florida 2025-2026 Florida Winter

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Like clockwork, NWS Melbourne changed their wording yesterday to 'models are trending colder' and 'increasing confidence of a freeze'.  Wasn't a shock to me. When there are cold fronts and they show lows 5 to 7 days out, I subtract 3-6 degrees and then family/friends think I'm some weather guru when my forecast pans out. Lol

[JLM]

Hit 34F this morning. Forecast was for 32F.

Tonight is forecast to reach 26F. We will see. Tomorrow night is only 43F and that's actually right after sunset. Temp is then expected to creep upward close to 50F by sunrise Wednesday morning. Beyond that, I'll have to look over model data again later today but as of like 2 days ago there was little to no threat of freezing temps thru the first week of March.

[MarkC]

Honestly, we are better off in Sacramento than most of Florida, including many parts of South Florida away from the coast. I’m just dismayed constantly at how poorly everything non-native does in this state outside of the immediate coasts and microclimates.

You just don’t see this level of cataclysm out west. As long as you have irrigation, things typically grow fairly well(with some exceptions). Towns are littered with beautiful plants and shrubs and extremely tall palms.

But it’s heartbreaking to see all the money spent here going by the wayside, just losing all these beautiful phoenix palms on i4 is a tragedy for all of humanity. 

[Hombre de Palmas]

1 hour ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Like clockwork, NWS Melbourne changed their wording yesterday to 'models are trending colder' and 'increasing confidence of a freeze'.  Wasn't a shock to me. When there are cold fronts and they show lows 5 to 7 days out, I subtract 3-6 degrees and then family/friends think I'm some weather guru when my forecast pans out. Lol

Exactly, they ripped a degree off almost daily over the past week. Except when they bit off 2 degrees. It correlated to the big NE storm where the Euro and GFS were at odds with the GFS consistently predicting a heavier snowstorm. The GFS won the argument regarding the veracity of the snowstorm. Still to be determined is the minimum for tomorrow night which the GFS has 9°F warmer than the Euro. This rather large divergence has also been consistent over the past week. Hopefully they win that argument as well! Another frost is not needed.

[Hombre de Palmas]

59 minutes ago, MarkC said:

Honestly, we are better off in Sacramento than most of Florida, including many parts of South Florida away from the coast. I’m just dismayed constantly at how poorly everything non-native does in this state outside of the immediate coasts and microclimates.

You just don’t see this level of cataclysm out west. As long as you have irrigation, things typically grow fairly well(with some exceptions). Towns are littered with beautiful plants and shrubs and extremely tall palms.

But it’s heartbreaking to see all the money spent here going by the wayside, just losing all these beautiful phoenix palms on i4 is a tragedy for all of humanity. 

Tall palms like Washies and Sabals didn't miss a beat here. The Royals most likely will recover. Phoenix roebelenii took some burn which took over a week to show up, but are otherwise healthy.  Reclinata and canarienses did fine although the Canaries have been dying out here for other reasons.  Other palms like Bismarcks and Livistonas show some stress on certain specimens but not most of them, and even those affected should recover quickly.  So all is not lost. Lessons to be learned...

[MarkC]

2 hours ago, Hombre de Palmas said:

Tall palms like Washies and Sabals didn't miss a beat here. The Royals most likely will recover. Phoenix roebelenii took some burn which took over a week to show up, but are otherwise healthy.  Reclinata and canarienses did fine although the Canaries have been dying out here for other reasons.  Other palms like Bismarcks and Livistonas show some stress on certain specimens but not most of them, and even those affected should recover quickly.  So all is not lost. Lessons to be learned...

I don’t agree with your overall contention, please tell me where in Florida are there large naturally growing Washingtonias that aren’t in various stages of decay? Where are all those grown from seed exotics that haven’t succumbed to some pestilence?

Everywhere I look outside of the coasts, microclimates near lakes or planted as mature, there are few healthy, majestic specimens of anything. Compare that to California where you can see healthy, tall palms and exotics nearly everywhere. There’s all sorts of reasons why palms can’t/don’t make it to such sizes in these areas of Florida, but ultimately the reasons don’t matter, we are result focused.

I see lack of results. And given the amount of time Florida has had to accumulate palms…. Where are they? Where’s all the palms? Is it some sort of paradox?

[kinzyjr]

The weather stations here at the ranch recorded 43F and some extra tenths in some spots.  The hourly records at KLAL were only slightly lower.  The forecast tonight sits at 32^oF (NWS)- 34^oF (TWC) after briefly dropping down a degree or two.  Interior and lakeside Orlando should dodge a freeze, but the rest of the I-4 corridor will likely hit freezing and/or see frost.  We'll see how it goes the next couple of days.

[flplantguy]

Palms here are killed by lightning a lot, hence no tall washingtonias even in dry soil areas like spring Hill.  Then there is the summer heat and humidity and diseases, you can't add more "dry" during heavy rain periods, whearas you can add more water when there is a drought.  Many homes are newer, hurricanes, etc. There are a lot of potential reasons for less impressive palms than other places, but cold is a major one for sure.  I am leaving out natives of course.

[pj_orlando_z9b]

2 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

The weather stations here at the ranch recorded 43F and some extra tenths in some spots.  The hourly records at KLAL were only slightly lower.  The forecast tonight sits at 32^oF (NWS)- 34^oF (TWC) after briefly dropping down a degree or two.  Interior and lakeside Orlando should dodge a freeze, but the rest of the I-4 corridor will likely hit freezing and/or see frost.  We'll see how it goes the next couple of days.

Update from Belle Isle. Dewpoint continues to rise. Up to 35F. I drenched areas of the yard today but the light westerly winds are likely helping from Lake Conway. I see a station on a boat dock has a dewpoint of 40F while areas a few miles N and E have dewpoints in the 20s. Lake is 75F water. Not sure if a warm lake helps that much but I sure hope so. 

[FlaPalmLover]

Florida doesn't really rely on palms as much for its landscape, from what I've seen, as there's a certain charm and appeal even to just the type of foliage you see around Ocala or Jacksonville, where it's mostly mature live oaks, old sabals (some of which look more like a wild shrub at times than a palm), etc. Granted, very little of that is visible from the interstates, where a lot of the planting choices have been poor. You have to drive through the local roads to see the old growth. The more exotic/majestic palms will always be centered around the coasts and wealthier areas I'd say. And Florida was a pretty cheap place to live/retire before the COVID mass migration, so California probably has had more money dumped into such things in general.

[kinzyjr]

18 minutes ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Update from Belle Isle. Dewpoint continues to rise. Up to 35F. I drenched areas of the yard today but the light westerly winds are likely helping from Lake Conway. I see a station on a boat dock has a dewpoint of 40F while areas a few miles N and E have dewpoints in the 20s. Lake is 75F water. Not sure if a warm lake helps that much but I sure hope so. 

I think you're in good shape.  If it wasn't such a far drive to a few of the sites my work takes me to, I'd be your neighbor by now.

[Matthew92]

38 deg at 8:55pm here. Forecast low is 26deg. Not sure if the bottom will really fall out to get to 26 or if it will slow down for a light freeze in the upper 20’s. Will see…

[kinzyjr]

Everyone gets in on the fun tonight.

[flplantguy]

I know better, going to bed at 53 degrees and matching Miami at 10pm, that it won't be all that warm in the morning. It drops like a rock every time and there are 30s showing up inland already.  I don't think it will hit freezing here but it will be close, but even if it's the last one that's 4 months of off and on freezing weather. It feels like the desert winter from when I was a kid, just hotter between cold fronts.  Testing the new greenhouse to see how it fares with no active heat and only enclosed to the outside air, I'm not expecting much with only the plastic and wood and no stone floor yet.

[HudsonBill]

Welp insanely worse than forecasted. I didn't protect anything so all my work all winter was now useless. How the f can it be below 0 with anowpack in ga in early jan and barely get below freezing here but end of Feb with barely any cold and its just nose dives well into the 20s? Makes 0 sense 

Sun angle has 0 effect I'm convinced it's the same every cold blast doesn't matter if it's November march or early Jan. Same temps daytime and night time. 

Everything is a lie. I give up im cutting amd digging everything out. I'm done. 

If I want to grow anything I'll have to move to California. 

 

The 2nd night is always the worst and they have it forecasted at 35 

Means I'll be 25. 

 

Someone explain to me how this happens? How does central and south Florida end up colder than well north? No real arctic air, all tge ocean surrounding the state etc. It's all fake everything they tell you why florida is warm is false unless you literaly live on the water. 

[SubTropicRay]

39 minutes ago, HudsonBill said:

Someone explain to me how this happens? How does central and south Florida end up colder than well north? No real arctic air, all tge ocean surrounding the state etc. It's all fake everything they tell you why florida is warm is false unless you literaly live on the water. 

And they call this "paradise" Bill.  Paradise my a%$%%$s

[HudsonBill]

1 hour ago, SubTropicRay said:

And they call this "paradise" Bill.  Paradise my a%$%%$s

Paradise if your loaded rich living on the water. That is it anywhere else it's a shithole. 

 

It is colder in pasco county florida than lancaster Pennsylvania where they just got a bunch of snow. How does that make sense? 

[Hombre de Palmas]

I've seen a pattern repeated this year where my area is similar to temperatures in North Florida. I do not recall that in past years but I was busier with travel then and not able to keep tabs as well as I can now.

I believe it is connected to the displacement of arctic air and the development of East Coast storms (bomb cyclones) which funnels cold air efficiently down the East Coast of Florida. There have been several such storms this year each of which coincided with extreme low temperatures in my area. If the trajectory of the cold air is such that your area receives no benefit from the Atlantic you are screwed.

My proximity to the coast (5 miles) has been of no help this year it seems, where in past years it provided the razors edge of cushion between frosts and freezes in many instances. 

That said, for the first time my neighborhood over performed this morning. It was 39°F at 4AM and 40° at 6AM then dropped back to 39°. However, the NWS is not letting me off the hook yet. They posted a frost advisory for tonight with a low of 36°. The models continue to advertise quite a divergence with one camp in the upper 30s and another in the low-mid 40s. Hopefully, the NWS has decided to go with an abundance of caution.

My sincere sympathies to those struggling with cold temperatures this morning. I need only glance at the remains of my garden to share your pain. Hopefully tonight is the final outrage for this despicable winter which has finally spent it's fury.  

[flplantguy]

It's 37 here at my place too, surprisingly, it's so odd how it plays out.  You can't trust the forecasts at all.  You have to be near a heat source of some kind to be successful with anything sensitive, going from 88 Saturday to 53 Monday highs shocks the plants and my system too.  This winter has been awful indeed, and I agree that the books and information should be more reflective of reality. But this is Florida, once you dig into how it's been marketed (look up how Cape Coral was a developed, a scam) it all makes sense. The economy is propped up by building homes, so they need people to move here and weather is one way to advertise for it. However it IS better than Montana in winter lol.

 

I may stay with 12 freezes this winter (winter 23-24 I had 0, the previous winter 2, and one nasty one last year) but only one of this year being well below the average at 24-25 degrees. The rest were barely there or 29 (my winter average lowest low here) and did little damage unless there was frost. I'm taking the data from this year as a worst case and changing everything up, smaller greenhouse plants are the way to go and the yard will be natives or rock. The grass here is allergy inducing or has stickers, and I won't mow, so desert landscape it is. The back area has good spots to experiment also, so tropical stuff and sensitive stuff will be there.  Retirement will be elsewhere when I can downsize the yard; that's my biggest issue is it's too much to handle, even without a freeze OR my collection of plants.  Life is one long lesson with bigger tests and challenges, and we just had the final exam this year lol.

[HudsonBill]

I give up entirely. Florida goes against science. The temperatire is still dropping 30 min after sunrise. Higher sun angle means nothing literaly nothing. 

 

Colder in florida than where they just had 3ft of snow. 

How does any of this scientifically make any sense? Our soil temps are in the 60s we are grounded by warm water, our sun angle is way higher yet we get colder than those areas. 

 

Science is fake 

[JLM]

25F this morning. Hopefully this is the last freeze.

[Hombre de Palmas]

16 hours ago, MarkC said:

I don’t agree with your overall contention, please tell me where in Florida are there large naturally growing Washingtonias that aren’t in various stages of decay? Where are all those grown from seed exotics that haven’t succumbed to some pestilence?

Everywhere I look outside of the coasts, microclimates near lakes or planted as mature, there are few healthy, majestic specimens of anything. Compare that to California where you can see healthy, tall palms and exotics nearly everywhere. There’s all sorts of reasons why palms can’t/don’t make it to such sizes in these areas of Florida, but ultimately the reasons don’t matter, we are result focused.

I see lack of results. And given the amount of time Florida has had to accumulate palms…. Where are they? Where’s all the palms? Is it some sort of paradox?

To your point there are many, many more Royals and Sabals around these parts than Washingtonias and certainly no naturally growing ones. Florida cannot, for a number of reasons, match the iconic look that a towering Washingtonia bestows on the West Coast of California. But outside the urbanized, wealthy corridors the same description applied to Florida is true for California, I imagine. This isn't a knock on California at all!

I am at a disadvantage as to the horticultural delights on the West Coast as I have not had the pleasure to familiarize myself with that area recently. Now that I am a gentleman of leisure I hope to correct that.

I consider myself as living in the interior, certainly this year would bear out that assumption. In certain areas I could think I was back living in the tropics, while in others, only blocks away, it looks like a savannah. It takes effort, intent, knowledge and $$ to successfully achieve a "tropical" look here and maintain a landscape. Most people do not possess that combination. Even then, a winter such as we are experiencing, can quickly knock years off of a truly tropical garden. I am living proof.

Finally, I cannot tell you how many times I have looked upon unkempt Queen Palms, Coconuts, etc that people have strewn about their yards willy nilly and then never lifted a finger to maintain. They would be better off with grass. My two cents. 

 

[MarkC]

It’s incredible how far South on the West coast of Florida the cold dives. It’s February 24th for Christ Sake!?! Doesn’t anyone notice this?! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!!? I’m still in Orlando where it was a balmy 36F.

 

[kinzyjr]

The forecast here was for 32F (NWS) - 34F (TWC).  The spread in the yard was 34F-36F.  There was no visible frost this morning.  One more evil night.

[HudsonBill]

1 hour ago, MarkC said:

It’s incredible how far South on the West coast of Florida the cold dives. It’s February 24th for Christ Sake!?! Doesn’t anyone notice this?! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!!? I’m still in Orlando where it was a balmy 36F.

 

I notice it. Makes 0 sense that inland south fl is colder than areas that just got a blizard up north. Sun angle warm soil temps and being surrounded by warm water has relay no effect on florida somehow. Wait till tonight when it's even colder yet. 

 

Tonight will be way colder. 

[MarkC]

13 minutes ago, HudsonBill said:

I notice it. Makes 0 sense that inland south fl is colder than areas that just got a blizard up north. Sun angle warm soil temps and being surrounded by warm water has relay no effect on florida somehow. Wait till tonight when it's even colder yet. 

It may be one of those live by the sword die by the sword moments for you and others here who would suggest to new members hoping to find cheap land in interior South Florida that had illusions about growing tropicals in abundance. Being just several miles away from the coast, without a moderating source like a lake or on top of a ridge, the dreadful reality.

[Matthew92]

26deg low here.

[MarkC]

17 minutes ago, Matthew92 said:

26deg low here.

This cold air is firmly entrenched. Another brisk night tonight, hopefully it is over for you as well.

 

[ruskinPalms]

39 here this morning. Will be colder tomorrow morning with frost most likely. 

[flplantguy]

I was just looking at the models and the high sank down to the eastern Gulf.  Again.  That provides direct flow from the north to Florida unmodified if the wind is fast, which has been an issue everywhere this winter (the wind is the main complaint for California this year too).  It also creates a wind direction that doesn't hit any water for many of the interior spots, so only soil heat (dry sand holds minimal heat) to modify the air.  This high will be moving towards Naples this evening and bringing a wind shift to many, but light winds.  If these high pressure centers went off the east coast (backside NE winds are worse for cold here in my spot but better south) instead or further west (not usually possible) then this pattern would not be so strong for east Florida, same as if there was winter rain and the wetlands full (thermal heat sink to modify air).  The 80s had drought and drained Everglades (now being restored) and that was partly to blame for the extreme temps then. The drought now is assisting too.  Once you add up all the parameters there are not many in our favor, and almost none if your not in an urban core or by water.  Go north of I4 and all this is overwhealmed by the Continental airmass, so subtleties are moot, but further south the details matter, and this year none were lined up for a good pattern. Hope for El nino next fall to break the cycle and bring rain.🤞

[pj_orlando_z9b]

39F was my low.  Plants are probably just as tired of this as the rest of us. 1 more night. 

As far as why all of FL is cold, it's the persistent flow of air directly from Canada to FL. The high pressure over the 4 corners is never good for FL and it has not moved much of 2026. West ridge is a good indicator of cold nights in FL. The drought isn't helping either. Like the desert, dry ground cools much faster. Basically this has been a perfect storm but in the wrong way. 

[Ivanos1982]

5 hours ago, HudsonBill said:

Welp insanely worse than forecasted. I didn't protect anything so all my work all winter was now useless. How the f can it be below 0 with anowpack in ga in early jan and barely get below freezing here but end of Feb with barely any cold and its just nose dives well into the 20s? Makes 0 sense 

Sun angle has 0 effect I'm convinced it's the same every cold blast doesn't matter if it's November march or early Jan. Same temps daytime and night time. 

Everything is a lie. I give up im cutting amd digging everything out. I'm done. 

If I want to grow anything I'll have to move to California. 

 

The 2nd night is always the worst and they have it forecasted at 35 

Means I'll be 25. 

 

Someone explain to me how this happens? How does central and south Florida end up colder than well north? No real arctic air, all tge ocean surrounding the state etc. It's all fake everything they tell you why florida is warm is false unless you literaly live on the water. 

Don't give up! More palms and tropicals than you think will bounce back. We are still in the darkness "winter". It will be over soon.

[Hombre de Palmas]

The average of the models for my location tonight is in the low 40s. The NWS is forecasting 36°F.

Not sure why,  I guess they are covering themselves. My garage is again filled with all my potted stuff as it is about the only things left that don't look like a flamethrower got 'em. I wasn't going to do it, but my wife stamped her feet, counted to three and cooked a really  nice meal for me last night.

After tonight I can begin to assess the final tally.

Some of my Christmas Palms are pushing out new fronds and seed pods. The Foxtails are also pushing their spears and flushing seed pods. To me, it is a miracle that this is happening three weeks after two nights in the mid-20s with 50 MPH winds.

Royals are also pushing fronds and even my buddy's coconuts show new seed pods and new growth, albeit partly fried.

Long, long way to go but it may not be a total loss. One way or the other I will be removing them, eventually, or looking at really ugly palms for the foreseeable.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

As far as why all of FL is cold, it's the persistent flow of air directly from Canada to FL. The high pressure over the 4 corners is never good for FL and it has not moved much of 2026. West ridge is a good indicator of cold nights in FL.

This  part of your thoughts is correct,   as is the  " ....is often the case / ...as a general rule "  idea here..  That said,  what has been going on  ..pretty much all winter across the Arctic section of  N.E Canada / Greenland,  has the main trouble maker for that part of the U.S.  Cold air pushes wouldn't make it all the way down to the state with out some help from that part of North America..

As for this,  if the ridge were centered over the 4 -corners,  vs being centered more west south west of the 4C,  somewhere out over the Pacific,  we'd be seeing 100F readings atm / 90s back in January.   Depending on the response to such a ridge placement over the parts of Canada mentioned,  FL. might  ..or might not..  experience these repeated cool spells.  

 

[Jimbean]

36.1F here this morning.  The forecast calls for 40F tonight. 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

18 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

This  part of your thoughts is correct,   as is the  " ....is often the case / ...as a general rule "  idea here..  That said,  what has been going on  ..pretty much all winter across the Arctic section of  N.E Canada / Greenland,  has the main trouble maker for that part of the U.S.  Cold air pushes wouldn't make it all the way down to the state with out some help from that part of North America..

As for this,  if the ridge were centered over the 4 -corners,  vs being centered more west south west of the 4C,  somewhere out over the Pacific,  we'd be seeing 100F readings atm / 90s back in January.   Depending on the response to such a ridge placement over the parts of Canada mentioned,  FL. might  ..or might not..  experience these repeated cool spells.  

 

Agree it's the combo of a ridge and Greenland blocking acting like a funnel. The high has moved and even SW of the 4 corners. I read just as much frustration from those out west because of lack of snowfall. I understand it's been a bad year for skiing. Montana has been 80s and Phoenix has been into low 90s I think. 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Agree it's the combo of a ridge and Greenland blocking acting like a funnel. The high has moved and even SW of the 4 corners. I read just as much frustration from those out west because of lack of snowfall. I understand it's been a bad year for skiing. Montana has been 80s and Phoenix has been into low 90s I think. 

That and the trough - deflecting Bermuda High seeming to be quite weak / shifty  this year  ..A point i forgot to add earlier.. 

While there may  -some- deg. of troughiness across the east during these amplified,  " ridge in the west / trough in the east "  setups,  we've both seen years where ridging,  that might have a bigger center somewhere over the west,  extends far enough to the southeast, to a point somewhere over the Bahamas / south of there and essentially helps deflect any deep diving troughs away from FL.  This just doesn't seem to be one of those years, unfortunately.. 



We've gotten close,  but no " official "  90s here just yet.  That changes by tomorrow or Thursday though..   Neighborhood - level readings?,  yep,  been a few 90 / 90+ readings scattered about so far. 

Under this pattern, can believe parts of Montana seeing 70 or 80F readings too.  Of course up there,  it can go from 45 or 55 to -15 ..or -45 in less than 24 hours.  Talk about a tough place to grow much of anything, lol.

While the last series of systems did drop enough snow boost totals in some areas, Sierras esp,  definitely a down year for snow across the west,  across the board.  Warmer storms dropping rain in some of the same areas over -at least- the next few days will eat some of that snowfall though. 

 Longer term?   less of it,  ...more often than more of it..  is just a fact of life folks are going to have to get used to.  Smart folks will adjust.  Others?  ..they're free to move elsewhere, where ever they assume pastures are greener, so to say.. 

Plant the right stuff and you won't have to worry too much.  PLENTY of interesting things to chose from, that give you the tropical look,  but aren't living / leaf -bearing  data centers   ..which definitely have no place being built out here.  A subject for another time / place. 

Anyhow.. 

  
 

[Hombre de Palmas]

32 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

That and the trough - deflecting Bermuda High seeming to be quite weak / shifty  this year  ..A point i forgot to add earlier.. 

While there may  -some- deg. of troughiness across the east during these amplified,  " ridge in the west / trough in the east "  setups,  we've both seen years where ridging,  that might have a bigger center somewhere over the west,  extends far enough to the southeast, to a point somewhere over the Bahamas / south of there and essentially helps deflect any deep diving troughs away from FL.  This just doesn't seem to be one of those years, unfortunately.. 



We've gotten close,  but no " official "  90s here just yet.  That changes by tomorrow or Thursday though..   Neighborhood - level readings?,  yep,  been a few 90 / 90+ readings scattered about so far. 

Under this pattern, can believe parts of Montana seeing 70 or 80F readings too.  Of course up there,  it can go from 45 or 55 to -15 ..or -45 in less than 24 hours.  Talk about a tough place to grow much of anything, lol.

While the last series of systems did drop enough snow boost totals in some areas, Sierras esp,  definitely a down year for snow across the west,  across the board.  Warmer storms dropping rain in some of the same areas over -at least- the next few days will eat some of that snowfall though. 

 Longer term?   less of it,  ...more often than more of it..  is just a fact of life folks are going to have to get used to.  Smart folks will adjust.  Others?  ..they're free to move elsewhere, where ever they assume pastures are greener, so to say.. 

Plant the right stuff and you won't have to worry too much.  PLENTY of interesting things to chose from, that give you the tropical look,  but aren't living / leaf -bearing  data centers   ..which definitely have no place being built out here.  A subject for another time / place. 

Anyhow.. 

  
 

I am of the school (newly oriented) "Plant the right stuff and you won't have to worry too much". For me, the stress is too much. I put a lot of money and effort into our yard and we loved it. Most of our northern guests liked it OK but they would have been just as happy with a few sabals, ligustrums and Quercus virginiana. Add in a few potted tropicals and flowers and voila!

We know the difference (which is important, mind you)  but most people don't care. I am not suggesting this is a solution for everyone. At this point in my life I am not of a mind to try and recreate the tropics in my backyard. It worked well for 10 years and was just reaching it's finest point, but in 10 more years I know it will be beyond what I can do. It's a sobering point, and one I need to accept.  Younger people should absolutely roll the dice if that makes them happy and it may work for another 20 years or more.  Richer people can do as they please, but I have more money than time, and I don't have a lot of money! 

So, having said all that, it appears much of my landscape has refused to succumb, as of yet, and fall in with my new found enlightenment so we will see...

The NWS just raised my forecast low tonight from 36°F to 39°F although they kept the Frost Advisory. Counting down to the end of this outrage. Good afternoon and good luck to all!

[Silas_Sancona]

47 minutes ago, Hombre de Palmas said:

I am of the school (newly oriented) "Plant the right stuff and you won't have to worry too much".   For me,  the stress is too much. I put a lot of money and effort into our yard and we loved  it. Most of our northern guests liked it OK but they would have been just as happy with a few sabals, ligustrums and Quercus virginiana. Add in a few potted tropicals and flowers and voila!

We know the difference (which is important, mind you)  but most people don't care. I am not suggesting this is a solution for everyone. At this point in my life I am not of a mind to try and recreate the tropics in my backyard. It worked well for 10 years and was just reaching it's finest point, but in 10 more years I know it will be beyond what I can do. It's a sobering point, and one I need to accept.  Younger people should absolutely roll the dice if that makes them happy and it may work for another 20 years or more.  Richer people can do as they please, but I have more money than time, and I don't have a lot of money! 

So, having said all that, it appears much of my landscape has refused to succumb, as of yet, and fall in with my new found enlightenment so we will see...

The NWS just raised my forecast low tonight from 36°F to 39°F although they kept the Frost Advisory. Counting down to the end of this outrage. Good afternoon and good luck to all!

Agree with this..   

In a place where there are plenty of really cool ..and tropical looking natives / regionally native stuff to play with,  Never understood why  -anyone-  there,  esp anywhere outside the northern most part of the state   would plant Ligustrum, ( Puke )  any of the non -native Viburnum sps. ( pass ) ..and / or trees like Crepe Myrtles ( more Puke, lol ) More than enough native look alikes to fill the big leaves shrub / small tree, etc category niche in a landscape.. Having evolved under Florida conditions, ..and alongside all the critters that might bother them,  they would be my first choices rather than the puke - inducing options that didn't evolve there. 

Live Oaks / tropical -ish Pines i'd see in people's yards are ok,  though i'd pass on planting any,  esp south of roughly Tampa..  That said, Live Oak are great " Orchid Apartments ". 



Regarding this thought,    After all the chatter and first hand experience dealing with post -damage after both the 09 - 10  and less?? severe   cold event in 10 -11,   i thought about how tender stuff  ..both native and introduced,   would respond,   let alone what kind of lasting imprint that would have on people i'd worked with / our clients,   and everyone i'd see at plant sales between and after both years..

...Would all the Sea Grape, Gumbo Limbo, Royal Poinciana, Plumeria, Hibiscus, Heliconia, Bromeliads, and Orchids,  and stuff like Dwf. Poinciana, Solandra, and Brazilian Cloak now vanish from landscapes, forever?  

While some stuff kicked the bucket, as expected,  ..most stuff came roaring back once things got back to normal.  BTW,  having to drag the root ball of a dead, 18ft tall,  triple Adonida  across a soggy lawn is not fun,  lol.  

Roaming between booths at x and y plant sales after each cold spell,  didn't seem that people were now shying away from the same tender stuff.  Vendors still had plenty of stuff to offer too.   

This time around,  it will be interesting to see how folks yards / both manicured & natural landscapes look in June or July. 

Saw a recent article discussing how, while this cold spell seems to have killed plenty of them,  don't expect the Iguana invasion there to disappear. If anything, newer generations of Iguana could inherit genes that make them better adapted to these freak cold events.  

Not too surprised myself since there have been iNat observations of  " feral / wild " juvenile Green Iggys in S. Cal in recent years. 






 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

19 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Agree with this..   

In a place where there are plenty of really cool ..and tropical looking natives / regionally native stuff to play with,  Never understood why  -anyone-  there,  esp anywhere outside the northern most part of the state   would plant Ligustrum, ( Puke )  any of the non -native Viburnum sps. ( pass ) ..and / or trees like Crepe Myrtles ( more Puke, lol ) More than enough native look alikes to fill the big leaves shrub / small tree, etc category niche in a landscape.. Having evolved under Florida conditions, ..and alongside all the critters that might bother them,  they would be my first choices rather than the puke - inducing options that didn't evolve there. 

Live Oaks / tropical -ish Pines i'd see in people's yards are ok,  though i'd pass on planting any,  esp south of roughly Tampa..  That said, Live Oak are great " Orchid Apartments ". 



Regarding this thought,    After all the chatter and first hand experience dealing with post -damage after both the 09 - 10  and less?? severe   cold event in 10 -11,   i thought about how tender stuff  ..both native and introduced,   would respond,   let alone what kind of lasting imprint that would have on people i'd worked with / our clients,   and everyone i'd see at plant sales between and after both years..

...Would all the Sea Grape, Gumbo Limbo, Royal Poinciana, Plumeria, Hibiscus, Heliconia, Bromeliads, and Orchids,  and stuff like Dwf. Poinciana, Solandra, and Brazilian Cloak now vanish from landscapes, forever?  

While some stuff kicked the bucket, as expected,  ..most stuff came roaring back once things got back to normal.  BTW,  having to drag the root ball of a dead, 18ft tall,  triple Adonida  across a soggy lawn is not fun,  lol.  

Roaming between booths at x and y plant sales after each cold spell,  didn't seem that people were now shying away from the same tender stuff.  Vendors still had plenty of stuff to offer too.   

This time around,  it will be interesting to see how folks yards / both manicured & natural landscapes look in June or July. 

Saw a recent article discussing how, while this cold spell seems to have killed plenty of them,  don't expect the Iguana invasion there to disappear. If anything, newer generations of Iguana could inherit genes that make them better adapted to these freak cold events.  

Not too surprised myself since there have been iNat observations of  " feral / wild " juvenile Green Iggys in S. Cal in recent years. 






 

I have always been a zone pusher, even when I lived in DC and always will. I'm thankful I live in one of the best microclimates in Orlando so that helps to an extent. It also may tempt me to push harder. Lol.

So many people moved here from Puerto Rico and the Carribbean the last 5 years. They tell me coconuts are cheap and it reminds them of home. So I don't know if they think like we do as palm enthusiasts. It's just do it. I do think some will go with more hardy options just because it is work to remove and replace like you said. 

I had one night below 34F this winter and it just happened to be 25F. My luck. Most years we worry about that 30-32 range.