Remarkable palms of Tampa Bay

[RedRabbit]

9 hours ago, bubba said:

I remember large coconuts on Clearwater Beach in the 1950s as a kid. I also remember ubiquitous coconuts throughout Orlando. It must have been the 1962 freeze that took Cocos nucifera out of the normal playing field in these areas.

Well, there are plenty of coconuts in Clearwater Beach now thankfully!

1962 probably did wipe out everything, but it’s hard to say given nothing managed to survive the 1980s either. From the temperature records I’ve seen, I’m guessing no coconuts survived north of Lee County (with the possible exception of AMI.)

[BillAndy]

I think these are Royal Palms?  There is a growing collection of them around Rocky Point North, just off 60, on the Tampa side of the bay. 

[BillAndy]

Not a palm, but a very nice cycas thoursii located in Hyde Park in south Tampa. 

[kinzyjr]

9 hours ago, 813PalmsnCycads said:

I think these are Royal Palms?

Yes, those are Roystonea regia.

6 hours ago, 813PalmsnCycads said:

Not a palm, but a very nice cycas thoursii located in Hyde Park in south Tampa. 

The Chrysalidocarpus lutescens (?) behind it isn't bad either.

[BillAndy]

I believe these are Ptychosperma elegans.  The 1st two photos were taken from West Platt St.  near downtown Tampa and last 2 are at my neighbor’s house. 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

5 minutes ago, 813PalmsnCycads said:

I believe these are Ptychosperma elegans.  The 1st two photos were taken from West Platt St.  near downtown Tampa and last 2 are at my neighbor’s house. 

The ones at your neighbor's house look like Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens

[RedRabbit]

21 hours ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

The ones at your neighbor's house look like Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens

Yep, they are.

21 hours ago, 813PalmsnCycads said:

I believe these are Ptychosperma elegans.  The 1st two photos were taken from West Platt St.  near downtown Tampa and last 2 are at my neighbor’s house. 

What part of town are you in? I get the impression you’re newer to Tampa, is that right?

[BillAndy]

Not new to Tampa, but a noob when it comes  to palms.  I’m in south Tampa. A different neighbor of mine has some rarer palms (Archontophoenix maxima, maybe a dypsis lanceolata,  syagrus schizophylla and others) that caught my interest and I’ve had palms on the brain ever since. 

[Merlyn]

12 hours ago, 813PalmsnCycads said:

Not new to Tampa, but a noob when it comes  to palms.  I’m in south Tampa. A different neighbor of mine has some rarer palms (Archontophoenix maxima, maybe a dypsis lanceolata,  syagrus schizophylla and others) that caught my interest and I’ve had palms on the brain ever since. 

Welcome to PalmTalk!    I was the same way about 4 or 5 years ago, and had a yard full of branch-dropping water oaks for 15+ years...then I discovered palms and cycads!  Now I have ~320 palms and ~235 cycads in the ground with 220 palms and 55 cycads in pots.  There's a chance (a wee small one) that I may have gone overboard with these plants.

[BillAndy]

Thanks for the warm welcome, this is a great online community!  Your collection sounds impressive, hopefully you still have room to keep adding more. I’m negotiating a tree removal with my better half to free up some space in my small yard for more palms .  Hopefully that works out in my favor🙂.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

I figured these belong here. Pretty large Mules & a very tall Butia Odorata   St Petersburg FL    

You don’t find very tall mules too often but they sure are beautiful when they do get big!

I think one of the mules (the last one with fat trunk)  may actually be  a supermule, Butia odorata x Jubaea chilensis x Butia Ordata (x Syagrus romanzoffiana).

 

[RedRabbit]

Not a palm, but I found a Bucida buceras growing in Westchase. It looks like it was planted by accident as a oak tree.

These are pretty common in the Sarasota area, but I don’t really see any Pinellas or Hillsborough which is curious Pinellas is definitely warm enough for them.

[flplantguy]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/1Cd8UTsJm6wKKchs7

These guys made it at least three years up near my area.  As of last week the coconut was almost defoliated with one new green frond, the others are either gone already or defoliated also.  The area has a couple bottles and a pandanus that are all newer and still alive as of now.

[BillAndy]

On 9/4/2019 at 8:05 PM, Zeeth said:

TGH has some nice palms on the property. In addition to the Veitchias and Royals, there is a courtyard to the right of the valet with a nice golden malayan coconut, a big bottle and spindle, and a pretty big Ravanea rivularis. There are also some nice foxtails, Rhapis, Dypsis lutescens, and Acoelorrhaphe, as well as some Archontophoenix near the mcdonalds entrance. I'm gonna try to get somebody to let me put in a Beccariophoenix alfredii somewhere once my seedlings are big enough. 

Here are some current pictures from courtyard at TGH. I don’t see that these were previously posted. 

[cocoforcoconuts]

On 2/15/2023 at 7:20 AM, 813PalmsnCycads said:

Here are some current pictures from courtyard at TGH. I don’t see that these were previously posted. 

On Davis island shielded from wind in every direction, the TGH courtyard has to be one of the best microclimates in the city of Tampa. I'd be really curious to see just how far you could push it there species wise.

[cocoforcoconuts]

https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/entertainment/things-to-do/2023/02/17/popstroke-tiger-woods-wesley-chapel/

Interesting they went with Roystonea regia in Wesley Chapel. I know of one in New Tampa near the Pasco county line that has been in the ground for a few years, unsurprisingly it doesn't look amazing but still better than a queen palm or something (I'd attach a pic but I don't recall the exact location). I don't know of any inland R. regia further north than Wesley Chapel though so it'll be interesting and informative to see how these do.

If they manage to do fine, no excuse for south Tampa not to be littered with them!

 

[flplantguy]

There is a royal in hudson just inland from highway 19 (but still very coastal) and it has some trunk constrictions from when it was first planted before 2010.  I dont know its status now but there are a few on 54 and off little rd more inland that are fine. All are the same age about and the SR 54 group is pre 2010 also.  The bank off little rd i think were replants after triple palms (foxtails?) Died.  Ill see if i can find the addresses if they are not here yet.

Edited February 17, 2023 by flplantguy
spelling

[kinzyjr]

@cocoforcoconuts + @flplantguy

If you have some nice stuff from up that way, I encourage you to post away.  Most of the stuff in this thread is either from the coastal areas near Tampa/St. Pete, urban or highland Lakeland, or Winter Haven.  There are a few posts of nice stuff from region from Tarpon Springs to Lutz, but getting the few posts from Wesley Chapel, Land O' Lakes, and the coastal areas from Hudson down to Holiday would be a great addition.  The take from @Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax) is that Royals do fine up that way, but coconuts tend to freeze out.

[flplantguy]

Inland royals in west pasco:

8823 River Crossing Blvd, New Port Richey, FL 34655

A little closer to the water:

5312 FL-54, Port Richey, FL 34652

The last are a home in hudson on whitby rd and in port richey on embassy.  I feel a little weird posting an address for a home but that makes it findable. If i drive by ill get a pic too one has no recent street view but the others have post 2022 and back a ways so some good info there.  Coconuts, what few ive seen tried, are sickly no matter what and its so much chillier north of central pinellas its kind of not worth it.

There are a lot more smaller ones planted recently in neighborhoods too. Random spots that people got brave and were rewarded. Foxtails have a few long term reps on ridge rd and now adonidias are being used in the open. Not for long im sure the northernmost ive seen is in hernando looking torched along 19 near a DQ and a dollar general just north of the pasco line (18905 us 19). It drops fast by weeki watchee in a cold hole north from there and im sure those will die by summer.  Two winters in a row with freezes and they are shrinking, and those were not abnormal temps.

[kinzyjr]

1 hour ago, flplantguy said:

Inland royals in west pasco:

8823 River Crossing Blvd, New Port Richey, FL 34655

A little closer to the water:

5312 FL-54, Port Richey, FL 34652

The last are a home in hudson on whitby rd and in port richey on embassy.  I feel a little weird posting an address for a home but that makes it findable. If i drive by ill get a pic too one has no recent street view but the others have post 2022 and back a ways so some good info there.  Coconuts, what few ive seen tried, are sickly no matter what and its so much chillier north of central pinellas its kind of not worth it.

There are a lot more smaller ones planted recently in neighborhoods too. Random spots that people got brave and were rewarded. Foxtails have a few long term reps on ridge rd and now adonidias are being used in the open. Not for long im sure the northernmost ive seen is in hernando looking torched along 19 near a DQ and a dollar general just north of the pasco line (18905 us 19). It drops fast by weeki watchee in a cold hole north from there and im sure those will die by summer.  Two winters in a row with freezes and they are shrinking, and those were not abnormal temps.

You don't necessarily have to post the address.  If you grab photos you can post them.  Most of the stuff here is near a public building, so no harm at all.  Here are two of the Royals you mentioned, captured on Google Street View:

[BillAndy]

Chill Bros. on Bay to Bay (near Bayshore Blvd) in Tampa has a nice collection of palms in their courtyard.  I couldn’t get too many pictures due to customers in the background, but it is work checking out in person if you’re in the area.  There are few coconut palms, archontophoenix, possible dypsis (not lutescens) and others. 

[RedRabbit]

10 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

@cocoforcoconuts + @flplantguy

If you have some nice stuff from up that way, I encourage you to post away.  Most of the stuff in this thread is either from the coastal areas near Tampa/St. Pete, urban or highland Lakeland, or Winter Haven.  There are a few posts of nice stuff from region from Tarpon Springs to Lutz, but getting the few posts from Wesley Chapel, Land O' Lakes, and the coastal areas from Hudson down to Holiday would be a great addition.  The take from @Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax) is that Royals do fine up that way, but coconuts tend to freeze out.

Yeah, it would be great to see more pictures from Pasco County. We know there’s at least of sliver of Z10 on the immediate coast, but there could be some neat stuff hidden away elsewhere. 

11 hours ago, cocoforcoconuts said:

On Davis island shielded from wind in every direction, the TGH courtyard has to be one of the best microclimates in the city of Tampa. I'd be really curious to see just how far you could push it there species wise.

DI does well for radiational freezes, less so for advective. They took a decent amount of damage from the 2018 freeze whereas St. Pete and all points South were unphased. 

I think the main issue with DI isn’t there’s not much separation from the mainland to the NNE which is where the wind will be coming from. Downtown Tampa is NNE though and that helps I’m sure. It might be the best neighborhood in Tampa, though Ballast Point might have a case logically speaking. 
 

I think Apollo Beach and Ruskin are actually a bit warmer than South Tampa too. Once you get south of Tampa Bay, starting around Apollo Beach, you get that famously strong microclimate coming into play that makes Manatee County so warm.

[flplantguy]

Here is the coconut and foxtail in briar oaks northwest pasco county (by aripeka).  Looks better than the first time i saw it 2 weeks ago but im sure its time is limited.  And in a county right of way doesnt help.

[Fusca]

2 hours ago, flplantguy said:

Here is the coconut and foxtail in briar oaks northwest pasco county (by aripeka).  Looks better than the first time i saw it 2 weeks ago but im sure its time is limited.  And in a county right of way doesnt help.

That Cocos should discourage people from parking in front of his house if/when it starts fruiting! 

[ruskinPalms]

2 hours ago, flplantguy said:

Here is the coconut and foxtail in briar oaks northwest pasco county (by aripeka).  Looks better than the first time i saw it 2 weeks ago but im sure its time is limited.  And in a county right of way doesnt help.

Those won’t make it long term if they got damaged this year. It wasn’t that cold around the Tampa area.

[ruskinPalms]

That being said, the hurricanes didn’t help by pre-desiccating leaflets this year so maybe they look worse than they would. 

[ruskinPalms]

And maybe you mentioned earlier in the thread but how long have those been there? Maybe I’m wrong if that coconut has been there several years, planted from a small size. 

[flplantguy]

It has a street view from 2019 where it looks a little haggard and the vietchia in the photo is long gone. I doubt it was pre 2018 but its possible. The only older adonidias are two triples in the best protected spot possible by a house that are older.  A couple bottles in the open had one or two green fronds but they are all post 2018 as well i think.  This spot seems to be guaranteed a freeze of one kind or another each year except mild years based on that and how the brazilian peppers look in the area. Once the built up area thins out its too cold to often. The photo is one bottle from a distance i almost missed it.

[RedRabbit]

7 hours ago, flplantguy said:

Here is the coconut and foxtail in briar oaks northwest pasco county (by aripeka).  Looks better than the first time i saw it 2 weeks ago but im sure its time is limited.  And in a county right of way doesnt help.

Wow, that’s impressive. How long has it been there?

I know someone in Aripeka and have been up there a few times. It very consistent with zone 9b, even directly on the Gulf. It’s a kind of neat area none-the-less.

4 hours ago, ruskinPalms said:

Those won’t make it long term if they got damaged this year. It wasn’t that cold around the Tampa area.

Yep, I agree. 

Edited February 19, 2023 by RedRabbit

[flplantguy]

They were planted after the 2018 freeze but before a 2019 street view so 4 years of coconut survival there.  A mild stretch maybe? Or the new norm? Ill stick with smaller understory stuff that can handle light freezes for now.  Maybe change over time will allow me to grow 10a stuff one day.

[cocoforcoconuts]

There is this coconut palm on Morris Bridge road in Thonotosassa that has been in the ground since late-2011 to early-2012. It used to have a mate but it croaked during the 2018 freeze.

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.0801958,-82.3275202,3a,24.8y,11.35h,88.23t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s43IzwB71Jdm1sv93WqEfVA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[BS Man about Palms]

As a native of Clearwater, but now in So Cal, I can appreciate this thread!

Spoiled by constant trips to Clearwater beach growing up, until moving to Colorado, then back on vacations.
 Here I am a few years back at Palm Pavilion where my dad worked as a teenager in late 1940's? 

 

My brother and I recently visiting as we share a condo in St. Pete. In this pic in front of our grandparents house in Clearwater with the coolest address ever. "1 South Jupiter" No palms, but to the left side are some very old flowering trees, I can remember the entire trees being yellow when I was a kid.

 

[BS Man about Palms]

To keep on the theme though, here is a nice Bismarkia and I think an OLD Trachycarpus? in the background at our Condo in the Long Bayou area of St. Pete. Next time I'm there maybe I can allot some time to visit palmy stuff.. my brother tolerates it... for a while. haha

 

[kinzyjr]

Looks like folks everywhere are rediscovering Roystonea regia.  I spotted these in the Turkey Creek area on my way back from the State Fair yesterday.

[RedRabbit]

Found a pretty good Ficus benjamina in Westchase.

 

[cocoforcoconuts]

On 3/1/2023 at 2:58 PM, RedRabbit said:

Found a pretty good Ficus benjamina in Westchase.

 

Such majestic trees. They're my second favorite after cocos

[BillAndy]

Here’s a multi-headed queen palm located in the Dana Shores area of Tampa. It was a windy day when I took this picture.  There is another muti-headed queen a couple of blocks away, although I did not get a picture of that one. 

[cobra2326]

Seedlings of Veitchia, Carpenteria, and Ptychosperma courtesy of downtown St. Pete:

[flplantguy]

Bryan Dairy Rd
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VHT628Q5ZJwPUDNR6

Coconut survivor since at least 2011.  There are others nearby not as old but this one with careful looking has a history to at least then.  The latest image here is this year after the christmas event.

[BillAndy]

I am hoping someone can identify the species of coconut palm in this  picture. I’m guessing Malayan Gold?  Seems to be doing well on the border of 9B/10A with little to no care.  This is close to my house and I am debating whether or not to experiment with coconut palms. 
 

Also wondering if there is a relatively “common” coconut palm in Sanibel, FL?  I collected a bunch of coconuts in that area 2 years ago and some have taken root. They were in a trash pile and I didn’t expect them to sprout, but they are growing now!

Thanks!