Update on my coconut palm in Jacksonville and huge new coconut!

[SeanK]

On 8/31/2025 at 10:01 PM, trippc said:

  I live in Orange Park (near Jacksonville, Florida). This past winter, temperatures dropped to around 25°F, one of our worst winters.

I had a royal palm, a foxtail palm, Dwarf Green Malayan coconuts, and a Tommy mango.

During this past winter, my royal palm was 95% burnt, to the point that we gave up on it since our HOA was on our case about the "eyesore" (it still had green in the center and no spear pull). It was about 15 feet tall, measured from the tallest frond. The foxtail palm, about the same height but with more trunk, survived the winter and pushed new growth before our HOA complained. The attached photos show the current state of the foxtail. It had minimal protection—maybe a bedsheet around the crown shaft on the coldest days. The coconut palm stayed in the ground all winter. I had two identical coconuts: one died with spear pull, while the other survived, even though both had frost cloths poorly placed on top (the cloths touched the fronds). All these plants were in the ground during the past winter. Now, I’m keeping the surviving coconut in a pot and will store it in the garage when temperatures drop below 40°F. I’ve attached photos of all the mentioned tropicals. I’ve also added bacarriophoenix alfredii, along with Clusia, royal, king, and sugar palm seedlings to my collection. All will remain in pots for the next few years, and likely beyond. Once they start showing trunk (except for the Clusia), I may plant them in the 6-foot-wide alley between my house and my neighbor’s, which blocks the northern wind and benefits from the heat of my brick house.

However, these measures won’t change the fact that once they grow taller than my house, they’ll face temperatures well below 30°F. I still enjoy the challenge and love the tropical look during the summer months. I’ll continue to care for them as much as I can and will update Palm Talk. I love seeing posts like this, knowing others want a similar landscape in this zone. Please keep us updated on your journey—thank you!

 

Sorry for your losses 

This reinforces the 90/10 rule. Those plants 100% cold-hardy are 90% of the landscape and they go out front. The 10% experimental, out-of-zone stuff you can enjoy in the back. When they need protection, the neighbors will never know.

[Maddox Gardening-youtube]

15 minutes ago, SeanK said:

If you're on the east side of the river it must be a tad warmer.

sadly im on the west side but have a urban heat effect from downtown

[Maddox Gardening-youtube]

Here is an update of my coconut palms. the bigger one is still putting on its first leaf since June. I think that is to be expected since it's just getting established. And I had to take off a dying leaf on the big one and a dying leaf on the small one. since the last update around one month ago they are doing fantastic!!!

[Maddox Gardening-youtube]

Here is an update. 

 

 

[Maddox Gardening-youtube]

for some reason there orange sap is coming from my big coconuts trunk

[SouthernCATropicals]

1 minute ago, Maddox Gardening-youtube said:

for some reason there orange sap is coming from my big coconuts trunk

That’s so odd, I didn’t even know coconuts could produce sap like that. When I prune a frond too early on accident the sap looks white 

 

Looks good though