Palm walk through Zone 9b/10a city in March in southern USA:

[Subtropical LIS]

Passed through one of my favorite East Coast cities a few days ago – the north Florida city of St. Augustine. This Spanish influenced city is one of the first settlements in the United States, and the old city quarters downtown have been well preserved. A late winter walk through the old quarters of the city was nice and I was able to see several different types of palms.

Climatically, St. Augustine is zone 9b/10a (lowest temp this past winter was 32 F/0 C in January). This a low latitude humid subtropical climate, with dry, sunny winters, and a summer rainy season. Until the summer thundershowers get going in May, winter and early spring can see drought and at this latitude (28.9 north) many of the palms and plants can look sun pulverized in late winter (the Sahara is located due east across the Atlantic from St. Augustine - lol).  

Some random shots:

Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the United States (built in 1672) when Florida was part of the Spanish empire. Three 50-foot Sabal Palmettos line the old fort:

 

 

Looking toward the Casa Monica resort hotel – Sabal Palmettos, Washingtonia palms, and Canary Island Date Palms:

 

 

Scrubby yuccas, lizards, agave, and hot afternoon sun in this north Florida city:

 

 

Waterfront area near Bridge of Lions – Canary Island Date Palms :

 

 

 

The courtyard of the old Hotel Ponce de Leon with many palms and other exotics enjoying the March sun:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A nice green March landscape on the pathway to my hotel:

[SeanK]

Thanks for sharing. The courtyard at the Hotel Pd Leon is itself beautiful. Behind the visitor center are a couple big Mediterranean fan palms. Walking south near the Columbiana restaurant, there's some A.engleri. At the south end of town I found C.alba planted at a house. A few years back there were even some crownshaft palms, but maybe with marginal winters they're gone.

[kinzyjr]

If anyone happens to be around St. Augustine in June, the CFPACS 2025 Summer meeting is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, June 7th, 2025.  There will be a post in the Affiliates section when the details are finalized, but for now, you can see the tentative details on the CFPACS home page: https://cfpacs.com/org/

[MarcusH]

St. Augustine is close to Jacksonville .  Both cities grow the same different types of palm trees that are very common on the NE side of Florida.  While most tourists who travel to Florida love to sit under Coconut palms , I personally prefer Central , NW and NE Florida where tall pine trees are dominating the scenery.  Jacksonville , for instance has some amazing parks.  Thank you for sharing your experience with us.