Polar Vortex Jan 2025 - Are you preparing your palms?

[Mazat]

15 hours ago, Tropicdoc said:

what’s this? I like it!

cordyline australis probably,.

the tips are soft, not like yucca gloriosa or other yuccas.

outplanted in october 2024

Had no problems with -6 degrees Celsius/21 Deg. Fahrenheit twice

[Subtropical LIS]

8 hours ago, Xenon said:

Polar vortex is a long distant memory...

Doesn't get any better than this 😅 

I would agree.  We made it to 82 F here today in Jupiter, FL. We really can't complain...the entire southern half of the USA from California to North Carolina was in the 70's F and 80's F today:

 

[PAPalmtrees]

23 hours ago, Xenon said:

Polar vortex is a long distant memory...

Doesn't get any better than this 😅 

not for the mid atlantic or the east coast =/

[amh]

On 1/25/2025 at 5:30 PM, JeskiM said:

I don't have any recommendations, but I just thought about something that my uncle does up north.  My uncle grows fig trees in the Pittsburgh PA area.  Just before winter he will dig them up, lay them over, and bury them under dirt, etc. Them in spring, pulls them back up and stakes them. Keep in mind theses trees are 20 to 25 footers and he uses heavy equipment (he owns a construction company), and does snap the roots, etc. Gets fruit every year.

Makes me wonder if that trick could work on some tropicals ?

-Matt

I think this would be a great idea for marginal, deciduous subtropical species, but as Jonathan mentioned, I think most tropicals would die. 

It might work on a tropical vegetable crop like Manihot esculenta or Cnidoscolus aconitifolius.

[Tropicdoc]

I did this exact thing with my tropical herbaceous stuff when I saw the forecast. Things like monstera and philodendron I just dug up put in the garage and now they are all back in the ground

i think they will do better than if I would have left them with roots in the ground because this weather event was a record breaker 

[Tropicdoc]

On 2/4/2025 at 9:39 AM, Mazat said:

cordyline australis probably,.

the tips are soft, not like yucca gloriosa or other yuccas.

outplanted in october 2024

Had no problems with -6 degrees Celsius/21 Deg. Fahrenheit twice

I can never seem to find a regular green trunking cordyline australis. It’s either red star or tropical cordylines

[Chester B]

13 hours ago, Tropicdoc said:

I can never seem to find a regular green trunking cordyline australis. It’s either red star or tropical cordylines

They aren't that common here in the south.  Anywhere else in the country you can buy them at any place that sells plants.

I have seen them at HomeDepot and a private nursery here in Houston.  They're never sold as Cordyline , usually they're sold as Dracaena or "Green spike" or "Spikes".  Generally they are brought in with the annuals for use as the "Thriller" part of a potted plant arrangement.  They'll be small and cheap, $1-$4 dollars.

[Robbertico18]

Was out in the garden this afternoon checking all the spears and had one baby mule palm spear pull so went ahead and sprayed every palm that stayed outside with a lil hydrogen peroxide just to be safe 

[Cody Salem]

10 hours ago, Chester B said:

They aren't that common here in the south.  Anywhere else in the country you can buy them at any place that sells plants.

I have seen them at HomeDepot and a private nursery here in Houston.  They're never sold as Cordyline , usually they're sold as Dracaena or "Green spike" or "Spikes".  Generally they are brought in with the annuals for use as the "Thriller" part of a potted plant arrangement.  They'll be small and cheap, $1-$4 dollars.

I have actually had a hard time finding them here in Oregon too.  The market is flooded with all the pretty colored ones being sold with annuals.  It took about a year to find a hardy green one.  It was probably $40 but they were big and already started trunking. 

[Cody Salem]

It looks like Oregon isn't escaping the cold this time.   Its still 4 or 5 days away but they're saying that 100% of the models are in agreement.

I guess that's still about average for Z8b, so maybe I shouldn't complain too much.

[PAPalmtrees]

Looks like the cold temperatures are coming back

[Chester B]

13 hours ago, Cody Salem said:

I have actually had a hard time finding them here in Oregon too.  The market is flooded with all the pretty colored ones being sold with annuals.  It took about a year to find a hardy green one.  It was probably $40 but they were big and already started trunking. 

HomeDepot sells them all the time. You can usually pick them up for a buck in late summer. 
 

The only place I’ve seen plants labelled as Cordyline australis is Tony’s Garden Center in Boring. They have pretty decent ones for under $15 and ones that are around 4 feet tall for around $60-$70.  But I worry about those larger ones as Cordyline like to send a big tap root down. I think in the long term the smaller one may outperform the bigger one. They grow pretty fast too if you give them lots of water. 

[Chester B]

12 hours ago, Cody Salem said:

It looks like Oregon isn't escaping the cold this time.   Its still 4 or 5 days away but they're saying that 100% of the models are in agreement.

I guess that's still about average for Z8b, so maybe I shouldn't complain too much.

That sucks. Portland is zone 9a so it’s bumping on that lower limit. 

[Cody Salem]

2 hours ago, Chester B said:

HomeDepot sells them all the time. You can usually pick them up for a buck in late summer. 
 

The only place I’ve seen plants labelled as Cordyline australis is Tony’s Garden Center in Boring. They have pretty decent ones for under $15 and ones that are around 4 feet tall for around $60-$70.  But I worry about those larger ones as Cordyline like to send a big tap root down. I think in the long term the smaller one may outperform the bigger one. They grow pretty fast too if you give them lots of water. 

You're right, I forgot that I did see them there.  I probably didn't want to spend that much for one at the time.  I'm really happy with the one I finally found, it's over 8 ft in just 2 years.  I trimmed off all the dead leaves after last winter, so all the green is one year of growth.

[Cody Salem]

3 hours ago, Chester B said:

That sucks. Portland is zone 9a so it’s bumping on that lower limit. 

 

It can't be as bad as last winter when these were the HIGH temperatures for the day.

 

1/13/2024

 

[Cody Salem]

Salem OR was 21° last night and tonight the current temp and the dewpoint are 5° below yesterday so I'm thinking 15 or 16 even though the forcast says 20.

[PAPalmtrees]

Well it looks like some more cold weather's coming through again, this winter has been hell I hope this is it for the cold.

[PalmSupreme]

On 2/4/2025 at 3:13 PM, Xenon said:

Polar vortex is a long distant memory...

Doesn't get any better than this 😅 

Or so you thought….

[DreaminAboutPalms]

14 hours ago, PaPalmTrees said:

Well it looks like some more cold weather's coming through again, this winter has been hell I hope this is it for the cold.

Isn't that normal for PA?

[PAPalmtrees]

17 minutes ago, DreaminAboutPalms said:

Isn't that normal for PA?

Not where I live in South Central Pennsylvania But northern part of Pennsylvania this is probably normal but it also has been a really cold winter for us this is more like mid January weather but the forecast does keep changing soo we'll see

[UK_Palms]

1 hour ago, PalmSupreme said:

Or so you thought….

 

I'm seeing lows of about 10F for Dallas next week and potentially 15F for Houston. It depends what model you look at. ICON is undoubtedly the worst case scenario with a 3-4F minimum in Dallas next Thursday. Highly unlikely to happen, but worrying to see nonetheless if you live there. Yikes.

 

The daytime maxes are even more anomalous. I know Dallas missed the worst of the January event, but I don't think they will dodge this one. It may even be a historic cold event for late February. The German ICON model has 12F as a high in Dallas on Wednesday. I doubt it will be that bad, obviously, but this is certainly a possibility still. Either way it is going to get pretty darn cold there.

 

Again, it almost certainly won't get that cold. But then again folks probably didn't think Feb 2021 would get as bad as it ended up being. This obviously won't be on par with that, but it will almost certainly be the worst of this winter and possibly the worst event since Feb 21, potentially. I saw that one of the ensembles even had Houston going down to 7F next Friday.

[DreaminAboutPalms]

 

46 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

 

I'm seeing lows of about 10F for Dallas next week and potentially 15F for Houston. It depends what model you look at. ICON is undoubtedly the worst case scenario with a 3-4F minimum in Dallas next Thursday. Highly unlikely to happen, but worrying to see nonetheless if you live there. Yikes.

 

The daytime maxes are even more anomalous. I know Dallas missed the worst of the January event, but I don't think they will dodge this one. It may even be a historic cold event for late February. The German ICON model has 12F as a high in Dallas on Wednesday. I doubt it will be that bad, obviously, but this is certainly a possibility still. Either way it is going to get pretty darn cold there.

 

Again, it almost certainly won't get that cold. But then again folks probably didn't think Feb 2021 would get as bad as it ended up being. This obviously won't be on par with that, but it will almost certainly be the worst of this winter and possibly the worst event since Feb 21, potentially. I saw that one of the ensembles even had Houston going down to 7F next Friday.

I haven't seen anything saying we'll get that colder than mid teens, but either way I'm starting to come to the conclusion that Texas just has a garbage climate. Who cares if we can get 75 degree days in January if we get random days in the teens late in February. 

 

 

[Meangreen94z]

1 hour ago, DreaminAboutPalms said:

 

I haven't seen anything saying we'll get that colder than mid teens, but either way I'm starting to come to the conclusion that Texas just has a garbage climate. Who cares if we can get 75 degree days in January if we get random days in the teens late in February. 

 

 

It definitely has been a bad run. I’m thinking mid to high teens at worst for central Texas 

[Robert Cade Ross]

2 hours ago, DreaminAboutPalms said:

 

I haven't seen anything saying we'll get that colder than mid teens, but either way I'm starting to come to the conclusion that Texas just has a garbage climate. Who cares if we can get 75 degree days in January if we get random days in the teens late in February. 

 

 

Yeah that’s why I’m moving next year lol the climate is Garbo and not worth wasting time and years of invest in palm trees that get abused every 8 months at this point…

Edited February 13 by Robert Cade Ross
Typo

[PAPalmtrees]

13 minutes ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

Yeah that’s why I’m moving next year lol the climate is Garbo and not worth wasting time and years of invest in palm trees that get absurd every 8 months at this point…

None of my business but where are you moving to? just curious

 

[Robert Cade Ross]

If this is my yearly results then  that’s depressing 😵😵😵😵😵 

[PAPalmtrees]

1 minute ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

If this is my yearly results then  that’s depressing 😵😵😵😵😵 

aww I'm sorry hopefully they recover

[Marco67]

11 minutes ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

Yeah that’s why I’m moving next year lol the climate is Garbo and not worth wasting time and years of invest in palm trees that get absurd every 8 months at this point…

It seems like 90% of the year it's the Amazon rainforest and 10% of the year its Siberia. It probably makes it difficult to pick the rights plants for your garden and you start to plant a bit more conservative after a couple of bad experiences. Sabal Palmetto and Mexicano look pretty good and should be able to cope with these occasional cold blasts from Canada.

[Robert Cade Ross]

1 minute ago, Marco67 said:

It seems like 90% of the year it's the Amazon rainforest and 10% of the year its Siberia. It probably makes it difficult to pick the rights plants for your garden and you start to plant a bit more conservative after a couple of bad experiences. Sabal Palmetto and Mexicano look pretty good and should be able to cope with these occasional cold blasts from Canada. 

I’ve got uresana and plenty of other hardy stuff I’ve  collected recently thankfully. 

[Marco67]

3 minutes ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

I’ve got uresana and plenty of other hardy stuff I’ve  collected recently thankfully. 

Sabal Uresana that is a great looking palm. I wish we had the heat you have in Texas 😀 

[Tropicdoc]

On 2/8/2025 at 1:06 PM, Cody Salem said:

You're right, I forgot that I did see them there.  I probably didn't want to spend that much for one at the time.  I'm really happy with the one I finally found, it's over 8 ft in just 2 years.  I trimmed off all the dead leaves after last winter, so all the green is one year of growth.

That’s a beauty. How does that compare cold hardiness and growth rate to yucca elephantipes?

[Subtropical LIS]

It's the same old story...it's easy to find the most exteme model (or least reliable like the ICON), and use it to hype the weather. Untrained people (like in the media) do this a great deal. Of course, one can find models that show places like Dallas barley getting  below freezing on the same day at the same hour. LOL

 

 

[Chester B]

I've been watching it, and it looks like three colder nights, probably one below freezing.  Daytime highs look fine, but with all the damage so far it may finish off a few more things.  All my tender perennials are pushing a lot of new growth too after I cleaned them up.

17 hours ago, Marco67 said:

It seems like 90% of the year it's the Amazon rainforest and 10% of the year its Siberia.

It's more like 99% and 1%.

[Robert Cade Ross]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

I've been watching it, and it looks like three colder nights, probably one below freezing.  Daytime highs look fine, but with all the damage so far it may finish off a few more things.  All my tender perennials are pushing a lot of new growth too after I cleaned them up.

It's more like 99% and 1%.

1-2 weeks a year that destroy everything then it is like nothing happened 😤

[DreaminAboutPalms]

14 minutes ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

1-2 weeks a year that destroy everything then it is like nothing happened 😤

So frustrating - we're so close to being in the clear too. Up until now, Dallas hasn't even dropped below the low 20's all winter, meaning our few remaining CIDP and Washingtonia all look fantastic.

Now if we get to 13F with ice like they are predicting, we'll be set back by months. 

[ahosey01]

Euro model shows this for Wednesday night / Thursday morning:

Even I'm at 33F in this model.  I'm skeptical though... GFS shows I'm at 48F:

Let's hope it's the second and not the first!  I've already been planting and will keep doing so!

[_nevi]

@mthteh1916 warned everyone earlier about the fickle climate across Texas (and the Southern US as a whole). We'll need to watch trends to see if things get better/worse.

[DTS]

The cold is lingering a lot longer than I thought, still going into March with no sign of it being in the 40's

[Xenon]

The latest Euro is beautiful and finally agreeing with yesterday's and today's warm runs of the GFS. Long live the subtropical Jet!!

Hopefully keeps trending up

 

[Chester B]

It better stay this way, I don't want to drag everything back into the garage.  

I'm so demoralized by the last few years my first purchases this year are a nectarine and a plum.  At least I know they won't be killed by the winters, but who knows about the summers??