Welcome! Participants are urged to post any information pertinent to plants, weather, or topics related to either. Off-topic posts, inflammatory posts and advertisements are subject to removal at the discretion of the moderators. Please limit image size to no larger than about 950x700 pixels so that everyone can easily view it. To post an image, it must first be uploaded to a remote server somewhere on the internet such as photobucket.com.
Posted by Jim Wilmington DE 7a on 4/6/2023, 12:51 pm
Hard to believe that this board went all of March without a new thread started. This board used to be THE place to go for all the best advice and education on palms, subtropicals, BLEs, and other interesting plants. Today, it's like a ghost town. Who knew that the online palm tree community would have a rust belt!
Anyway, things are warming up here in Delaware. Spring has sprung.
This was our third "mild" winter in a row. We had one night of single digit cold (8F), a 13F night and a 16F night. We got off lucky with durational cold. I don't think we went more than 48 consecutive hours below freezing. For us, that's very good. January & February were particularly mild. However, March was "typical March." Cold & windy.
My plants... Sabal Birmingham: Had to remove one burnt frond. Rest of the tree looks great. Sabal Palmetto: With scissors, trimmed dead tips off 1 or 2 fronds. Rest of the tree looks great. Sabal Minor (2): Some insignificant pinhole damage. Cut nothing off either plant. They look aces. Needle Palm (north facing): Some cosmetic damage, mostly to older fronds. Did zero trimming. Looks fine. Needle Palm (south facing): Some minor bronzing, which happens to this palm every year. By June, it'll look awesome. Live Oak: No damage. Portugal Laurel: No damage. Yucca Gloriosa: No damage. Yucca Rostrata: No damage. Ficus Carica 'Brunswick': Since this plant hasn't broken dormancy yet, it's hard to give a final report. But from what I can tell, most or all of the tips were burned back a good 3 - 5 inches. My fig is very specific about 5F. 5F and down, there will be dieback. 6F and up, no problem. So, with our winter minima of 8F, I can't really explain why the fig got toasted this year.
Rare is the winter when my fig is the only plant of mine to suffer significant cold damage. Usually, if the fig is lit up, so are half my other plants. Not so this year.
Hey! I will try to post pictures this weekend.
I hope everyone is well. Jim, Wilmington, DE, 7a Last 30 Years Avg. Winter Low: 7.50F Last 20 Years Avg. Winter Low: 8.35F Last 10 Years Avg. Winter Low: 8.40F Favorite Palms: Species: Phoenix Canariensis / Genus: Sabal
Re: Preliminary Spring Report on My Marginals - 2023
Here in Charlotte, I have gotten a little “adventuresome” over the years, and Mother Nature reminded me of that this past Winter. After 2 consecutive Winters with a Low of 20 degrees F., back around Christmastime we had 4 consecutive super-cold nights, with overnight Lows of 9, 12, 13 and 14 degrees.
Most of my palms were planted in 1999 from small mail-order plants.
Thus, my Med Palms and Pindos largely got fried. I don’t have the energy to cover them like I used to. I did treat them with Copper Fungicide in March. Just this week, the emerging spears are beginning to exhibit green, so I have reason for optimism. My Sagos got fried, and I am hopeful they’ll put out new flushes around June. My Needles, Dwarf Palmettos, and Windmill Palms all fared well (though many of my Trachys had a brown emerging spear). S. Birmingham, S. Brazoria, S. Louisiana and S. Tamaulipas were all untouched.
My tangerine tree “Changsha” completely defoliated, but has been leafing out nicely over the past 10 days. My fig tree leafed out in mid-March, got zapped by a freeze, and is now leafing out again. A friend gave me a juvenile Jubea-Butia cross a few years ago; it has not yet shown any life but I have not given up on it.
I have a Camellia Sasanqua that completely defoliated; I am unsure if it will rebound.
All in all, I accept that I live at the confluence of 8a/7b.
Re: Preliminary Spring Report on My Marginals - 2023
In terms of winter minima, you & I were only separated by 1 degree this winter. But I'm sure your winter was milder as measured in other ways.
Still, I'm on a nice little run here in Delaware of three quite mild winters in a row. Not just in terms of temperatures, but also in terms of snow. Over the last three winters, I don't think we've had a total of 10 inches all combined, and we normally average 20" per year.
Of the last three, though, I think this past one was the worst. The very cold snap we had at Christmas surely wasn't welcome by my marginals, but most came out with only the slightest damage. If you weren't a plant nut, you'd have to have the damage pointed out to you.
I got the pictures today, but my old photo host went under! When I figure that out, I'll post them.Jim, Wilmington, DE, 7a Last 30 Years Avg. Winter Low: 7.50F Last 20 Years Avg. Winter Low: 8.35F Last 10 Years Avg. Winter Low: 8.40F Favorite Palms: Species: Phoenix Canariensis / Genus: Sabal
Re: Preliminary Spring Report on My Marginals - 2023
Here are a couple of pics from today; one of a Med Palm trio and one of a Pindo Palm. Both are just now starting to exhibit a recovery from last December’s frigid temps.
So, speaking strictly for me, my desire to be a “Zone Buster” and expand my palm holdings beyond the “safe varieties” really is marginal. These guys are coming back, but the price one pays means having palms that look poorly for 5 months or more (in some years). Probably not worth it, just to periodically get the feel of the South Carolina coast.
Re: Preliminary Spring Report on My Marginals - 2023
I had 3 or 4 "Polar Vortex Winters" since I got big into marginals in 2007. All my stuff would come limping into spring khaki tan and fried.
Up here, even a Trachy takes 2 growing seasons to replace catastrophic loss (when all the fronds are killed). So, two consecutive 0F winters just really set palms back. I believe it's just that sort of thing that caused my S. Palmetto (16 years in the ground from bareroot strapleaf plant) to turn into a Minorized Palmetto. ...Meaning, no trunk. I think it had a very near-death experience and when it came back, it just wasn't ever "right" again. It got stunted. On the good side, it's still green and sends out pretty fronds.Jim, Wilmington, DE, 7a Last 30 Years Avg. Winter Low: 7.50F Last 20 Years Avg. Winter Low: 8.35F Last 10 Years Avg. Winter Low: 8.40F Favorite Palms: Species: Phoenix Canariensis / Genus: Sabal
on 4/6/2023, 12:51 pm
