Can't tell you how many hours I've fretted over the decline in temps with fear & trepidation worrying about the green left out to fend for itself. Took me a long time to understand that yes, it's the duration of cold & not simply the cold that does the damage. Having said that, if it looks any bit too cold I'll spend the time lugging everything into the garage and/or the house (as you do)! I'm holding faith that your palms will make it through....
Hi Alex. i enjoy watching your videos. We are Zone 7b/8a. Our coldest temperature in 6 years has been 9F for a brief time, which brings me to your talking about duration of cold. Living in Albuquerque, we are vastly different than these zones in the east. We only get 8" of total precipitation a year. The aridity combined with our altitude makes for warm days and cold nights as there is nothing to hold the heat in at night. We usually go into the 40s, 50s, with an occasional 60 degree day in the winter. The dryness makes it easier to overwinter less hardy plants. I do water my palms occasionally as drought is more of a problem keeping things alive than cold. I have the following palms, all uncovered: windmill (both fortune and wagnerianus), Sabal minor McCurtain, Pindo palm, Mediterranean fan palm Atlas Mtn. form, California fan palm, and a Needle palm. I have a Mexican fan palm but it did not do well over the summer And the fronds got sunburned much to my surprise. Anyway, just thought you might find it interesting to see what's happening in the same USDA Zone but also different climatically. I'm also trying various other tropical style plants plus lots of cacti and succulents.
Thank you for the report!! I love the climate in the desert southwest, you can get away with growing so many more subtropicals. The sunny winter days make a massive difference! Everything just rots here we can go a week without sunshine and during bad years, the ground could be covered in snow most of the winter. It’s a great climate for humid loving tropical plants in the summer, but I wish I could experiment with more succulents and yuccas! Rostratas do incredible here though!
licualas, I never even thought were hardy below 40 F as I consider them to be super tropical palms. Frost proof Gardenia I left uncovered last year and we had 3 nights of 18 F and 4 days barely abovet 30F here in Houston and it was fine in the container. however, I did have it up again the south side of the house along with my Caesalpinia (Bird of paradise) and my 2 tecomas.
Most of them aren’t, but I have seen Licuala spinosa survive in cooler climates like California and down to 30F. Maybe they have to be older, but I will never risk them again. They are too hard to find to experiment with!
I think if it was just this last cold snap it would be fine… but we still have cold January/beginning of February left. I would at the very least add some lights to the palms, unless you really want to be an experimenting pioneer.
I agree, I will cover the Trachys if (probably when!) we get our next cold snap in the teens. January is looking a little rough after the first few days of the month. I already can’t wait for winter to end!
In Portland the windmill palms very rarely need protection
Fantastic video, Alex. The palm trees are very nice.
Thank you!
Can't tell you how many hours I've fretted over the decline in temps with fear & trepidation worrying about the green left out to fend for itself. Took me a long time to understand that yes, it's the duration of cold & not simply the cold that does the damage. Having said that, if it looks any bit too cold I'll spend the time lugging everything into the garage and/or the house (as you do)! I'm holding faith that your palms will make it through....
Hi Alex. i enjoy watching your videos. We are Zone 7b/8a. Our coldest temperature in 6 years has been 9F for a brief time, which brings me to your talking about duration of cold. Living in Albuquerque, we are vastly different than these zones in the east. We only get 8" of total precipitation a year. The aridity combined with our altitude makes for warm days and cold nights as there is nothing to hold the heat in at night. We usually go into the 40s, 50s, with an occasional 60 degree day in the winter. The dryness makes it easier to overwinter less hardy plants. I do water my palms occasionally as drought is more of a problem keeping things alive than cold. I have the following palms, all uncovered: windmill (both fortune and wagnerianus), Sabal minor McCurtain, Pindo palm, Mediterranean fan palm Atlas Mtn. form, California fan palm, and a Needle palm. I have a Mexican fan palm but it did not do well over the summer And the fronds got sunburned much to my surprise. Anyway, just thought you might find it interesting to see what's happening in the same USDA Zone but also different climatically. I'm also trying various other tropical style plants plus lots of cacti and succulents.
Thank you for the report!! I love the climate in the desert southwest, you can get away with growing so many more subtropicals. The sunny winter days make a massive difference! Everything just rots here we can go a week without sunshine and during bad years, the ground could be covered in snow most of the winter. It’s a great climate for humid loving tropical plants in the summer, but I wish I could experiment with more succulents and yuccas!
Rostratas do incredible here though!
licualas, I never even thought were hardy below 40 F as I consider them to be super tropical palms. Frost proof Gardenia I left uncovered last year and we had 3 nights of 18 F and 4 days barely abovet 30F here in Houston and it was fine in the container. however, I did have it up again the south side of the house along with my Caesalpinia (Bird of paradise) and my 2 tecomas.
Most of them aren’t, but I have seen Licuala spinosa survive in cooler climates like California and down to 30F. Maybe they have to be older, but I will never risk them again. They are too hard to find to experiment with!
And I’ve always wanted to try bird of paradise! I’m so glad your plants survived the cold in Houston. I hope you have a mild winter this year!
@@AlexCalamiaTV so far yes mild and very stormy!
I think if it was just this last cold snap it would be fine… but we still have cold January/beginning of February left. I would at the very least add some lights to the palms, unless you really want to be an experimenting pioneer.
I agree, I will cover the Trachys if (probably when!) we get our next cold snap in the teens. January is looking a little rough after the first few days of the month. I already can’t wait for winter to end!
@@AlexCalamiaTV I'm with you on this. I was really hopeful for a mild winter but so far a bit extreme