This is a bad photo, but heres a large Seagrape.

by spockvr6

Look closely at the Queens!

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Coconuts galore!

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I believe this is a Mango.

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And I believe this is an Avocado.

There are lots of Avocados around here (more than Mangos it seems) so I believe they might be quite a bit hardier than Mangos.

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I like this planting of big Daddy Royal surrounded by "baby Royal" Adonidias.  Whjen one sees these palms close together, its easy to see why some term Adonidias "Dwarf Royals".

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A pair of nice Spindles in a beautifully landscaped yard.

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A pair of Royals standing guard.

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I couldnt get very close to these palms, but I love this guys backyard!

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This guy loves Birds and Travellers!

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Foxtails and Royals have invaded the yard!

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Again...these dont pertain to the topic of this thread, but they are very nice looking Phoenix palms located near downtown Tarpon Springs at one of the bayous.

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I liked this triple Royal so much I copied it!

They look like Adonidias on steroids to me.

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Cayota overload.

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In this house must reside a palm nut!

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Spock as far as the avocado, there are 3 races, mexican. guatamalan and west indian,

Hybrids of these exist as cultivars, cold hardiness and fruit size according to race from smallest to largest fruit and most cold tolerant to least:

mexican

gutamalan

west indian

hybrids with 'big' size fruit and some cold tolerance exist.

Aftter a bad winter, you can see which is which shortly after a cold SNAP!

Mango and guatamalan avocado are about equal.

If you want to try a mango, Bailey's Marvel is rumored to take some damn cold.  (originated on Pine Island)

Alan

I love Pandanus utilis (Screw Pine) and want to replace the Magnolia in the front yard with one, but my wife thinks they are ugly!

I hope she wont mind the smaller one I planted on the side of the house too much a few years down the road

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Nice double Solitaire....but then I guess it cant be called Solitaire!  So, lets just call it P. elegans!

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Nice Caryota...not sue if this is just plain mitis or not, but it looks different to me.

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I havent seen these around much at all....I believe it is Livistona australis.

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Im sorry but Screw Pine has way too much WOW factor!

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Here are some larger Caryota.

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A pair of fairly stout Royals for these parts.

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Peekies!

by spockvr6

(Alan_Tampa @ Sep. 04 2006,15:26)

QUOTE

Spock as far as the avocado, there are 3 races, mexican. guatamalan and west indian,

Hybrids of these exist as cultivars, cold hardiness and fruit size according to race from smallest to largest fruit and most cold tolerant to least:

mexican

gutamalan

west indian

hybrids with 'big' size fruit and some cold tolerance exist.

Aftter a bad winter, you can see which is which shortly after a cold SNAP!

Mango and guatamalan avocado are about equal.

If you want to try a mango, Bailey's Marvel is rumored to take some damn cold.  (originated on Pine Island)

Alan

Alan-

Thanks for the mango/avocado info.

I probably will never want to plant an Avocado as my neighbor has one in his backyard that is already draping over into mine!  But, I dont mind as this gives some shade and landscaping effect to my yard as well.  Its actually a pretty decent looking tree.

I have no idea what species of Avocado it is, only that it seems very fast growing.  I will take a pic later today and post it...perhaps it can be ID'ed.

(spockvr6 @ Sep. 05 2006,11:08)

QUOTE

(Alan_Tampa @ Sep. 04 2006,15:26)

QUOTE

Spock as far as the avocado, there are 3 races, mexican. guatamalan and west indian,

Hybrids of these exist as cultivars, cold hardiness and fruit size according to race from smallest to largest fruit and most cold tolerant to least:

mexican

gutamalan

west indian

hybrids with 'big' size fruit and some cold tolerance exist.

Aftter a bad winter, you can see which is which shortly after a cold SNAP!

Mango and guatamalan avocado are about equal.

If you want to try a mango, Bailey's Marvel is rumored to take some damn cold.  (originated on Pine Island)

Alan

Alan-

Thanks for the mango/avocado info.

I probably will never want to plant an Avocado as my neighbor has one in his backyard that is already draping over into mine!  But, I dont mind as this gives some shade and landscaping effect to my yard as well.  Its actually a pretty decent looking tree.

I have no idea what species of Avocado it is, only that it seems very fast growing.  I will take a pic later today and post it...perhaps it can be ID'ed.

I started a thread here to see if anyone can ID this Avocado.

http://palmtalk.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboar...=ST;f=4;t=1155;

University of Florida IFAS has good online info sheets on avocados, and so does Pine Island Nursery at www.tropicalfruitnursery.com.  I planted a Brogdon, which was available in supermarkets earlier in the season.  

BBC ran a story on someone's fruit-bearing avocado growing outdoors in London.

My list of trees that I use to gauge a climate/zone is very different than everyone else's since I live in a place where only 2 palm species have a better than 50% chance of survival for multiple years, but the principle is the same.

According to the zone charts, Cincinnati Ohio is a zone 6 with a zone 5 just a stones throw away.

Here are a few examples of what will survive for more than 15 years relatively unprotected.

1. Magnolia grandiflora true form 15 meters tall.

2. Albizia julibrissin - can be very weedy here & grow to 10 meters.

3. Crape Myrtle - up to 5 meters tall.

4. Cedrus deodara 'Kashmir' - 15 meters.

5. Cedrus libani true form & 'Stenocoma' - 25 meters.

6. No fall digging of cannas, elephant ears or dahlias.

7. Callistemon 'Woodlander's Hardy' - survived 3 zone 6 winters in a row & this winter will most likely be its 4th.

8. Pinus palustris - 8 meters tall.

9. Rhapidophyllum hystrix

*all heights are estimates.

The fact that these species can thrive here probably isn't impressive to most people on this board, but most are not long term survivors in places just 50 miles away.

Jake

I took a collection of observations of plants growing throughout Florida, and I drew up a map.

Casuarina equisetifolia 10A

Casuarina glauca 9B

Schinus terebinthifolia 9B

old Roystonea 10A

most Tillandsia 9A

large Ficus 10A

That's a pretty good map, but I think some people on Tampa's interbay might feel a bit shafted (though it may turn out to be more accurate than any of us central Floridians would like after this crummy winter (and yes, I know south Pinellas is a beautiful, solid shade of red, but it's still too close for comfort as far as I'm concerned--I'd like a little more buffer than a flimsy bay)).

Also, having never read this thread before, I cracked up when I saw that picture of Ruskinpalms' "Ficus elastica" (which I'm still not convinced (as Larry wasn't, either) isn't just a magnolia with aerial rootsy-looking Spanish moss), especially with the preface of "sorry, but I was nervous." As I scrolled down I thought "yeah, that's pretty blurry" until I got to the diagonal house as a reference point--it looks like that picture was taken behind your head while running at a full sprint from an angry mob of villagers.

Wow! Heres a great old thread!

All I can say is....man was I a pessimist in 2006!

Great map Jimbeam.....developing such things is extremely difficult.

Wow! Heres a great old thread!

All I can say is....man was I a pessimist in 2006!

Great map Jimbeam.....developing such things is extremely difficult.

I just hope that map holds true after Thursday morning!

More from NWS:

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL

326 AM EST TUE FEB 3 2009

........THE FRONT WILL THEN MOVE THROUGH THE AREA WEDNESDAY MORNING AND

EARLY AFTERNOON WITH HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO THE REGION BEHIND

IT. THIS WILL BRING EVEN MORE COOL AND DRY AIR TO THE AREA FOR

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY. HIGHS WED AND THURS ARE

EXPECTED IN THE LOWER 50S NORTH TO LOWER 60S SOUTH. LOWS THURS

MORNING WILL BE VERY COLD WITH AROUND 20 NORTH-MID 20S INLAND TO

LOWER TO MID 30S COASTAL CENTRAL AND SOUTH. WILL LIKELY NEED A

FREEZE/HARD FREEZE NORTH/ WARNING FOR THURSDAY MORNING FOR MOST OF

THE AREA. WINDS WILL ALSO REMAIN AROUND 10 MPH THROUGH MUCH OF THE

NIGHT POSSIBLY CAUSING A WIND CHILL ADV TO BE REQUIRED.

I just hope that map holds true after Thursday morning!

Yes...I think we just might test the limits.......

Larry, That is amazing stuff growing very well in Tarpon Springs.Really incredible.It is also clear that St. Pete presents a real microclimate.Still blown away bt that pictue of the J caffra growing next to the Coconuts!

This is all a work in progress. I am still working on it, because there are some areas that I am still not sure of yet.

I would appreciate any suggestions and or criticisms! Thanks

Although the weather has been interesting this year, I haven't seen anything that is going to come anywhere near changing any zones.

I would appreciate any suggestions and or criticisms! Thanks

Well...since you asked......

Id say the 9A line into north Pinellas is too severe. I dont think it gets anywhere near that close to the coast.

And, based on whats growing, Id say the 10a line extends further up the coast of Pinellas. I also suspect that much of the interbay peninsula in Tampa is also 10a (barring some cold readings reported by some members in this area).

I see that you are quite savvy and detail oriented in including Pine Island and Sanibel in the 10b shading. IMO, these are the warmest west coast locales.

Longboat Key and Anna Maria are more likely 10B instead of 10A, just my opinion based on the observations I have seen from the area. Also, the 8B/9A zone probably dips a bit further south towards Brooksville - inland from the nature coast - instead of just cutting straight across. I know the USDA map cuts straight west as well but I don't think that's accurate.

Overall, though, probably the most accurate FL Hardiness map I have seen. Great work!

Hi Spock - FWIW I think he nailed Pinellas. NE Pinellas can get quite cold east of Lake Tarpon and east of the Pinellas Ridge. Cold air tends to pool there. Remember, in the last freeze, Odessa saw 23F which isn't too far from NE Pinellas. I also think the 10A line is right where it should be. Even before the 1980's freezes, the coconuts at Clearwater beach were wiped-out in 1957 - and that was out on the island. The 1962 freeze scorched all the Australian Pines out on Sand Key & Indian Rocks Beach. So I think the line really has to stop where he has it, and long term, one could argue it might even be a little generous. But I would leave it just as it is.

The interbay depiction is probably accurate as well, at least in a perfect world without urbanization. With the urban heat island effect - Tampa Int'l saw 34F - didn't even freeze, yet we saw 31F at MacDill AFD at the bottom of the interbay peninsula. That's because MacDill itself isn't all that built-up - and there is a lot of open land south of Interbay Blvd, hence the colder readings in radiational events.

Edited February 4, 200917 yr by jasons

Longboat Key and Anna Maria are more likely 10B instead of 10A, just my opinion based on the observations I have seen from the area.

Yes! I think that areas on the mainland in Bradenton, but right at the coast are awful close to 10b as well. My aunt lives there and giant Banyans and very very ancient Royals are everywhere.