VThe garden is holding up to the usual winter weather not a problem 2 degrees celcius this morning, and iam sure the low lying areas in the valley most certainly would have seen a very white ice blanket on the ground possibly even a minus degree reading somewhere.

I haven’t been watering the garden, trying not too wet the foliage. In the morning would be the best time for waterings, but with plenty of rainfall the garden doesn’t need it.

Spring is only another 5weeks away, now is the danger time for any of the new plantings, so far so good with only one palm taking a bit of burn.

It’s a nice area you live in their Richard. Semi open Eucalyptus woodland will protect you from extreme cold.

Yesterday morning I was one of those places down in a valley. The ice box. -1.2C recorded near me. White lawn crunchy bird bath ice. Canopy saving my delicate palms.

Spring 5 weeks away. Bring it on. 🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴😁

It’s great to see so many Lepidozamia getting into your shots. It’s a really nice look. They’re a beautiful cycad.

Just now, Tyrone said:

It’s a nice area you live in their Richard. Semi open Eucalyptus woodland will protect you from extreme cold.

Yesterday morning I was one of those places down in a valley. The ice box. -1.2C recorded near me. White lawn crunchy bird bath ice. Canopy saving my delicate palms.

Spring 5 weeks away. Bring it on. 🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴😁

It is a very unique microclimate with sandstone rocks for thermal mass, a little ocean influence from the east, one of those little wet areas that seems to get showers of rainfall. If you tell a local truck courier you live at halfway oh yeah i know that place the highway in that area is frequently wet from passing showers. When the rest of the area is dry. The eastern side of the highway complete paradise, cross the highway to the western side and it’s a completely different microclimate that is the opposite to my area.

Ten minutes west as the crow flies and its temperatures down to -2 and frozen with thin ice puddles of water, the very rare black frost does hit the area with two in 25 years that burns the sugar cane fields near Maclean 30 minutes north. The only disadvantage is when the drought is on the gum trees are water pigs drinking and storing all that garden moisture.

And the living in the bushfire threat is extremely dangerous at certain times. Would I want to move to North Queensland and grow palms, no way they can have there cyclones and constant heat.

It’s only a matter of a few degrees in difference for subtropical conditions that make a huge difference, if you were just that few degrees warmer in winter a complete game changer in what you can grow.

A beautiful part of the world to go check out the surf at Angourie. Glad iam born and bred here, iam biased for me it’s the best part of the world 🌎

Yeah I don’t think there is any purely perfect place to grow palms. In the tropics you could grow anything but with cyclones you are always trying to rebuild. Too far south it can get cold but then the high heat that effects cool loving stuff is avoided. The trick is to work your microclimates where ever you are to bend the climate zone to what you are growing. You can only go so far though. Then it comes down to just being content with what you can grow well. Then visit a place that can grow everything you can’t when you go on holidays.

Your area is a pretty good mix and you can grow many good things.

6 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Yeah I don’t think there is any purely perfect place to grow palms. In the tropics you could grow anything but with cyclones you are always trying to rebuild. Too far south it can get cold but then the high heat that effects cool loving stuff is avoided. The trick is to work your microclimates where ever you are to bend the climate zone to what you are growing. You can only go so far though. Then it comes down to just being content with what you can grow well. Then visit a place that can grow everything you can’t when you go on holidays.

Your area is a pretty good mix and you can grow many good things.

You can create a microclimate, if the conditions are to harsh its amazing what a canopy will do for that game changer.

Microclimate and time are two factors that build a garden. Iam in a very unique position for growing a lot of tropicals and temperate plants. With the temperate stuff iam up against the heat and with the tropicals cold is my enemy.

Now with so many great palms available it’s a bit of trial with a bit of error. Yes there are certain tropicals I won’t bother with but iam yet to really get into the temperate palms, as they become available I will try with them, but for now I will leave them up to the refrigerator growers @Jonathan @Tassie_Troy1971 and @tim_brissy_13 they have the real cool tolerant stuff that I can’t grow for now but that’s not going to stop me from trying.

Also being realistic is a good approach as well, but as for the rule book it’s thrown out the window in my garden!

A great example is I planted a Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana yesterday with 2 degrees celcius this morning, they are from altitude and I know they are cool tolerant and with spring coming up bring it on!

Microclimate and time is correct. It takes time to create a microclimate, as well as grow the garden. I’ve been here 12 years and I feel like I’m just starting. However 12 years ago, the place was so open that I could see the neighbours and when it was cold everything was in the firing line. Not now. The microclimate is growing.

22 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

Microclimate and time is correct. It takes time to create a microclimate, as well as grow the garden. I’ve been here 12 years and I feel like I’m just starting. However 12 years ago, the place was so open that I could see the neighbours and when it was cold everything was in the firing line. Not now. The microclimate is growing.

I only started to really notice my garden ten years into it growing, that’s the big picture moment you see your garden forming. Now close to 30 years old my garden you really start to see it with time, and then the fun begins filling up all that understory it’s a whole new garden growing again in a garden, it’s a fantastic feeling watching it grow.

The only thing is the older we get the better our palms get!

It is interesting how we can create or alter a given climate in subtle ways . I have noticed a difference in our garden over the last 25 years. We bought our home new and there was nothing to help the younger or understory palms along. I lost quite a few palms that came from our old house because they didn’t have a canopy . I’m sure they would be fine now . That and climate change has allowed me to grow borderline species. We started , 29 years ago , in 9b . Now we are a solid 10a with my little slice of the hill about 10b ! We can’t fight Mother Nature but we can work with her to bend the rules a bit. Harry

This side of the house is West and was just hot sun every afternoon during most months. Now it is just perfect for most young palms . Once they get overhead they will start getting more sun . The wee ones won’t burn here!

9 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

It is interesting how we can create or alter a given climate in subtle ways . I have noticed a difference in our garden over the last 25 years. We bought our home new and there was nothing to help the younger or understory palms along. I lost quite a few palms that came from our old house because they didn’t have a canopy . I’m sure they would be fine now . That and climate change has allowed me to grow borderline species. We started , 29 years ago , in 9b . Now we are a solid 10a with my little slice of the hill about 10b ! We can’t fight Mother Nature but we can work with her to bend the rules a bit. Harry

This side of the house is West and was just hot sun every afternoon during most months. Now it is just perfect for most young palms . Once they get overhead they will start getting more sun . The wee ones won’t burn here!

Just look at Dubai with what they have created in desert. A tropical oasis, just add water and a big watering system and they created a paradise in a city. The climate has changed and now it’s possible to grow palms once unthinkable of growing in a certain area. Also with so many new palms available from so many different regions there’s something for most climates.

Time is only thing that slows a garden down, many people see my garden and would like the same but they are not prepared to wait 10 years or more for that, unless you have mega dollars to buy advanced palms time is the only way to do it.

I had a plant collection from age 17 and every time I moved I lost plants due to cold as I was moving further inland away from the coast with frosts. Now no frost so it’s grow whatever I can get my hands on and hope it lives!

Richard