Zone 10A Patio Palms

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

Hey all.  Haven't made a post of my own in a while, so I thought I'd share some of my potted palms that I keep on my patio here in zone 10A in southern FL.   PLEASE disregard the somewhat messy patio at the moment.  Thank you!  its a work in progress! 

  In April of 2021 we had to move from our place which was on Maximo Point, the southern most tip of mainland Pinellas county.  There, we were about a mile out into Tampa Bay on a small, less than 1/4 mile wide strip of land that ran along I-275 leading up to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.   We moved about 2 miles away to an  Island in Tampa bay that is probably a bit smaller than Key West, called Coquina Key.   In front of the new place is a fairly big salt / brackish lake, and behind me is a large body of water called Big Bayou.   Once again we are still surrounded by water in very close proximity.   The Patio faces South / Southeast and gets full sun in summer until about 3-4Pm.   Winter we will get it at a lower angle, and for most of the day, keeping us warm. The building will protect us from the chilly NW winds from "cold fronts" that occasionally come through during "winter" lol.    Its really more like "wet season (summer) and Dry Season (winter) here as the winter temps, while cool at times, are still nothing really close to actual "winter temps"  

In these photos there is nothing rare or particularly spectacular, but they are all palms that I love.   Dypsis Lutescens, Adonidia Merrillii, Phoenix Roebelenii, Chamaedora Cataractum.

First two pics are of my whole patio on the 4th of July 2021.  Second of the first two is my newly (at the time) repotted Pigmy Date Palm.  (Phoenix Roebelenii)  It now has several feet of trunk.  It was purchased in early 2018 and had one very small one, and the main trunk which at that time had about 4-6" of "trunk".  It was much shorter.  I removed the very small one to allow the bigger one to have the pot all to itself and so far its flourished. 

 

 

The rest of these photos below were taken today, 8/11/2021.

 Below:   some large Dypsis Lutescens in "half" whiskey barrels.  They were pretty large when I got them in late 2017/ early 2018, but had no clear trunk.

Now there are lots of clear trunks on them 

 

Below: Adonidia Merrillii. Purchased in mid 2018 for $25.00, it was fairly small and trunkless.  It has done fantastic in this pot since, and will be getting an upgrade this year.

 

Below:  Phoenix Roebelenii.

 

The following 3 photos below are my water HOGS, Chamaedorea Cataractum.  They were fairly small when I got them 2 years ago for $10 each.  They have grown great, 

and are now loaded with seeds. These things are WATER HOGS.  I have to water then daily if it doesn't rain, sometimes twice daily each, and they need to be 

DRENCHED / FLOODED each time.   They are much happier on this patio as its less windy. It is still pretty darn windy here, but no nearly as strong / ongoing for hours on end 

as it was at the old place. 

[Palmlover_78]

Beautiful :), Absolutely beautiful healthy palms, I have a Windmill and a Pygmy on my patio and i live in Zone 3a.  Tough little Guys

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

13 hours ago, Palmlover_78 said:

Beautiful :), Absolutely beautiful healthy palms, I have a Windmill and a Pygmy on my patio and i live in Zone 3a.  Tough little Guys

Beautiful!   Lots of "florida" plants too.  I always had my outdoor spaces looking like south florida in the summer too.   IT was a chore but i loved it.    Treat that Pygmy date palm right and it will get tall.  I Grew one to 5 feet of trunk up north in zone 7.  I brought it in each winter and it sat in a full sun window.  It didn't like it as much, but it always bounced back next spring.  One year it froze, defoliated, and I thought it was dead.  Then after several months it pushed out a tiny messed up frond, then by the end of that summer it had a full crown of large normal fronds again.    It lasted another few years but began to decline then died after a night in the 40's.    

[Palmlover_78]

On 8/12/2021 at 1:09 PM, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

Beautiful!   Lots of "florida" plants too.  I always had my outdoor spaces looking like south florida in the summer too.   IT was a chore but i loved it.    Treat that Pygmy date palm right and it will get tall.  I Grew one to 5 feet of trunk up north in zone 7.  I brought it in each winter and it sat in a full sun window.  It didn't like it as much, but it always bounced back next spring.  One year it froze, defoliated, and I thought it was dead.  Then after several months it pushed out a tiny messed up frond, then by the end of that summer it had a full crown of large normal fronds again.    It lasted another few years but began to decline then died after a night in the 40's.    

My Palms are in now, the Palms are under grow lights because of my dark apartment. The Crotons do very well under LED full Spectrum. I am just sad that Christmas Palms don't do well up here.....I bring all of them in when the night time temps hover around 5C