Pleased to Announce My Cold Hardy Palm Guide

[Allen]

After several revisions, I’m excited to share my ongoing PDF guide to cold hardy palms. This has been a long-term project and will continue to evolve as I learn more and gather new experiences.

Feel free to share it anywhere by posting the link to the document — that will always point to the latest version for when I update.  I am still working on some more pages in time.  I truly appreciate all the support, knowledge, and friendships from this forum over the years.  My goal has always been simple, help others enjoy and succeed in this hobby as much as I have.  Hopefully this information will especially help others new to the hobby.

While the design is AI assisted, all photos and text dictation are from my experiences.  While I am aware there are a few errors still, let me know what you think

TNTropics Cold Hardy Palm Guide

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w9-43MjGhgyQyqgVeQoWXU69GvRGLpdU/view?usp=sharing

[bgifford]

That' awesome. What a great resource to have. Thank you for sharing

[tarnado]

Hey @Allen - I can tell that you put a lot of effort into putting together your thoughts, knowledge, and experience with cold hardy palms into this document. I also really appreciate that you are up-front with letting folks know that you used AI to set up the design.

The negatives of the AI-assisted design come through, for me, which is a shame because it overshadows your real and genuine knowledge that you are sharing here. The formatting of the background "parchment" effect actually makes it harder to read the text, even with my eyes that are pretty good. The USDA hardiness zone map is also shows some of the hallmarks of typical 'AI' hallucination, which, again, is a real shame. 

I think with a little real formatting - even in something like a Word template, or with the help of an editor - you are on your way to an actual book! Good luck and keep sharing!

[Allen]

36 minutes ago, tarnado said:

Hey @Allen - I can tell that you put a lot of effort into putting together your thoughts, knowledge, and experience with cold hardy palms into this document. I also really appreciate that you are up-front with letting folks know that you used AI to set up the design.

The negatives of the AI-assisted design come through, for me, which is a shame because it overshadows your real and genuine knowledge that you are sharing here. The formatting of the background "parchment" effect actually makes it harder to read the text, even with my eyes that are pretty good. The USDA hardiness zone map is also shows some of the hallmarks of typical 'AI' hallucination, which, again, is a real shame. 

I think with a little real formatting - even in something like a Word template, or with the help of an editor - you are on your way to an actual book! Good luck and keep sharing!

Thanks for the input I’ll take a look at the map tomorrow to make sure it’s accurate.  And you have a good point on readability 

[PAPalmtrees]

@AllenThis is really good! I'll share it on my Youtube channel and tag you!

[JohnAndSancho]

You know your stuff. And I know I've said this before but I love the YouTube channel. You give off an almost Mr. Rogers vibe and opened my eyes to a lot. 

[Allen]

2 hours ago, tarnado said:

Hey @Allen - I can tell that you put a lot of effort into putting together your thoughts, knowledge,

I think with a little real formatting - even in something like a Word template, or with the help of an editor - you are on your way to an actual book! Good luck and keep sharing!

I got the map fixed and I worked on readability a bit.  I agree that is a problem Thanks again and let me know if you guys see anything else

1 hour ago, PAPalmtrees said:

@AllenThis is really good! I'll share it on my Youtube channel and tag you!

Thanks So MUCH!

1 hour ago, JohnAndSancho said:

You know your stuff. And I know I've said this before but I love the YouTube channel. You give off an almost Mr. Rogers vibe and opened my eyes to a lot. 

Mr. Rogers!!! well I'll take it

 

if anyone has ideas to add to the guide content or constructive feedback let me know 

[PAPalmtrees]

35 minutes ago, Allen said:

Thanks So MUCH!

No problem 😊 I have obviously never met you before.But just by watching your videos, i can tell you are a great person And you really enjoy making these videos. i'm hoping one day I will be able to see your garden in person!

[Ben G.]

9 hours ago, Allen said:

After several revisions, I’m excited to share my ongoing PDF guide to cold hardy palms. This has been a long-term project and will continue to evolve as I learn more and gather new experiences.

Feel free to share it anywhere by posting the link to the document — that will always point to the latest version for when I update.  I am still working on some more pages in time.  I truly appreciate all the support, knowledge, and friendships from this forum over the years.  My goal has always been simple, help others enjoy and succeed in this hobby as much as I have.  Hopefully this information will especially help others new to the hobby.

While the design is AI assisted, all photos and text dictation are from my experiences.  While I am aware there are a few errors still, let me know what you think

TNTropics Cold Hardy Palm Guide

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w9-43MjGhgyQyqgVeQoWXU69GvRGLpdU/view?usp=sharing

I can tell you put a lot of work into creating this Allen. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[JLM]

I cant help but notice the evolution of the logo in the top right corner from page to page. Theres something different about it on just about every page.

I love the idea, I just personally cant get behind the use of AI. Regardless, the information in the document is very informative and has a good layout.

[Allen]

28 minutes ago, JLM said:

I cant help but notice the evolution of the logo in the top right corner from page to page. Theres something different about it on just about every page.

I love the idea, I just personally cant get behind the use of AI. Regardless, the information in the document is very informative and has a good layout.

Thanks for the feedback.  I am aware of the logo issue.  A guide like this even with ai takes days to complete as it still requires dictation, corrections and editing.  Fixing the logos would take hours unfortunately 

[LeonardHolmes]

Great job! I learned a lot about the more heroic techniques people use with winter heat sources.

 

[Swolte]

Thank you for putting this together. Definitely has potential as a book but does need more work. 

Esthetics 

I personally love the 18th-century botanical exploration look-and-feel. Yes, it does feel AI-ish but I can get over that. As far as I am concerned, keep the parchment feel but perhaps give the sentences more space to make it easier on the eyes. There are typos (e.g., "indicaition", "piized", "sub-teneranean"), redundancies (e.g., "trap warm air") and certain sentences are cut off (e.g., last sentence Myth page). 

Clarity

Overall, pretty good. I think certain points can be made clearer. When you write, for example, that "it is often the low temperature they face that damages them", we palm nerds know what you mean but this is meaningless, or may even seem needlessly simplistic, to the average reader. The point is actually a very good one and worth making: Zone hardiness maps are based on averages across X years whereas plants are mostly sensitive to extremes; or, a 5F does occur in 8A. 

When speaking about foundation planting, its clear that they provide year-round structure and consistent tropical character, however, the point that foundation plants provide new introductions you want to trial is not clear to me (this is probably a error on your part). 

The picture next to explaining microclimates to south-facing walls is potentially misleading. It may make people believe that a walkway light will create a microclimate. A picture showing sunshine hitting the wall would be supportive of the text. 

These are just some examples! 

Content

Honestly, I have been doing palms for several years and, although I have had some good mentors and experience, I consider you one of the world's leading experts when it comes to cold protection!

Although I generally agree with everything, there's a few statements I am not always sure about if there is good empirical evidence for and I wouldn't be surprised if there are alternative explanations:
- Light protection during establishment greatly improves long-term success? (I rarely ever do this except when planting mail orders in Texas summer)
- In my experience needle palms can tolerate lower than ~16F when it comes to frond damage
- Sabal Palmetto showed high survival rate after 3 F here in Texas. Is 8F too careful?

Bedtime here now but this was a great read. Hope the feedback is useful!

~ S

[Allen]

8 hours ago, Swolte said:

Thank you for putting this together. Definitely has potential as a book but does need more work. 

Esthetics 

I personally love the 18th-century botanical exploration look-and-feel. Yes, it does feel AI-ish but I can get over that. As far as I am concerned, keep the parchment feel but perhaps give the sentences more space to make it easier on the eyes. There are typos (e.g., "indicaition", "piized", "sub-teneranean"), redundancies (e.g., "trap warm air") and certain sentences are cut off (e.g., last sentence Myth page). 

Clarity

Overall, pretty good. I think certain points can be made clearer. When you write, for example, that "it is often the low temperature they face that damages them", we palm nerds know what you mean but this is meaningless, or may even seem needlessly simplistic, to the average reader. The point is actually a very good one and worth making: Zone hardiness maps are based on averages across X years whereas plants are mostly sensitive to extremes; or, a 5F does occur in 8A. 

When speaking about foundation planting, its clear that they provide year-round structure and consistent tropical character, however, the point that foundation plants provide new introductions you want to trial is not clear to me (this is probably a error on your part). 

The picture next to explaining microclimates to south-facing walls is potentially misleading. It may make people believe that a walkway light will create a microclimate. A picture showing sunshine hitting the wall would be supportive of the text. 

These are just some examples! 

Content

Honestly, I have been doing palms for several years and, although I have had some good mentors and experience, I consider you one of the world's leading experts when it comes to cold protection!

Although I generally agree with everything, there's a few statements I am not always sure about if there is good empirical evidence for and I wouldn't be surprised if there are alternative explanations:
- Light protection during establishment greatly improves long-term success? (I rarely ever do this except when planting mail orders in Texas summer)
- In my experience needle palms can tolerate lower than ~16F when it comes to frond damage
- Sabal Palmetto showed high survival rate after 3 F here in Texas. Is 8F too careful?

Bedtime here now but this was a great read. Hope the feedback is useful!

~ S

Thanks so much for taking the time to look over the guide.  This is very helpful.  I’ll look into fixing this if I get time to do the next revision 

[Allen]

Full In Depth Video - Cold Hardy Palms: The Complete Guide