Snowing in Santa Clarita California

[tinman10101]

I think I'll let the pics speak for themselves but one thing is for sure, I'm gonna really start liking hybrids and cycads. Ha ha

Cheers!

Tin

[freakypalmguy]

Holy cow Tin, very cool looking pics.

Also, I can see you've been holding out on us, your garden looks killer. Be nice to see it without the powder

Edited January 3, 2011 by freakypalmguy

[tinman10101]

Matt

Thanks for the compliment! Sorry it took the snow to post pics. Any way, I'll post again in 6 months without the snow. Unfortunately, it won't be too pretty! Ha ha.

Tin

[WestCoastGal]

Yeah, nice palm yard! Sounds like you're taking the snow all in stride. Did you guys have advanced warning that it was coming? I know I was in San Diego a number of years ago on vacation and they had freak weather (told San Diego was always nice weather!) and got to see sunny gorgeous weather in one area, flash flooding in another and snow in the mountains all at the same time. Terribly humid where I was at. Does your area have lots of microclimates like that? BTW weren't you guys also hit with a number of bad forest fires not that long ago? Hope your losses aren't too high.

[BS Man about Palms]

[Rafael]

[PalmatierMeg]

Oh my. Where in CA is Santa Clarita?

[DoomsDave]

Oh my. Where in CA is Santa Clarita?

North of LA on I-5, in the general vicinity of Six Flags Magic Mountain. It's the first stop on the way to the high pass to the High Desert, on the way to the Central Valley . . . .

[bgl]

Wow Tin, looks wet and cold! I certainly don't miss that combination! I prefer wet and warm! As a matter of fact, it's pouring down right now.

[tinman10101]

WestCoastGal ... the forest fires passed over mhy section so I did not have to worry. There was no forecast of snow so this is a total surprise. I take it in stride becase "it is what it is". We cannot control mother nature and what dies will be replaced with a hybrid. I have so many in the greenhouse that it might be to my advantage in the long run. I just worry about the bismarkia because I really like that palm.

Bill and Rafael .... this does really bite! Oh well, I knew the risk when I started this garden and it is only two years old so there are many years to come.

Meg ... Dave explained the location exactly. It really is a desert so I knew snow would eventually show up someday.

Bo ... really really wet and cold!!!! Looks like I might be starting over with a clean slate like you are. Ha ha.

Cheers!

Tin

PS It is currently 33.8F right now. Spoke to Henry (Palm Painter) and he said many of his mature queen palm fronds are snapping because of the weight of the snow. I totally forgot that snow is heavy.

Edited January 3, 2011 by tinman10101

[Sutter Bob]

We were passing through your territory yesterday coming back home from San Diego and it sure felt nippy - I'm not surprised to see that snow.

I got home to find quite a bit of browning on many of my palms today (mostly the Kings and Kentias).

Although we didn't get snow here the level had gotten pretty low while we were gone with some reports of snow on the valley floor.

So far Beccariophoenix alfredii, Caryota maxima, and Oraniopsis look unphased.

Like you I have lately been trying to stock up on the more cold tolerant species - in October I got a couple of Patrick Schaeffer/Dick Douglas hybrids that look fine.

I also brought up a couple of Arenga micrantha from San Diego and am curious to see how they fare.

A banana that looked surprisingly great when we left last week now looks like I would expect it to in early January - completely brown.

Hopefully things will warm up soon.

A shot before we left.

[JamesL]

Snow is just not good for palms.

James

[WestCoastGal]

....or palm growers.

I just saw news coverage this morning from So. Calif and saw that the I-5 is still closed due to black ice. They interviewed some pretty unhappy people stranded in their cars since yesterday. Hope it warms up for you guys real soon. Tinman good luck with your Bismarkia. It looks like a nice one.

[mjff]

I appreciated the rain y'all shared with us Christmas Eve, but you can keep that white stuff for yourselves.

[bahia]

Don't most people with Bismarckia nobilis find that it can take more cold than more tender things like Archontophoenix cunninghamiana and Howeia and bounce back? At least that is what I have heard, and if you get a long hot weather in summer and early spring warm-up as your area does, I'd think that this should recover pretty well. I've steered away from using Bismarckia nobilis here in the San Francisco East Bay Area because I haven't seen any locally that actually seem to grow much in summer, as we just don't get much heat; and they always seem to look pretty miserable as container plants in the local nurseries here, whatever the season. I've settled on Brahea 'Clara' as the best visual substitute for Bismarckia in my conditions.

I'm not that surprised about the freak snow on the I-5 corridor passes and mountains behind San Diego, they do seem to be magnets for light snowfall when a real cold wave passes nearby. We get the same thing very occasionally up here above 1200 feet or so elevation, but the proximity of the bay and ocean keeps it from happening as often as it does down there.

It is always informative to see what things laugh it off, and what things really suffer. Hope most things in your garden do recover, but going with cold hardy replacements isn't necessarily a bad thing, and a lot less worries...

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

Bahia, I have no experience with Howeas, but I can say that my particular Bismarkia (very silver) turned out to be MUCH hardier than my Arcontophoenix. In fact, the foliage of my Bismarkia is about as hardy as the foliage on many of the Washingtonia robusta (though I know the plant species isn't even close).

[samirbouag]

hello!

GEZEE snow in california! the weather became crazy!! good luck california! take some pics!! it's crazy! awesome! i've found a video link about the snow in Valencia and Grapvine! let's watch!

http://www.latimes.com/videobeta/?watchId=855f01c6-6936-469b-82b6-3c92a309e08b

have a nice day!

ps:the pics are here!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cold-weather-pictures,0,1595108.photogallery

by by

Edited January 3, 2011 by samirbouag

[tinman10101]

so it has been a year and a half since my last major snow event so i finally have gotten around to posting an update to the yard. we did have a very small snow event last winter but it lasted about 5-10 minutes and the snow melted before it touched the ground. you will notice that on one side of the yard, i scrapped the king palm and relandscaped it to a xeric garden. i added a couple of more pictures but if you want to see a 1.5 year growth, you can refer to the beginning of the thread.

sorry it took so long to update "matt in temucula"

just fyi ... i see temps in the upper 20's almost every year and they last for at least 4-6 hours so all the plants you see have been "tried and tested" in my opinion.

cheers

tin

[tinman10101]

more pics

[tinman10101]

and one more ...

i know i have nothing rare but the rare stuff seems to be somewhat cold sensitive and maybe i will give it a try in 4-5 years when i have some massive canopy.

this house was purchased as a foreclosure 4 years ago with nothing but gophers and weeds everywhere but i have met many great people on this forum such as gary and len. thanks to the many people i have met, i can gladly say that i am ready to just sit back and watch the plants grow now. i attribute my palm addiction to my brother who introduced me to palms and i haven't looked back since.

cheers

tin

[wimmie]

Your place looks great, Tin! Do you still have space for a vulcano?

Wim.

[Palm crazy]

Looks great! Canopy will really help the smaller tender stuff.

Did you have any 'new damage' from the cold this March?

Edited July 24, 2012 by Palm crazy

[George Sparkman]

Really looking good Tin !

You sure created a great garden.