Back from the Brink: Hurricane Ian survivors in Cape Coral, FL

[PalmatierMeg]

Hurricane Ian destroyed most of our landscaping. We lost many palms and most of our large tropical trees. In our Garden Lot those trees broke, uprooted and fell, taking with them everything beside them and crushing all plantings beneath them. Most of the large palms we lost were taken out by trees. Exceptions were Bismarckia (4 of 6 lost) which failed spectacularly in their own right, Attaleas (3 of 4) and Beccariophoenix (same) and one Pseudophoenix vinifera (just one left). After the wreckage was removed I started counting the palm losses and was discouraged by the one-of-a-kind palms I lost, including our only Tahina spectabilis (irreplaceable), a Sabal grethereae, numerous Hemithrinax ekmanii, Syagrus picrophylla and more.

Fast forward 2-1/2 months and I have hope for some of these palms. I recently saw new green fronds emerging from scenes of carnage. Does that mean all will survive? Wish I could say that but recovery has just begun but experience has told me palms cling to life for months before succumbing to damage or disease (my first Sabal palmetto Lisa died of weevil infestation 18 months after Irma - in all that time it had stopped growing & flowering). And to temper my enthusiasm we know at least two large palms we initially hoped would make it will not: a Bismarckia and an Elaeis guineensis, which now must be taken down.

Yesterday I took photos of palms I initially feared dead that may be miracle survivors.

Tahina spectabilis - crushed flat but growing point survived underground

Sabal gretherae - also smashed

Livistona mariae - looked like the center was fatally broken but is putting out new fronds

Syagrus picrophylla - fronds were sagging and browning and we thought it was a goner. But is putting up new green

Attalea phalerata - appeared whole crown had broken and collapsed. But Ian's winds had sheared 15' fronds in half. New ones on the way. My only surviving Attalea

Livistona decora - was terribly beaten up by Ian and the African oil palm beside it. Looks like it will make it. The oil did not

[Las Palmas Norte]

Seeing those pics makes me think there isn't a place that's truly safe from mother nature, regardless of where we live. Good to see life emerge from the devastation.

[PalmatierMeg]

Some bonus photos. I believed from the outset these palms had survived but it's nice to see them coming back.

Roystonea violacea - my sole specimen germinated from 20 seeds bought from RPS before the documentation/permit fiasco. Irreplaceable

Cocos nucifera dwarf red spicata twins - germinated 2015

Cocos nucifera dwarf red spicata single - germinated 2016. I lost the mother of this coconut and the twins to Hurricane Irma in 2017. It has been exceedingly difficult to stabilize it. Ian blew it over to the west. In Nov. Hurricane Nicole winds blew it to the south. I really want to save it but it is a behemoth.

Roystonea regia - an example of how tough this species is. Lost all its leaves down to a spear and is already on its way back. 

 

 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

My fingers will stay crossed for your Tahina and Attalea to make full recoveries. So sad to not have seen your garden in person before this destruction =/ 

T J 

[Gottagrowemall]

I hate seeing this kind of damage. It hurts people like us who love these plants. But in a way seeing them come back from such pain reminds us of why we love them. Going for the absolutel best for your garden. Also how did you get your dwarf coconut seedlings?

[GottmitAlex]

Wonderful @PalmatierMeg!

[96720]

Palms are very tough when you think they are goners they come back the only ones that are hard to survive are ones that are very slow to grow!!

[shminbabe]

I’m so sorry, such difficult losses. I’m attached to my palms nurtured from seed or young, and my heart goes out to you. 

[sonoranfans]

Meg that is some good growth on the tahina and sabal in so short a time!  Most these survivors have full root systems so growth should be more rapid than planting a new palm.  In a few years your place should be vibrant with plenty of new growth.  

[Rusty Bell]

Happy to see that some of your palms are refoliating. Doing so for palms is more critical than for plants that can store larger reserves of carbohydrate to support the new growth. On palms that I have left that are refoliating, I am intensely watering them to support the emerging growth.

The conditions here on Pine Island were much the same but being directly in the eye wall our winds were a bit more intense. I did notice that some palms with large spears emerging had the spears and meristem completely pulled from the plant. And no specie or genus was any better or worse that the other...some individuals of the same specie were destroyed while other individuals made it.

Wishing you best of luck.

[PalmatierMeg]

It has been 8 months since Hurricane Ian wrecked SWFL, including our Paradise 0.61 Acre. So, yesterday I took some followup photos of the palms mentioned above. While all still live and some have shown encouraging growth, others seem to struggle to overcome the horrendous beating they took. I hope now growing season is in full steam and rainy season lurks only a few weeks away these palms will shake off their doldrums and take off. I also hope the replacement palms I planted will do the same. I still have more candidates that I've grown up to plant if we could find the time and energy to do so.

Tahina spectabilis - slow grower but moving. I hope a blanket of mulch around it helps.

 

Sabal grethereae - from being crushed to this. Tough palm indeed

Livistona mariae - also doing well

Syagrus picrophylla - still with us but the jury is out

Attalea phalerata - only remaining Attalea coming back. Note the shattered petiole from Ian in photos 2 & 3. I think it is the prettiest species

Livistona decora - still trying to come back

ALSO,

Cocos nucifera Dwarf Red Spicata Twins & Solitary - all still have to be tied up so they don't blow over. I hope they will grow more secure roots this summer

Bismarckia nobilis x2 - my only surviving Bizzies. Long term prognosis: guarded

Hemithrinax ekmaniana - crushed but coming on

Roystonea violacea - I am hopeful

Roystonea regia - last fall they all looked like giant pencils (spears but no leaves). They are coming back fast. Notice the scars on the crown shaft where leaves broke away during Ian

 

 

[Gottagrowemall]

I feel so sorry for you and a bit nervous because that could be any of our prized landscapes any given year. Those  palms really got pounded

[Barry]

Meg, have you noticed any spear damage? I have noticed this on a couple of mine that I can see from the ground. I’m thinking it happened during the hurricane. They seem to be growing out of it, thankfully.

 

[PalmatierMeg]

On 5/8/2023 at 8:28 PM, Barry said:

Meg, have you noticed any spear damage? I have noticed this on a couple of mine that I can see from the ground. I’m thinking it happened during the hurricane. They seem to be growing out of it, thankfully.

 

Spear damage tended to be lost in the midst of other catastrophic damage. I suspect spear-damaged palms were otherwise destroyed outright. But I’ve lost palms the past 8 months that initially appeared to survive and I expect to lose more.

[KsLouisiana]

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Spear damage tended to be lost in the midst of other catastrophic damage. I suspect spear-damaged palms were otherwise destroyed outright. But I’ve lost palms the past 8 months that initially appeared to survive and I expect to lose more.

Hey Meg! I didn't realize you were in Cape Coral. How are y'all recovering? Y'all have been in our thoughts a lot over the last 6 months. You live in a beautiful area so I know it will come back. Not everything but some things will come back better than before. We were absolutely wrecked by hurricane laura in 2020 and it looks pretty good around here now.  And we live in a town with 100' loblolly and longleaf pines all over and that was probably the biggest change.  A huge percentage of them got wiped out. I'm sure y'all will bounce back quicker than here too

[bubba]

What a great testimony to resilience and dedication!

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

For the kind of winds these took, (im assuming 120 MPH plus) it looks like the ones that are left are doing their very best to come back.  Looking good.    Sad that this happened, and it could very well be any of is in this state or along any coast really.  I guess this is the price we pay for living in paradise.  So sorry you had to go through this and for your losses.   Sending positive vibes for full recovery of all of the ones remaining!   

I thought I saw in one  of the photos what looked like Thrinax radiata? Can you confirm?  If so, they look like the handled things fairly well.   Of course id always expect the native palms to FL and this part of the world to be more hurricane resilient.   I feel like I have read that for royals one of their survival techniques is to actually shed the fronds if the winds get too strong.  Like they are made to break at certain pressures of wind speeds in order to save the tree itself.  I only saw a handful of royals here in far south Pinellas that seemed to have been stripped of most of their fronds, and all of them are now coming back nicely.   We still can see lots of burn / brown fronds on many palms here from Ian, but they are now lower down and the nice new growth is showing alot more.   While there was some foliage stripping from trees here, it was nothing like what you begin to see once you get down into Manatee county and south.  The 100 MPH wind line never made it on shore in Pinellas Point and stayed out in the middle of Tampa Bay.   The worst we saw was about 94MPH gusts.  At least that's what I saw on a weather station at the time.   Northern half of Pinellas was like not much happened at all, while down here it was fairly bad.  About similar damage to what we saw during Irma. 

[PalmatierMeg]

3 hours ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

For the kind of winds these took, (im assuming 120 MPH plus) it looks like the ones that are left are doing their very best to come back.  Looking good.    Sad that this happened, and it could very well be any of is in this state or along any coast really.  I guess this is the price we pay for living in paradise.  So sorry you had to go through this and for your losses.   Sending positive vibes for full recovery of all of the ones remaining!   

I thought I saw in one  of the photos what looked like Thrinax radiata? Can you confirm?  If so, they look like the handled things fairly well.   Of course id always expect the native palms to FL and this part of the world to be more hurricane resilient.   I feel like I have read that for royals one of their survival techniques is to actually shed the fronds if the winds get too strong.  Like they are made to break at certain pressures of wind speeds in order to save the tree itself.  I only saw a handful of royals here in far south Pinellas that seemed to have been stripped of most of their fronds, and all of them are now coming back nicely.   We still can see lots of burn / brown fronds on many palms here from Ian, but they are now lower down and the nice new growth is showing alot more.   While there was some foliage stripping from trees here, it was nothing like what you begin to see once you get down into Manatee county and south.  The 100 MPH wind line never made it on shore in Pinellas Point and stayed out in the middle of Tampa Bay.   The worst we saw was about 94MPH gusts.  At least that's what I saw on a weather station at the time.   Northern half of Pinellas was like not much happened at all, while down here it was fairly bad.  About similar damage to what we saw during Irma. 

I have a very tall Thrinax radiata that survived Charley, Wilma, Irma & Ian. We spent 10-12 hours in the SE eyewall of Ian, which came ashore over Pine Island sporting wind gusts of 178 mph. Winds of 150? 155? At that level does it matter? Our back yard jungle took the brunt of wind from the south, our Sabal Row of massive trunking Sabals shielded the house from the east. You can’t do better for a wind block than a group of causiarum, domingensis and maritima. The gardens were pretty much leveled but it is easier to replant palms than rebuild a house. you look at hurricane season differently once you’ve gone through a Big One. That used to be Charley.

[Merlyn]

@PalmatierMeg I recall reading that your big trunking Copernicia Baileyana was damaged but appeared to survive.  Did it pull through?