Southern Hemisphere Growing Season 2025/26

[Jonathan]

I'm  calling it - welcome to spring Southern Hemispericals!  My palms have been awake for a few weeks now after a very mild winter.

Below is a snapshot of the week ahead here in Hobart, and probably for the next couple of months, with hopefully higher lows and some much needed rain. The only guarantee down here is that the weather in spring will be unhinged.

Hope your season goes well!

[cbmnz]

Hard to get out of winter mode but I guess it's time to move to this thread now.  Have reached the time of the year when just having a clear night does not automatically mean a freeze, it takes a favourable/unusual setup. Tonight is clear but only forecast to get down to 3.

 

 

 

[Jonathan]

1 hour ago, cbmnz said:

Hard to get out of winter mode but I guess it's time to move to this thread now.  Have reached the time of the year when just having a clear night does not automatically mean a freeze, it takes a favourable/unusual setup. Tonight is clear but only forecast to get down to 3.

 

 

 

I know what you mean...still mostly cool here but things are moving. Temps all over the show, a massive cold front came through tonight so we're looking at 11 tomorrow then 21 on Sunday, crazy!

Is the Waikato Basin a bit of a frost hollow? I've always imagined that it wouldn't be too bad that far north in NZ, I guess you're a reasonable way inland though?

[cbmnz]

23 hours ago, Jonathan said:

I know what you mean...still mostly cool here but things are moving. Temps all over the show, a massive cold front came through tonight so we're looking at 11 tomorrow then 21 on Sunday, crazy!

Is the Waikato Basin a bit of a frost hollow? I've always imagined that it wouldn't be too bad that far north in NZ, I guess you're a reasonable way inland though?

Yeah, geography plays a big part.  Best evidenced by the fact that on hills very close to my town, it becomes all but frost free once you get above about 300m elevation, yet are still the same distance inland.

On the flip side it makes for very steady temperatures through the summer months, with often a tally of 70-90 days  >25.0C which is amongst the highest in NZ, yet only a handful if any, over 30C, and if so only by a little.

Fortunately a decent amount of palms  can handle an annual dose of handful of radiation freezes to -2.5C or so, with about 8 hour below freezing max and a decent warm up to at least double figures the following day.  Driving around,  large Queen palms and Bangalows are common now, visually it's pretty clear you are well North in NZ.

Apart from seeing mature/old Kentia which you don't see around here,  I don't notice much difference in the general look when I visit the most properly frost free urban areas,  nearby and further North.  The same applied when I visited Nelson in the South Island, hard to tell you were not in the upper North, based on what was growing. 

It could have been different, if the popular temperate palms took damage as soon as got below 0C as opposed to -2C  where most seem to, then everywhere inland apart from  maybe Northland would have a very different look to the coastal areas. 

The Gippsland in Victoria should be a decent climate analog (inland but not high elevation) but having a quick look via Streetview at the towns there, don't see so many palms. Perhaps a cultural thing? 

[Tyrone]

Got this very slow moving front going over us. It’s almost stalled. Everything is slushy again. A wet spring weekend. 

[tim_brissy_13]

23 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Yeah, geography plays a big part.  Best evidenced by the fact that on hills very close to my town, it becomes all but frost free once you get above about 300m elevation, yet are still the same distance inland.

On the flip side it makes for very steady temperatures through the summer months, with often a tally of 70-90 days  >25.0C which is amongst the highest in NZ, yet only a handful if any, over 30C, and if so only by a little.

Fortunately a decent amount of palms  can handle an annual dose of handful of radiation freezes to -2.5C or so, with about 8 hour below freezing max and a decent warm up to at least double figures the following day.  Driving around,  large Queen palms and Bangalows are common now, visually it's pretty clear you are well North in NZ.

Apart from seeing mature/old Kentia which you don't see around here,  I don't notice much difference in the general look when I visit the most properly frost free urban areas,  nearby and further North.  The same applied when I visited Nelson in the South Island, hard to tell you were not in the upper North, based on what was growing. 

It could have been different, if the popular temperate palms took damage as soon as got below 0C as opposed to -2C  where most seem to, then everywhere inland apart from  maybe Northland would have a very different look to the coastal areas. 

The Gippsland in Victoria should be a decent climate analog (inland but not high elevation) but having a quick look via Streetview at the towns there, don't see so many palms. Perhaps a cultural thing? 

It gets pretty chilly in many of the towns in Gippsland. A cunninghamiana is marginal in places like Korumburra and Leongatha. They do exist but don’t look great and there’s not many. Without having had a good look around or studied the climate, I’d imagine based on geography that places like Moe, Morwell and Traralgon would get even colder. There is a palm collector in Traralgon who has a decent collection last I checked, but more thing like Parajubaea, Jubaea etc rather than anything too subtropical. 

[tim_brissy_13]

Down to 3C this morning and heading for about 2C this morning so still in a bit of winter mode. But the sun hits differently in September and on clear days, even when it’s not warm and only around 15C like today it still feels nice. Heading for 21C tomorrow and 22C on Sunday, so definitely starting to turn. 

[Jonathan]

Have I maybe called it too early? 

Vinces Saddle, Huon Valley, Tasmania, 370m....some nice spring weather, lol!

[cbmnz]

4 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

Have I maybe called it too early? 

Vinces Saddle, Huon Valley, Tasmania, 370m....some nice spring weather, lol!

That's a proper settled fall, impressive for 370m ASL

 

 

[cbmnz]

45 minutes ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

It gets pretty chilly in many of the towns in Gippsland. A cunninghamiana is marginal in places like Korumburra and Leongatha. They do exist but don’t look great and there’s not many. Without having had a good look around or studied the climate, I’d imagine based on geography that places like Moe, Morwell and Traralgon would get even colder. There is a palm collector in Traralgon who has a decent collection last I checked, but more thing like Parajubaea, Jubaea etc rather than anything too subtropical. 

Interesting. I did after that find some good looking specimens in a town called Eastwood but perhaps it is a bit milder being near a big area of lagoons/brackish lakes by the looks.
Over here A. Cunninghamiana in the long term does well even in the countryside with no urban heat island.  Show some damage  some winters, but grow it out quickly. 
 

[tim_brissy_13]

27 minutes ago, cbmnz said:

Interesting. I did after that find some good looking specimens in a town called Eastwood but perhaps it is a bit milder being near a big area of lagoons/brackish lakes by the looks.
Over here A. Cunninghamiana in the long term does well even in the countryside with no urban heat island.  Show some damage  some winters, but grow it out quickly. 
 

You’ve really done some studying. As a Victorian I’d never even heard of Eastwood but I see on maps it’s basically a part of Bairnsdale. It’s not too far from the coast and like you say near the bay not far from Lakes Entrance where the climate is quite mild and frosts and freezing temperatures are uncommon.

[Jonathan]

1 hour ago, cbmnz said:

That's a proper settled fall, impressive for 370m ASL

 

 

Yeah its a novelty. I took that photo at about 9.30 this morning, it was all gone by midday...snow below 500m is pretty unusual here and and never last through a full day, luckily! I can remember snow to sea level maybe twice in my life, don't recommend.

[tim_brissy_13]

0.7C this morning! We had a basically frostless June and July but plenty either in late May or August and now September. Warming up above 20C today though. Hopefully this is the last one. 

[Tyrone]

1 hour ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

0.7C this morning! We had a basically frostless June and July but plenty either in late May or August and now September. Warming up above 20C today though. Hopefully this is the last one. 

That’s cold for September. We’ve got a 4C forecast for Monday morning, so if you take a couple of degrees off for my area then it’s not much different I suppose. 
 

We are getting drenched at the moment by a low pressure zone. It’s been pretty calm until now and the SW winds have just started to ramp up. I’ve got a pine tree that was partially uprooted by wild weather a couple of weeks back. It may go a bit more in this weather. 

[Tyrone]

We’ve had just over 40mm in the last 24hrs. The wind was mostly calm until sunrise when the westerlies gusted up. Some pictures of the flooded place. The lake had burst its banks and has swallowed half the lawn towards the house. It isn’t creeping up any closer which is good. 

[Tyrone]

[Tyrone]

[tim_brissy_13]

Woah. Those Archontophoenix will be loving life, hope it’s not too soggy for too long for things like Parajubaea. 
 

Here, after a morning of 0.7C at 6:30am, exactly 24 hours later it was 20.0C in the morning. Overnight minimum official 17.5C around 9:30pm last night. Strong and potentially damaging northerly gusts keeping temperatures mild. Had a brief downpour around midday today, sun back out now. Crazy weather. 

[Phil Petersen]

Been very windy here,  couple of R baueri palms new in the ground so put up some wind cloth for the taller one. Seems to be enough. Wind has been up to 100kph from the SW. Dusting of snow on some hills inland 30 odd k away. Highs are barely mid teens on warmer days at the moment. Spring! 

[cbmnz]

47 minutes ago, Phil Petersen said:

Been very windy here,  couple of R baueri palms new in the ground so put up some wind cloth for the taller one. Seems to be enough. Wind has been up to 100kph from the SW. Dusting of snow on some hills inland 30 odd k away. Highs are barely mid teens on warmer days at the moment. Spring! 

IMG_0842.mov

Those R. Baueri are going to have passers by  on the street looking twice once they get some size on. They do look rather tropical compared to the mainland Nikau (comparatively,  when not under heavy canopy) .

[cbmnz]

Got 0c forecast which is not unusual only few days into spring. Not tracking too bad so far.  Wind seems to be holding SW maintaining some  comparative maritime warm for an hour or two longer than models said.  

[Tyrone]

5 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Woah. Those Archontophoenix will be loving life, hope it’s not too soggy for too long for things like Parajubaea. 
 

Here, after a morning of 0.7C at 6:30am, exactly 24 hours later it was 20.0C in the morning. Overnight minimum official 17.5C around 9:30pm last night. Strong and potentially damaging northerly gusts keeping temperatures mild. Had a brief downpour around midday today, sun back out now. Crazy weather. 

I’ve found that Parajubaea do not care about being drenched if the nights are cool to cold. Where the P tvt are actually has white clay in the soil. You can’t see it in the pictures but there is a drain I dug not far from the big one to channel water from my neighbours place that would otherwise just sheet across the area. Even so the soil around them is constantly wet. It doesn’t seem to bother them at all. 

[Tyrone]

22 minutes ago, cbmnz said:

Got 0c forecast which is not unusual only few days into spring. Not tracking too bad so far.  Wind seems to be holding SW maintaining some  comparative maritime warm for an hour or two longer than models said.  

Bring on spring. I reckon it will be late here, although we have 24C forecast for Friday then more rain. Low to mid single digit min this week which is cold and snow on the Stirling Ranges tonight and possibly tomorrow night. 

[Phil Petersen]

10 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Bring on spring. I reckon it will be late here, although we have 24C forecast for Friday then more rain. Low to mid single digit min this week which is cold and snow on the Stirling Ranges tonight and possibly tomorrow night. 

You’ve got so much water now eh Tyrone! Super wet looking at those photos. Hope this helps you with a bumper growing season once it warms up- and no wet feet issues for any palms you have that prefer good drainage. 

[cbmnz]

23 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Bring on spring. I reckon it will be late here, although we have 24C forecast for Friday then more rain. Low to mid single digit min this week which is cold and snow on the Stirling Ranges tonight and possibly tomorrow night. 

Low of 2.4 with no frost despite there being clear skies this morning.   I think are safe again tonight although may get a fraction colder with less wind.

[Tyrone]

We are having a cold start to Spring. Yesterday morning a min of 2C, this morning a min of 3C. Luckily the rain stopped but we are now under a high. The tide has gone out a bit on my flooding but we need real warmth to dry the place out. We are expecting 23C on Friday then rain again from Saturday and no real warmth in the forecast after that. I think September will be a write off in the garden. 

[Hu Palmeras]

On 31/8/2025 at 17:08, Jonathan said:

¡Bienvenidos a la primavera, Hemisferios del Sur! Mis palmeras llevan unas semanas despiertas tras un invierno muy suave.

A continuación, un resumen de la semana que viene aquí en Hobart, y probablemente de los próximos meses, con mínimas más altas y la tan necesaria lluvia. La única garantía aquí es que el clima en primavera será inestable.

¡Espero que tu temporada vaya bien!

My climate isn't tropical, but I'm still taking the risk. My tropical palm trees will spend their entire lives in pots and protected indoors.

[Jonathan]

7 hours ago, Hu Palmeras said:

My climate isn't tropical, but I'm still taking the risk. My tropical palm trees will spend their entire lives in pots and protected indoors.

Which part of Chile do live in Hugo?

[Hu Palmeras]

1 hour ago, Jonathan said:

¿En que parte de Chile vive Hugo?

I live in the south of Chile, in a city called Temuco.

[SeanK]

33 minutes ago, Hu Palmeras said:

I live in the south of Chile, in a city called Temuco.

Arica e Iquique tienen los mejores inviernos. Cómprate un terreno por allí en el norte.

[Hu Palmeras]

19 minutes ago, SeanK said:

Arica e Iquique tienen los mejores inviernos. Cómprate un terreno por allí en el norte.

Hey Sean, you're Chilean. Why do you know so much about Chile?

[SeanK]

I worked and vacationed there about 20 years ago.

[Hu Palmeras]

5 minutes ago, SeanK said:

Trabajé y estuve de vacaciones allí hace unos 20 años.

Interesting, my friend. You might think I'm crazy, but the United States is always welcome in Chile. Imagine a third world war. My country would certainly welcome you with affection.

[Tyrone]

Had a 23C day on Friday, a mild sat morning with a low around 13C then 22C and humid before a cold front came through late morning and dropped it to 15C. Today another cold front and nothing higher than 18C all week with rain every day. Siggghhhh. 
My bananas look ragged, the lawn is 20cm high and hasn’t been mowed since June due to soggy ground. My place is looking like a derelict Balinese resort. 

[cbmnz]

On 9/14/2025 at 12:55 PM, Tyrone said:

Had a 23C day on Friday, a mild sat morning with a low around 13C then 22C and humid before a cold front came through late morning and dropped it to 15C. Today another cold front and nothing higher than 18C all week with rain every day. Siggghhhh. 
My bananas look ragged, the lawn is 20cm high and hasn’t been mowed since June due to soggy ground. My place is looking like a derelict Balinese resort. 

Fortunate here being on sandy loam and only using a light push mower it never gets soft enough for that to be a problem. 

Bananas are growing again, had one of the main stems choke after Winter last year so will be keeping a watch and performing some surgery if necessary.

[Jonathan]

On 9/14/2025 at 10:55 AM, Tyrone said:

My place is looking like a derelict Balinese resort. 

Love it, very descriptive.

23 here today, 17 tomorrow, then back down to 13 on Wednesday! Bouncing around like a super ball which is Tasmanian Standard Springtime! 

[tim_brissy_13]

25.2C max here today with 80km/h wind gusts pretty much all day and still windy now at 10pm. Northerly winds are keeping overnight minimums up well above 10C as well lately. Forecast for days between 15C and 20C the rest of the week and nothing below 7C overnight. A bit of rain forecast most days, but it seems so random this time of year whether the rain forecasts actually come true. Days like today dry things out quickly so rainfall will be welcome. 

[Tyrone]

Tim you can have our rain. We are roughly 130mm so far for September and it’s only the 15th. We had about that for all of August. Had a rainy blowy day of 12.9C max but a good portion of the day was below 10C. Real rubbish weather. More like early July. Today was just miserable rainy and freezing. It’s like we’ve turned into western Tassie. Up to 18C tomorrow which will feel like a heatwave in comparison then on Wednesday another cold front and heavy rain and cold wind. 

[Jonathan]

7 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Tim you can have our rain. We are roughly 130mm so far for September and it’s only the 15th. We had about that for all of August. Had a rainy blowy day of 12.9C max but a good portion of the day was below 10C. Real rubbish weather. More like early July. Today was just miserable rainy and freezing. It’s like we’ve turned into western Tassie. Up to 18C tomorrow which will feel like a heatwave in comparison then on Wednesday another cold front and heavy rain and cold wind. 

We really, really need rain...so send it this way please!

Western Tassie has actually been much drier than in the past in recent years, unfortunately. Huge areas of rainforest that haven't seen fire for thousands of years have dried out and burnt, not a good scenario. 

[Tyrone]

Got another cold front here today. I hope it gets to Victoria and Tassie. We don’t need the rain anymore.