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Probably not that exciting for most palmtalkers, but a healthy Chrysalidocarpus lutescens in my neighbourhood is not common at all. Probably the largest one I know of in all of Melbourne. North facing wall, less than 1km from the beach. The popular opinion is that they don’t grow here but can do ok if conditions suit.

Some folks had pondered how this freeze would stack up against other freezes, particularly the cold in January 2010 and December 2010. On the CFPACS Publications page, you can check the stations in your area of Florida to see what the minimum temperature was and what the days before and after the cold snap(s) looked like: https://cfpacs.com/org/palmateer/ The links to the maps of the cold snaps are in the red box, and the records used to generate the maps in Excel format are in the green box. The default layer for the Map of Florida Impact Freezes (1981 - Jan. 2022) link is Jan_1985. To change it on mobile, click the title at the bottom of the screen. When the Google Maps were made, we were allowed 10 layers per map. They are easy to change on a PC with a web browser. Mobile is a little tricky. To display the December 2010 map (the closest to our expected weather pattern), uncheck the Jan_1985 box (in green) and check the Dec_2010 box (in red). Once you have the layer checked, press the Back button (in blue). You can now peruse the state and view the records for the available NOAA weather station records from December 2010 by clicking on the dots. Feel free to check out the other maps and additional resources on the site. It probably wouldn't hurt to bookmark it since we keep it updated with new resources frequently. Let me know if you have any questions on how to use something or find any broken links.

Down this way, it looks like we are going to drop back to a low 10B winter, but who knows for sure. Soon to find out though. Will be at least the coldest it’s been in 15 years. I’m mostly worried about various bromeliads. Some get leaf damage with nights in the 40s, and a few days of daytime highs in the 50s.

After 20 years, this is the very first bloom on my 18 ft tall Arachnis flos-aeris. Taken from a position on an extension ladder in the greenhouse attic

After a few months on the heat mats and a bit of luck, the fruits of my labour are finally coming together. Certainly some good winners in this batch of seedlings, coming to a garden near you in the future, so far the rats have left me alone and haven’t had a 4 course meal of the finest rare palm seedlings!

Couple of nice seedlings iguanura wallichiana, Pinanga sarawakensis. Both will go in the garden one day, and both have survived my winter not a problem!

Took a bit of time, but this little Fiji palm is looking rather elegant as of late. It was acquired as B. microcarpa, but it keys out as B. seemannii. I’ll have to look at the next seed batch more closely. Any one else growing Balaka? Tim

A few considerations for the palms you have that might yet be saved: Are any small enough to dig up and resistant enough to root disturbance to put in a pot until the end of March? Are any that are root sensitive small enough to put a cage of dead leaves around? Is there any way to lower the wind speed? Particularly from the north and from the sides. For the large ones, is it possible to protect the trunk and the growing point so they can come back, even if they defoliate? Do you have any C9 Christmas lights to put out? Can you get any on short notice? Do you have or can you get any barrels to put in the ground and fill with hot water? (The plastic ones usually work better than metal for this). You can cut slots in the top that will let the heat slowly rise out. Do you have a lot of jugs you can fill with hot water and place close to, but not touching, the trunks? My wish is that I had better news, but we are all in for some cold with howling winds. The one bit of hope I can offer is that there was a small coconut that took the full brunt of January 2018 here and came back. After the January 2018 Advective Freeze: Palm on the right - June 2019 Same Palm - October 2019 November 2022: November 2023: It's currently flowering and has immature fruit, but this might be the last hurrah. Hopefully it makes it. All of this to say that I hope everyone gets a few good surprises instead of only bad experiences.

Alexandre no damage thankfully 😄. all my citrus are okay looking. Hopefully this upcoming freeze will be the last till next winter 🤞

Mein Gott! That's further north than Cleveland Ohio! Or NYC. Or Chicago! They're a bit slow, even out here where it's more like their habitat. Keep us apprized of their progress!

That's total hours below freezing not total consecutive. Yeah the way it's presented is not clear

Houston looks good all things considered. Better than the 2014 freeze. Definitely a below average winter but probably right at the median for the last 10-15 years +/-

@Jimbean It's growing really well. I'd focus on keeping the growing point alive like @Walt did in Lake Placid. His method kept his palm alive down to 20F. Good luck over there! We're supposed to basically have two nights of December 2010/Jan. 2018 here with howling wind and lows in the mid-to-upper 20s. My coconut palms have held up decent so far, but this one will be a nail-biter. The two largest have a few C9s below them, but that's all. Whatever goes, goes, and is replaced in the spring by tougher stuff. Also, good advice from @sonoranfans for those who heed it. Good luck down there as well, Tom. May we soon have the wind at our back while we're facing north.

Been busy at work this whole week and no time to do anything about this, but I am taking tomorrow off to try and protect some plants seeing that Saturday and Sunday nights will be the coldest down here in east Fort Lauderdale. Lowest could be 31-34 but the apparent temperature "feels like" 26-28. As far as plants are concerned, are we talking about low 30s or high 20s? I think I will have to leave the 30'-50' tall palms on their own, just no way for me to protect them except to saturate the soil around them with water before hand. I am going to bring in all potted plants and all hanging orchids. But I will have to figure something out for the few dozens of orchids that are mounted on trees as well as smaller palms and about 150 or so crotons and could use some advice from those with experience doing this. for in ground smaller plants 4' or less planted in a row next to a 6' tall wood fence, will it help if I construct a tarp where the top attaches to the top of fence, and it's stretched to the ground at say a 45 degree angle, and where it meets the ground I use landscape fabric pins to tie it to the ground. Basically making a triangle tent consisting one side wood fence, the other side a sheet of plastic tarp, and do that along the entire 75' long fence. Will this protect the plants inside the tarp? I doubt it will make it warmer, but it might help with the wind. Just not sure if this is going to move the needle, thoughts? I have a number of smaller palms and I think some are small enough I can cover them with a plastic bin or trash can. Can someone advice which of the following are most cold sensitive and I will protect them first in case I run out of time. These are all planted in the ground. Licuala cordata Hydriastele beguinii Obi Island Licuala grandis Ptychosperma elegans Lisa Caryota mitis variegated Licuala lauterbachii Licuala lauterbachii var. bougainvillensis Chamaedorea deckeriana Areca vestiaria Chambeyronia macrocarpa Chambeyronia hookeri Licuala ferruginea Ptychosperma schefferi I have a Hydriastele beguinii Obi Island palm that is 12' tall. If I wrap it in tarp should I bundle the fronds and wrap them up top or wrap the trunk or both?

Winter is coming around the next few corners so to speak, we will see what happens and how they go for there first winter, time will tell. I could fill the new greenhouse with just with stuff that could be potted up let alone new seedlings. 🌱 Richard

The book palms of the Fiji islands Dick Watlingwith illustrations by George Bennett, have nice pictures of seeds, and all information leads to B seemannii.

First seem Ptycosperma elegans and second one Washingtonia filifera

Must be a bunch of incompetent goofballs working at the nws in Tampa. Every night there forecast is off by 5 degrees or more. Another freeze that was not predicted by anyone. At this rate I will assume I will get below freezing for the next 8 days for sure.

Got lots of frost and frozen dew here this morning. I don’t have a thermometer that works at this time but looking at PWS readings near me it was 35 for the low in my area. It went up to the low 70’s today.

I typically just visit the NWS site and Weather.com. It's good to visit your local weather forecast office's site as well as they sometimes have more accurate info posted more frequently. The WFO sites are: Jacksonville: https://www.weather.gov/jax/ Melbourne: https://www.weather.gov/mlb/ Miami: https://www.weather.gov/mfl/ Mobile/Pensacola: https://www.weather.gov/mob/ Tallahassee: https://www.weather.gov/tae/ Tampa: https://www.weather.gov/tbw/ The Tampa and Melbourne offices typically release Cold Weather Decision Support (Cold Weather DSS) maps that give you a view of the region. Once in a while I see them from the Jacksonville office, but not as often. The map you'll want is probably this one: https://www.weather.gov/jax/graphics?domain=FireWx&element=MinT

Why waste it put it into the garden, I also have a bio cycle septic system, it’s about 40 meters of irrigation and omg it makes for a green part of the garden, all the water loving palms get planted in under that setup!

Going for a pleasant top of 28C today but the nights have been chilly. We’ve had some single digit minimums which is cool even for us down here at the bottom of WA. They drop into the single digits briefly before sun up then bounce back strongly once the sun comes up. UV index around 12 lately. So with mild highs cool nights and high UV, mountain species like Parajubaea are just going off at the moment. 37C forecast for Monday.

I looked at my robustas again today. Some of the mostly older fronds have a little bit of yellow spotting but its not really all that noticeable.

Snow covered trachycarpus fortunei

Bill, I felt the same way in 2010 but time has a way of "healing" and changing your mind. I don't think it's the new norm as the frequency of these things is nowhere near what it was a half century ago. It was like this in 1996 then 2010 and now this. The average has been about one moderate freeze every 10-15 years. We were overdue. Hopefully, that trend sticks or improves.

I try to germinate seeds of Caryota obtusa, Livistona drudei, Chamaedorea tepejilote and Wallichia densiflora. If I get more germinated seeds from each sp, I can spare some dor you too.

A lot of gardeners want colour in the their plants. And a lot of colourful plants are of tropical origin, and for this reason a lot won’t live in the cold climates, cool weather yes but cold you’re very limited to the super tropical stuff. But if you search around there out there.

Yep shes a cracker of a palm, I feel like removing it and planting a marojejya darinii there, perhaps a Joey would want to go there! Richard

Beauty!

San Antonio is semi dry . It does get humid but on most days not anywhere close to places like near the coast or Houston . SA is in an extreme drought since 2022 and hasn't seen above average annual rainfall since 2018. It's super dry !!!! They say P. Dactylifera don't like humid conditions but I see them all over the Gulf Coast ( I'm not mixing it up with P.Silvestris) so it shows they can handle humid conditions. It's definitely a heat loving palm. I would assume you would struggle to keep one alive for long in the UK. Too wet , too cold . They thrive in hot climates but don't expect fast growth under ideal conditions either. Slow to moderate.

I do plan to protect in some fashion tomorrow. In the 2018 freeze, I nearly lost my coconut at 28F. At that time, it was young and only had Christmas lights wrapped by sheets. I've moved on to better, stronger methods so I'll post pics once I get it set up tomorrow. I was holding out hope that the forecast would change or somehow models pick up on a different wind shift. Oh well, time to protect. A few things I'll be watching: 1) I'm typically in a microclimate a quarter mile off a large lake. W to NW winds favor me and the lake is 63F right now. It's advective cold so even 1-2 degrees could help. 2) The last events I've fared slightly better. than forecast. Does that hold this weekend? Wed forecast = 33F, MBY = 35F. Thurs forecast = 35F, MBY = 38F Last night forecast = 30s, MBY - 40F Wishing everyone good luck!

this park is very incredible, you have a lot of Corypha lecomtei IN SITU, there very impressive

Am I the only one thinking the fronds look similar to Livistona decora fronds? I know it’s probably Washingtonia but it’s an interesting specimen.

With the recent cold snap further torching foliage, spring is looking like a firestorm. The cold in the upcoming week looks to expand affected areas.

Accuweather is almost worthless (esp. during the winter) more than a week out. By the time they adjust the forecast to whatever shift that is impending, it has already been picked up other sources.

My trachycarpus nainital has survived outside for many years since 2005 in freezing cold zone 6 Woodbury CT with heavier protection; I bought it in 2005 when it was mistakenly marketed as a TAKIL now that it is above the roof though, it has lost the house as a protection, and was severely defoliated last winter, but came back strong [this photo] this winter though, i have resorted to C9 lights so i dont lose it

I think it's easy to work in silos - collecting, germinating, growing... etc. I started showing interest in palms in high school as well - probably around 15 or so. Over the last 20 years I've met and traveled to IPS meetings in Southern & Northern California, but they're always some 3+ hours' drive away from me so it's not often that I get to attend. Even still, I've met many IPS members one on one and interacted virtually with many more. I've donated palms to the fundraisers a number of times as well, though probably not anything SUPER rare. I wonder if increasing access to seeds is a current or future interest of the IPS. I believe there may have been a seed bank in the past, and I'm sure there are dozens of reasons it may not be feasible, but perhaps exploring the idea of regional seed banks could help spread palm cultivation among younger folks at a lower cost and lower risk.

C. Bob Betts 'White Lightning' AM/AOS,(Bow Bells x mossiae). A classic, old-fashioned, corsage-type white.

Rhyncostylis gigantea. One of my favorite species due to their highly scented, long lasting, citrusly smelling flowers. I have 5 individual plants,and at least 1 of them flowers every winter. Despite its tropical origins, it does seem to perform well under desert conditions with a little TLC.👍 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Bulbophyllum roxburgii first umbel to open,

Bulbophyllum longissimum

A bunch more flowers opened up on Rothschildianum

Bulbophyllum putidum

Bulbophyllum Elizabeth Ann Buckleberry 'Jean'

Bulbophyllum rothschildianum. I have 10 spikes opening

Bulbophyllum gracillimum Vandochostylis Pon Washington #117

Petteiraara Tony Tan Keng Yam. This is a seedling, vanda-like orchid, I bought from Home Depot. One of the Better Gro baggy babies. First time blooming.

Conventional wisdom tells us that palm seeds along with other "tropical" plants have very short shelf lives. Some must be planted within hours of removal from fruit, but certainly no longer than a couple weeks. Yet, I'm fascinated by research that has been done showing on several occasions, experts in certain scientific fields have been able to revive so called extinct species or seeds from current living species that just happen to be really old by reviving and germinating ancient seeds found in Egyptian tombs and other archaeological sites, some even in the Americas. I have some old seeds laying around(granted not ancient, but certainly past their prime), I'm interested in trying to sprout. I didn't realize how perishable they were when I bought them(no longevity advice was given) I have no way to know how old they were when I received them, but they've been in my possession now for 2-3 years. Have you had success germinating old seed(any kind of exotic seed, not just palms)? What are your tried and true methods? I've just tried basic soaking and heat so far with no additives and so far NOTHING! Over 1,000 seeds tested so far; don't want to waste anymore if there is a better tried and true method to do this. I'm especially looking for fool proof methods of germinating old/difficult seed that don't involve cutting the seed open. Some swear by tea, some by GA3, some by Miracle Grow, some by hydrogen peroxide and molasses, others by seaweed or kelp or even vitamin water or some combination thereof. What say you?

And here's a photo from this evening, almost exactly one year after the 4th photo above. The queens have pretty much doubled in height, the Reclinata is pretty monstrous, the Chinese have both grown several new tall fronds, and that red banana on the far right now dwarfs pretty much everything. The banana is leaning a bit right now, we got a huge windstorm last week that pushed it about to a 30 degree angle. I'm probably going to cut off the lower set of fronds on the Livistona, those are all the original stunted ones from about 1.5 years ago. It took them around 6 months to grow enough roots to show any new spear growth.

Hi, Ed: You've convinced me to try gouging. It might be easier than cracking/shelling. How deep do you gouge; do you gouge all three eyes? Thanks, merrill