Homestead at 30⁰F. That's definitely not normal.

Even though it's rated 10A, east of 75 is still susceptible to freezes. Just as recently as 2018, I hit 32⁰ in my yard in West Bradenton and it was 27⁰ out in Lakewood ranch. And it got quite a bit colder in 2010. Lakewood Ranch hit mid 20s and I believe even lower 20s in some areas. I wasn't here for that freeze, but talking to the nursery people, they lost a lot of tropicals in 2010 in the Lakewood Ranch area. They even lost bigger mature stuff. West of 75 is much safer from freezes. West of 41 is even better.  

[epicure3]

I'm living right at I75 and 70.

[Silas_Sancona]

40 minutes ago, RainforestCafe said:

Just as recently as 2018, I hit 32⁰ in my yard in West Bradenton and it was 27⁰ out in Lakewood ranch. And it got quite a bit colder in 2010. Lakewood Ranch hit mid 20s and I believe even lower 20s in some areas. I wasn't here for that freeze, but talking to the nursery people, they lost a lot of tropicals in 2010 in the Lakewood Ranch area. They even lost bigger mature stuff. West of 75 is much safer from freezes. West of 41 is even better.  

Yep,  ^ this  is exactly what i saw when roaming the area after the 2010 freeze.. 

Wasn't there in '18,  but did see a morning or two near freezing ( ..light frost in my yard,  over by IMG Academy ) in early '16,  right before moving here. As mentioned elsewhere, saw frost in yards near where i'd worked at the time in Sarasota, just west of 75 on the same days as well. 



Saw some 2026 street views near the old house in Bradenton yesterday and   ..I too was surprised to see specific trees i'd pass daily / observe closely  looking completely flawless ( Gumbo Limbo planted near the Oyster Bar,  Cassia afrofistula  in a yard nearby on FL. Blvd,  Pseudobombax e.   near the CVS / Target on Bayshore Gardens ) 

Expected to see more remnant damage.. 

 

[kinzyjr]

7 hours ago, epicure3 said:

I'm living right at I75 and 70.

Welcome to West Central Florida!

[epicure3]

Thank you kind sir. 

[RainforestCafe]

8 hours ago, epicure3 said:

I'm living right at I75 and 70.

That's a really good spot.

That's gotta be one of the warmer areas in Lakewood Ranch, but even besides the palms and other tropicals you can grow there, that's such a convenient location to get anywhere in the area.

One thing I really noticed with this last freeze is how much heat all the new development in that area holds in now. That'll definitely work in your favor too, even though like you said, HOAs suck 😂 

[RainforestCafe]

8 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Saw some 2026 street views near the old house in Bradenton yesterday and   ..I too was surprised to see specific trees i'd pass daily / observe closely  looking completely flawless ( Gumbo Limbo planted near the Oyster Bar,  Cassia afrofistula  in a yard nearby on FL. Blvd,  Pseudobombax e.   near the CVS / Target on Bayshore Gardens ) 

Expected to see more remnant damage.. 

 

Yeah it was kinda crazy, pretty much nothing in the area got damaged this past freeze (besides the rural areas). Even out at the far East edge of Lakewood Ranch, there was some new neighborhoods where they installed brand new veitchias and other cold sensitive stuff and they were all okay.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, RainforestCafe said:

Yeah it was kinda crazy, pretty much nothing in the area got damaged this past freeze (besides the rural areas). Even out at the far East edge of Lakewood Ranch, there was some new neighborhoods where they installed brand new veitchias and other cold sensitive stuff and they were all okay.

Knowing that area in the general sense, that's pretty crazy   ..in a good way, lol.  Would never think of installing something like Veitchia that far east.  

Don't know if they're still there / their nursery is still open but,  remember going to Crowley's right after the 2010 freeze and seeing progressively worse damage the closer you got to the nursery out in Myakka..  

They experienced some damage as well,  but remember barely seeing any by the next time i picked up some stuff from them later that summer.  Having all the Oak canopy surrounding their property definitely seems to help them out there. 

[RainforestCafe]

10 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Knowing that area in the general sense, that's pretty crazy   ..in a good way, lol.  Would never think of installing something like Veitchia that far east.  

Don't know if they're still there / their nursery is still open but,  remember going to Crowley's right after the 2010 freeze and seeing progressively worse damage the closer you got to the nursery out in Myakka..  

They experienced some damage as well,  but remember barely seeing any by the next time i picked up some stuff from them later that summer.  Having all the Oak canopy surrounding their property definitely seems to help them out there. 

Since you said you moved around 2016, you'd be shocked if you drove around the area now. A ton of new development east of 75 and they actually have alot of fun landscaping. Some are more risky than others, but yeah, veitchias, archontophoenix, tabebuias, they're planting some of that stuff around the new neighborhoods. But most of the developments use alot of sabals, saw palmettos, and live oaks, which I think is really cool.. putting the native stuff back.

And over on the western side of the county, they're putting in a few thousand more houses. Remember that area when you're driving out to Anna Maria Island from IMG area, just west of 75th St (not I-75), and south of Cortez Rd, well they're developing that whole area now all the way to the bay. I know it's been in the works for awhile, but they're actually building there now.

[HudsonBill]

11 hours ago, RainforestCafe said:

That's a really good spot.

That's gotta be one of the warmer areas in Lakewood Ranch, but even besides the palms and other tropicals you can grow there, that's such a convenient location to get anywhere in the area.

One thing I really noticed with this last freeze is how much heat all the new development in that area holds in now. That'll definitely work in your favor too, even though like you said, HOAs suck 😂 

Up here where I live im realy close to a crazy cold spot. This winter it was 24 in my yard over by coast 28 to 30 and just a mile north of me 17 degrees. Radiational nights tgat cold spot will be 25 while I'm in the low mid 30s. I'm also slightly in that cold spot. Anyway reason I bring this up they have just started developing around me like absolute crazy.  There are 162 houses going directly behind me taht are 10ft aoart super small lots. Within 1 mile of me there are probably 1000 homes going in all around each direction. I'm realy curious to see if I stay slightly warmer in these radiational freezes. If it wasn't for radiational freezes I'd have very little freezing weather ever here. Just west of me towards the coast and where it is heavily developed is 10a on new map and yes 10a plants thrive there and a lot untouched this winter. We are talking 3 to 5 miles away. 

[epicure3]

Where we are in LWR, there is little to no damage I have noticed around town to anything there's a 20+ foot coconut on 60 near I75 that is untouched. Goes for Fox tails, Adonidias, Clusia Rosea, Sea Grape, etc.....