2026 2026_02 - Florida Palmageddon Observations and Damage Photo Thread

[Scott W]

Well thankfully most of my current collection fared quite nicely.   After the last freeze a couple years ago I decided to move more towards what I knew would survive.  Some were still questionable, and the ones I could get in the greenhouse went in there and the others were left to elements with little to no protection.   Recorded low was 23F for my location in Jacksonville. 

 Beccariophoenix alfredii inground and potted bronzed

Cycas chamaoensis, balansae, petrae and sp. Wiliwiak bronzed 

Syagrus cearensis (was actually hit when we had 30f a few weeks ago)  these were in greenhouse

Syagrus schizophylla slightly bronzed.  These were covered but no heat.

Caryota maxima Himalaya bronzed 

Butia archerii, both potted and in ground, no damage

Syagrus weddellianum no damage, planted under the canopy of a mule

Syagrus campylospatha in ground, no damage

Mule seedlings no damage

Parajubaea torallyii no damage

What eas given to me as Arenga Engleri no damage, under canopy of a Queen, mule and some bamboo

Syagrus hoehnei no damage

[MarceloCaramuta]

5 hours ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Do you remember where you got them? I'm pretty sure MB Palms sales them.  Wouldn't let me correct my post but I'm on Eastern side of the big lake. So I do benefit from those light westerly winds. 

I bought them at Home Depot a while back.  They had Alexandrae. I couldn’t believe it.  I never saw them there again.  It was the Home Depot off Narcoosie RD and Leevista.  That was 15 years ago.  The Cunninghameana were here when I bought the house and they naturalized all over the yard. 

[Matthew92]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Drove around my neighborhood and the other coconut I follow in Belle Isle. Royals and Arecas got hit hard. Homes nearest the water and maybe a more South explore have light damage to Adonidia and Foxtails. Majesty palm looks good too. The coconut looks like mine but has 1 fully green frond. Interesting. 

[Matthew92]

 

 

[pj_orlando_z9b]

1 hour ago, Matthew92 said:

 

 

Such a shame. One night. Hard to tell in this photo but it all looks brown. The only thing giving me hope is the base of my fronds are still green 1 week later. 

[kinzyjr]

NOTE: In the temperature ranges below, the lower temperature in ranges typically comes from an Ambient Weather model and the higher temperatures come from a fan-aspirated Davis Vantage Pro 2.  If there is no range, both stations were within a degree of each other.  If you own an Ambient Weather station, know that the low temperature will be slightly depressed most nights compared to the DVP2.  For a full write-up on the comparisons between these models: 

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/76970-weather-station-experiments-and-brand-comparisons/

Overall Winter Synopsis (thus far):

This cold season started early and didn't disappoint people who love cold snaps.  The first cold snap on 11/11/2025 brought the yard  almost uniformly down to 36F.  This was a full 8F lower than the previous daily record low of 44F here.  11/12/2025 followed with 38F-39F here.  December 31^st finished off 2025 with a bang as the temperature dropped to 34F-36F in various areas of the yard.  Most of January was up and down, with cold events within typical norms frequently interrupting warm periods.  The low for the month in the garden was 31F on 01/16/2026.  The garden recorded a daily record high of 86F on 01/25/2026, while the airport crushed the previous record high by recording 88F on the same day.  The cool-off came swiftly, with multiple nights in the 30s leading up to the February cold blast on 02/01/2026 that brought 24F with 13MPH wind gusts.  This event was followed with consecutive nights of 26F-28F, 30F-31F, 38F-39F,  42F-43F, 34F-35F  in the garden.  The stats below summarize this section, using the DVP2 numbers for the garden temperature:

Thus far, most coconuts and crownshaft palms look like they were hit with a blowtorch.  Especially affected have been Archontophoenix alexandrae and Dictyosperma album 'conjugatum'.  Most Adonidia merrillii, Wodyetia bifurcata, various species of Veitchia (arecina, joannis, winin), Beccariophoenix fenestralis, Roystonea regia, Ptychosperma elegans, Pritchardia thurstonii, Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus, Carpoxylon macrospermum, Hyophorbe (Bottle + Spindle), Caryota mitis, Chambeyronia (macrocarpa, oliviformis, various forms) and Satakentia liukiuensis are heavily damaged to defoliated (80%-100%).  It's likely that any Adenium (Desert Rose) left outdoors is dead.  

More moderate damage (40%-60%) has appeared on Phoenix roebelenii, Beccariophoenix alfredii (some are undamaged), Latania lontaroides, Carpentaria acuminata, various former Dypsis (Chrysalidocarpus decaryi, lutescens, lanceolata, cabadae, pembanus, letptocheilos), Ptychosperma macarthurii, Syagrus schizophylla, Saribus rotundifolius, Cryosophila warscewiczii, Encephalartos ferox, and 2 x Thrinax radiata where the fans face the wind.  

Light damage has shown up on Howea forsteriana and Hyphaene coriacea in a few spots.

No damage has appeared thus far on Coccothrinax argentata, Leucothrinax morrisii, Pseudophoenix sargentii (some in town do show damage), 1 x Thrinax radiata with fronds parallel to the wind, Chrysalidocarpus decipiens, Kerriodoxa elegans, Zamia furfuracea, Zamia integrifolia, any Livistona (decora, chinensis, saribus, muelleri, australis), Arenga engleri, Copernicia (alba or fallaensis) or pineapples.  Medemia argun has no cold damage in the ground or in a pot, but they have other issues here.

The typical bulletproof palm genera ( Sabal, Serenoa, Acoelorraphe, Chamaedorea, Chamaerops, Butia, Brahea, Syagrus, Phoenix, Rhapis, Rhapidophyllum, and Washingtonia) had no issues, either.  This is why many of these were the backbone of gardens before Lethal Bronzing.  Silver Buttonwood appears unaffected at this point.  Trachycarpus is fine through this event, but is difficult for most areas to grow.  My potted plants were placed in a cage near the Atlantic tall coconut bed and suffered no cold losses as they were completely shielded from wind by a cement wall and plants in all directions.

As far as hardwoods, it looks like all of my tropical hardwoods will defoliate, but the branches feel solid.  This includes: Ficus aurea, Delonix regia, Bursera simaruba, Mange (Glen), Avocado (Choquette), Coccoloba uvifera (Sea Grape).

Philodendrons were laying flat on the coldest morning, but perked back up in front of the house.  A few neighbors weren't so lucky.  Their plants look like spinach.  Crotons and Ti will likely defoliate, minus a few branches that were low enough to stay safe from wind.

This cannot be considered a final report.  The full extent of the damage won't be known for a significant amount of time.  My hope is that everyone's favorites will recover and the rest of this winter won't be as terrible.  That said, I have heard rumor that another similar outbreak is expected sometime in late February or early March.  For now, a few positive photos:

Areca vestiaria survived at Hollis since it is small and surrounded by really tough cycads.

The former Lytocarium - now Syagrus weddelliana - did really well

If the tree trimmers let it alone, the Satakentia near the parking garage should make it.  A few of my coconuts show growth for now.

 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

37 minutes ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Such a shame. One night. Hard to tell in this photo but it all looks brown. The only thing giving me hope is the base of my fronds are still green 1 week later. 

But hey, at least it's not 90%+ fried like Texas coconuts after the 2021 freeze.

[Kiplin]

One week later: very sad state over here...

[PalmBossTampa]

8 hours ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Such a shame. One night. Hard to tell in this photo but it all looks brown. The only thing giving me hope is the base of my fronds are still green 1 week later. 

There’s a lot of valuable nutrients in those burnt fronds with green rhachis. Leave some substantial ‘stubs’ 2-3’ if you do remove the burnt foliage. They’ll also protect spear from wind events

[PalmBossTampa]

On 2/1/2026 at 10:25 AM, PalmBossTampa said:

Ugh, feel for you. I have a friend nearby i need to visit this week and help him assess damage

 

I had 25 degrees at 7:15 am still 28 @ 9am . Worst is over. I think my Copernicia fallensis and gigas did ok unprotected. Will give them a  better look tomorrow . Zero wind. Super quiet and still this morning. Birds hiding.

So i do believe the fallensis and gigas WILL recover from 29,25,23 uncovered. Heres yesterdays pics

 

[PalmBossTampa]

Heres an assortment of species that took 29,25,23 without protection. I thought the Copernicia i bought as bertroana was actually an alba BUT it got toasted so maybe it was in fact bertroana!  Beccariophoenix alfredii got blown over last year by hurricane so its had a tough life . Bismarcks are really exposed but certainly will be fine.  The green Bismarck I was covered with the 100gal bucket after the 29 degree night . Small Licuala spinosa is surprising survivor with live spears. Livistona nitida had heavy frost at 25 but fine

 

[PalmBossTampa]

Just now, PalmBossTampa said:

Heres an assortment of species that took 29,25,23 without protection. I thought the Copernicia i bought as bertroana was actually an alba BUT it got toasted so maybe it was in fact bertroana!  Beccariophoenix alfredii got blown over last year by hurricane so its had a tough life . Bismarcks are really exposed but certainly will be fine.  The green Bismarck I was covered with the 100gal bucket after the 29 degree night . Small Licuala spinosa is surprising survivor with live spears. Livistona nitida had heavy frost at 25 but fine

 

Heres the ‘frozen coconut ‘

[pj_orlando_z9b]

Great report @kinzyjr. I also have the fan aspirated Davis station. Well worth the cost. I did have one desert rose die but another hardly even showed damage to flowers. Nature is amazing. 

[kinzyjr]

1 minute ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

Great report @kinzyjr. I also have the fan aspirated Davis station. Well worth the cost. I did have one desert rose die but another hardly even showed damage to flowers. Nature is amazing. 

Thank you!  There was a lot of back-and-forth in my mind before I got the DVP2, but in the end, it was something that I thought was worth it to get more accurate assessments of the actual high and low temperatures experienced.  The Ambient Weather stations do a good job for their price point, but they tend to read ~3%-5% high during the day and about 2%-3% low at night. 

In my own case, the Adeniums probably would have been fine if they weren't elevated at or above the fence line.  That's 100% on me for not remembering to put them down on the ground between the bricks or bring them in. 

My curiosity got the best of me today, so I took a ride around town and realized there weren't any real microclimates where plants had no damage or minimal effects, other than areas where the wind couldn't blow full-force.    It didn't appear that Lake Parker helped all that much since the area around it is so flat.  The wind could just race across it and damage everything.

My take on pushing the envelope was always that I'd do it once while the milder winters persisted, but as as soon as we got the next bad one, I'd revert back to everything being hardy to 20F or below.  That's the direction going forward.  My decision to order all of the Brahea and Livistona species available on RPS last spring is looking pretty good as far as having replacements ready if they are needed.

Hopefully at least a few of the coconuts survive in everyone's gardens.  There is hope for yours and the one on I-Drive due to the microclimate keeping them otherwise healthy right up to the major freeze.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

3 hours ago, Kiplin said:

One week later: very sad state over here...

That bronze color looks very bad. Your royal will 100% make it I'm very sure, your Pseudophoenix also has good chances of surviving. Not sure about the Ptychospermas, Coconut and Chrysalidocarpus though.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

2 hours ago, PalmBossTampa said:

Heres the ‘frozen coconut ‘

Might make it

[CodyORB]

On 2/4/2026 at 6:20 PM, Kiplin said:

There's a lot of brown, a bit of green, and lots of hope and prayers!!

Pseudophoenix sargentii has shown out to be a champ among crownshaft palms in multiple locations on this thread, save for Archie cunninghamiana. I hope this event is a catalyst for more widespread nursery cultivation and sale of this Florida native species, despite its slower growth in return for longer-term viability in Central and North FL. I hope the word gets out about Beccariophoenix alfredii as well, which I've seen popping up in new developments in suburban Jacksonville.

Has anyone tried the "teracarpa" variant of Archontophoenix here in Florida?

I'll give a couple more weeks for the damage to settle in, and I'll post an array of Tallahassee's marginal palms and plants. This freeze is looking a lot less destructive than the one we saw December 2022, which saw 19F recorded at the airport compared to 22F this time around. I've posted more detailed assessments in the past about our terrain and UHI-influenced micro and nanoclimates, which vary up to 10F higher from the temps recorded at the airport in radiational freezes.

[Scott W]

Interesting....Syagrus schizophylla seedlings, some bronzed, some green as grass, all right next to each other.

And a potted Copernicia baileyana only slight bronzing

[idontknowhatnametuse]

15 minutes ago, Scott W said:

Interesting....Syagrus schizophylla seedlings, some bronzed, some green as grass, all right next to each other.

It is well said that Syagrus are very variable in a lot of characteristics.

[Scott W]

21 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

It is well said that Syagrus are very variable in a lot of characteristics.

So maybe genetically these specific couple are more cold hardy...🤔

[Kiplin]

Thanks, there's a bit more green than the pic shows, particularly on the crownshafts and the rachis. But it's very disheartening to step outside and see so much brown. I applied hydrogen peroxide on everything that I could reach. The buccaneer bubbled a little bit but most didn't.  Most spears looked good. I'm cautiously optimistic. The only real issue I'm seeing is with the macrocarpas since they only give me a couple fronds a year. The buccaneer has bronzed a fair bit over the last few days so I'm not really sure. That's also a really slow grower so this could stunt growth pretty hard.  The pembanas all look like they'll push through. Olivformis doesn't look as good as the pembanas but they are pretty quick growing and the spears still look good.  The coconut looks to have stabilized. Still hanging on to all the green. I haven't marked the spears yet but will do later this week and will start tracking any growth or lack thereof. Honestly I'm very pleasantly surprised about the coconut not being totally fried. This event was brutal with the winds and the cold, and I think there's a legit chance it'll pull through.

[FlaPalmLover]

23 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Thus far, most coconuts and crownshaft palms look like they were hit with a blowtorch.  Especially affected have been Archontophoenix alexandrae and Dictyosperma album 'conjugatum'.  Most Adonidia merrillii, Wodyetia bifurcata, various species of Veitchia (arecina, joannis, winin), Beccariophoenix fenestralis, Roystonea regia, Ptychosperma elegans, Pritchardia thurstonii, Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus, Carpoxylon macrospermum, Hyophorbe (Bottle + Spindle), Caryota mitis, Chambeyronia (macrocarpa, oliviformis, various forms) and Satakentia liukiuensis are heavily damaged to defoliated (80%-100%).  It's likely that any Adenium (Desert Rose) left outdoors is dead.  

I really hope that your beccariophoenix fenestralis will recover. What a rare, absolutely beautiful palm. 

[Hombre de Palmas]

22 hours ago, Kiplin said:

One week later: very sad state over here...

You have a really nice outdoor area. My sympathies for the setback, from someone who knows.

[Hombre de Palmas]

20 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Thank you!  There was a lot of back-and-forth in my mind before I got the DVP2, but in the end, it was something that I thought was worth it to get more accurate assessments of the actual high and low temperatures experienced.  The Ambient Weather stations do a good job for their price point, but they tend to read ~3%-5% high during the day and about 2%-3% low at night. 

In my own case, the Adeniums probably would have been fine if they weren't elevated at or above the fence line.  That's 100% on me for not remembering to put them down on the ground between the bricks or bring them in. 

My curiosity got the best of me today, so I took a ride around town and realized there weren't any real microclimates where plants had no damage or minimal effects, other than areas where the wind couldn't blow full-force.    It didn't appear that Lake Parker helped all that much since the area around it is so flat.  The wind could just race across it and damage everything.

My take on pushing the envelope was always that I'd do it once while the milder winters persisted, but as as soon as we got the next bad one, I'd revert back to everything being hardy to 20F or below.  That's the direction going forward.  My decision to order all of the Brahea and Livistona species available on RPS last spring is looking pretty good as far as having replacements ready if they are needed.

Hopefully at least a few of the coconuts survive in everyone's gardens.  There is hope for yours and the one on I-Drive due to the microclimate keeping them otherwise healthy right up to the major freeze.

I am definitely going for super hardy and scaling way back. I also will stop irrigating to save money as city water has gotten increasingly expensive and I do not want to put in a well. I'm getting on now and had begun to think how I might scale back because when I sell the house most people would not be interested in maintaining a jungle. I was out yesterday hauling out corpses and was struck by the fact that my zone 9 plants suffered greatly and unfortunately the damage seems to grow by the day.
Along with the lack of rain, possible hurricanes, and cold outbreaks (far beyond what I thought was probable in my lifetime) I sadly have decided less is more. 

[PalmBossTampa]

So, i got a bag of couple hundred Coccothrinax crinata brevicrinus seeds @ Fall CPACS meeting and more than 250 got potted up. I’ve been keeping 3 50cell deep liners in my water heater closet/then sunlight when nice and they are great. 

I left 2 trays of weaker seedling in smaller cells out in the elements since early December. Didn’t think to protect these actually since ive got so many.  I was surprised to find such a strong seedling survive. Granted it was under oak canopy, but still! 23 in the open was probably 26 where these are

 

[jreich85]

Does anyone have a recommended frequency for  the peroxide/fungicide treatment? I’ve defaulted to twice a week, but worried that may not be often enough. I have had the same observations here in East Jacksonville as others have seen. On a positive note my one B. Alfredii did have a cover I put over it, and is doing great. Copernicia prunifera seems to have sailed through, as well as some potted C. prunifera and C. alba. I have a small arenga Engleri volunteer that was uncovered that has shocked me with its resiliency, and my neighbors’ larger one looks good too. I have what I labeled a few years ago as Chrysalidocarpus cabadae that I put heat mats around and threw a cover over that is also doing just fine. It’s been so hardy I question if I have mislabeled it. The royals, foxtails, spindle, arecas, and Pygmy dates are bronze and probably a fight to keep alive. I think the adonidias are in a primo spot and will hopefully be okay. We saw 23, 28, and 31 as our lows.

 

[kinzyjr]

10 hours ago, jreich85 said:

Does anyone have a recommended frequency for  the peroxide/fungicide treatment? I’ve defaulted to twice a week, but worried that may not be often enough. I have had the same observations here in East Jacksonville as others have seen. On a positive note my one B. Alfredii did have a cover I put over it, and is doing great. Copernicia prunifera seems to have sailed through, as well as some potted C. prunifera and C. alba. I have a small arenga Engleri volunteer that was uncovered that has shocked me with its resiliency, and my neighbors’ larger one looks good too. I have what I labeled a few years ago as Chrysalidocarpus cabadae that I put heat mats around and threw a cover over that is also doing just fine. It’s been so hardy I question if I have mislabeled it. The royals, foxtails, spindle, arecas, and Pygmy dates are bronze and probably a fight to keep alive. I think the adonidias are in a primo spot and will hopefully be okay. We saw 23, 28, and 31 as our lows.

I typically go with daily while it is warm until the fizzing stops.  That might be overboard, though.

[cocoforcoconuts]

On 2/8/2026 at 7:59 AM, PalmBossTampa said:

Heres an assortment of species that took 29,25,23 without protection. I thought the Copernicia i bought as bertroana was actually an alba BUT it got toasted so maybe it was in fact bertroana!  Beccariophoenix alfredii got blown over last year by hurricane so its had a tough life . Bismarcks are really exposed but certainly will be fine.  The green Bismarck I was covered with the 100gal bucket after the 29 degree night . Small Licuala spinosa is surprising survivor with live spears. Livistona nitida had heavy frost at 25 but fine

 

Where in Tampa are you?

[Kiplin]

On 2/9/2026 at 8:06 AM, Hombre de Palmas said:

You have a really nice outdoor area. My sympathies for the setback, from someone who knows.

Thanks! A lot of time and work has been invested but I knew I was pushing the envelope a bit with these palms. Hoping to see some pushing spears soon! Otherwise I guess it's time to break out the spreadsheet to start planning some replacements...

[Maddox Gardening-youtube]

Here is my coconut in Jacksonville, it was my first palm, and I made lots of mistakes. it was never very healthy when I got it. The spear has a brown streak but the rest is green, should I replace the big one with a healthier one or just replace it.

[Matthew92]

 

 

[Matthew92]

Phoenix and mule palms happy as a clam though. Probably a good idea to have palms like those as a backbone in Orlando landscaping for when these freezes come through. If you go to hotels that were built in the 70's and 80's, you'll find that most of their landscaping is more zone 9a hardy as back then they were more freezes to make it not worth being daring with more tender stuff. 

 

 

[bubba]

This was the worst cold event since 1989 in PB and inland WPB but not as severe as that episode. PBIA registered 31F for two nights but total time under freezing was 3 hours. In PB close to the ocean, a weather underground station recorded back to back nights of 38.3F and 39.3F respectively. Here are some pictures taken yesterday and today:

[bubba]

[bubba]

[bubba]

Coconuts on the island look OK and many places Seagrapes remained green but they often brown without freezing temperatures caused by the wind. Other sporadic shots:

 

[bubba]

[bubba]

Royals royalying:

[bubba]

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