Post some winter time pics.

[DesertZone]

Post what ever you got, lets try and keep winter fun.

First a quick landscape sketch, road-side palm placement for AZ (maybe)


j-tree Dec 2009


y. rostrata Dec 2009


dwarf j-tree and y. elata Dec 2009

[Barrie]

Maybe not overly "wintery" by most standards, but a large palm crown (female Windmill) taken just the other day.
Many of the seeds fall and self sow in the garden beds below, only to be pulled out by parksboard employees as weeds.
I could've grabbed some, but I have tons already.

Cheers, Barrie.

P.S. those are great pics Aaron. Makes me hopeful for my small seedling Joshua tree.

[DesertZone]

I could get used to winter pics like that Barrie.

[Cowtown Palm Society]

Nice pics guys!

What have your minimums been so far this fall/winter? Aaron, no protection yet for the brevifolias (if you ever do)?

I just love those J-Trees all frosted up!

Thanks!

Duncan

[DesertZone]

What have your minimums been so far this fall/winter? Aaron, no protection yet for the brevifolias (if you ever do)?

I just love those J-Trees all frosted up!

Thanks!

Duncan

So far our low has been -5.8 or 6.2? the official was -7f/-21.6c

And yes no protection for the large ones, but small ones will do much better if protected from cold and wet. I have grown small ones without protecftion, but if I would have had given a little protection I would have alot more j-trees. Also if it is going to get well below -0 sometimes I will put a towel over the crowns untill the real cold temps are gone.

Both of the large ones have seen -14f/-25.5c without protection and they were much smaller then .

[Cowtown Palm Society]

That's amazing! You're definitely re-writing the book on the cold J-Trees are capable of withstanding! Nice work!

I think your summer heat goes a long way to helping the plants in the worst of the winter.

Duncan

[DesertZone]

That's amazing! You're definitely re-writing the book on the cold J-Trees are capable of withstanding! Nice work!

I think your summer heat goes a long way to helping the plants in the worst of the winter.

Duncan

Thanks I think you are right about them and the summer heat.

[Okanagan desert-palms]

Great pics Aaron. My Joshua trees 3 gal now 4 years old.They should be old enough now to go in the ground without me worrying if their going to make it. Judging by how well they have done for you I should be OK. Thanks for posting those.

John

[jimmythesnake]

We are getting our wish for a white Christmas here in Oklahoma. My palms just love it!


They say we still have a few more hours of snow coming.


Merry Christmas everyone!
Jim

[TerdalFarm]

Tulsa had its first-ever NWS blizzard yesterday.
I made a picasa slide show of snap shots from last night and this morning.
http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/ ... directlink
I'll try to post selected photos of palms (some of the photos in the slide show have horses).

[DesertZone]

All this snow from down south reminds me of here.

[DesertZone]

Great pics Aaron. My Joshua trees 3 gal now 4 years old.They should be old enough now to go in the ground without me worrying if their going to make it. Judging by how well they have done for you I should be OK. Thanks for posting those.

John

Thanks.

I think j-trees are going to do awesome in your climate, should be fun to watch them grow.

[lucky1]

Nice array of pictures everybody!

You're definitely re-writing the book on the cold J-Trees are capable of withstanding! Nice work!

I agree with Duncan's comment, Aaron. Your stunning photo(s) of the J-tree surviving -25C gives us considerable hope.
I'm going to plant mine out this summer, too. Low so far -20.6C -5F, so I'm excited it might work here.

Barrie, yet another great Trachy.

Jimmy and Erik, it was nice looking through all those shots.
Erik, p-u-h-l-e-a-s-e I'd sleep better at night if you tied up that trachy's fronds (gently) and completely wrap the whole thing in a length of old carpet, with a plastic garbage bag tied over top to keep it dry. It'll keep the fronds from shredding. Trachies hate hate hate wind.
Great seeing the horses frolicking.

Aaron's first pic with a CIDP reminds me to post my CIDP pic.


Barb

[lucky1]

And a few more pics from the cold (barely heated) building where the CIDP spends winter.

The musa basjoo is peed off:


Three Washies (I chickened out again and dug up/repotted) are doing great, still growing:




Y.rostrata "sapphire skies" are healthy:


The smallest y.rostrata of this trio is two-headed, growing slower than the rest:


Barb

[TerdalFarm]

Barb,
I ran out and tended to my Trachy as soon as I read your post. I tied up the lower fronds (the ones that still manage to look good) with non-adhesive gardeners tape, then wrapped them in burlap, then inserted new stakes so the 20-gallon bucket can sit low and protect that bundle. The five longest fronds are still out in the wind and on their own. I doubt they'll make it, anyways. My photos above show just how sad they are.

I'll take another photo to show you. Hopefully it will help you sleep at night, but if not, I'll make whatever fixes you (and others here) suggest. I want to be able to sleep nights when I am down south

As for your Washies and Yucca, you are doing exactly what my wife wants me to do each October: bring 'em in. He Washy is happily in the dining room, and her beloved Yucca is next to it.
--Erik

[DesertZone]

Aaron's first pic with a CIDP reminds me to post my CIDP pic.


Barb

Love your CIDP! I got five on the way and I am stoked!

Very nice and hairy filiferas.

[TerdalFarm]

Novice question: what is "CIDP"?

[lucky1]

Erik,

Sorry...CIDP is Canary Island Date Palm.

Also sorry to keep hounding you on the wind thingy, but it can make the difference between a Trachy that survives the cold in winter and one that doesn't.
After all, if leaves are all shredded and torn, it'll take longer to recover from its winter beating. If it does.
They can handle cold. But not cold and high winds.
Just think of wind CHILL (on your skin).
Treat the trachy the same.
The burlap is good, but large cardboard (in dry areas), or an old carpet would be even better. You're right that the protection needs to be supported with stakes or else the whole thing could fall over.

Glad you put plywood over your butia enclosure; snow weight would've caved in the plastic.

Aaron, that CIDP I'm guessing is about 20+ years old and lives in a garbage can
It's outside all summer, hot hot sun, drying winds from dawn to dusk.
Loves it (other palms would croak in that spot).
Canary island date palms are perfect in exposed locations, but I'd never try it outside in winter here.

Barb

[Barrie]

They can handle cold. But not cold and high winds.
Just think of wind CHILL (on your skin).
Treat the trachy the same.
Barb

Plants react differently to "wind chill" than people.
First off ... wind does not change air temperature. Wind chill factor is a formula which calculates the effect of wind and it's comfort level on us, warm blooded homosapiens.

Wind chill ... a term used to describe the rate of heat loss on the body resulting from the combined effect of low temperature and wind. As winds increase, heat is carried away from the body at a faster rate, driving down both the skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature.

The temperature remains the same no matter how fast the wind speed, only our comfort level as humans is effected by wind chill. Plants have no warm blooded features so they can't "feel" the effects of wind chill like hunans, and are more adversely effected when winds are arid (low humidity). Low humidity and highwinds are drying and exhaust plants of leaf moisture, decimating plants that would otherwise survive calm conditions. These are conditions more common in continental or interior climates, whereas marine climates rarely have drying winds.

Cheers, Barrie.

[DesertZone]

Aaron, that CIDP I'm guessing is about 20+ years old and lives in a garbage can
It's outside all summer, hot hot sun, drying winds from dawn to dusk.
Loves it (other palms would croak in that spot).
Canary island date palms are perfect in exposed locations, but I'd never try it outside in winter here.

Barb

Yea....I don't think most people would have much luck with a CIDP in the north west. I had one almost the size of the one you have and would leave it outside untill after Nov. 15, but by then most years it would defoliate completely. even in zone 8 they burn most years.

PS is your CIDP nicked named Oscar?

[DesertZone]

Plants react differently to "wind chill" than people.
First off ... wind does not change air temperature. Wind chill factor is a formula which calculates the effect of wind and it's comfort level on us, warm blooded homosapiens.

Wind chill ... a term used to describe the rate of heat loss on the body resulting from the combined effect of low temperature and wind. As winds increase, heat is carried away from the body at a faster rate, driving down both the skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature.

The temperature remains the same no matter how fast the wind speed, only our comfort level as humans is effected by wind chill. Plants have no warm blooded features so they can't "feel" the effects of wind chill like hunans, and are more adversely effected when winds are arid (low humidity). Low humidity and highwinds are drying and exhaust plants of leaf moisture, decimating plants that would otherwise survive calm conditions. These are conditions more common in continental or interior climates, whereas marine climates rarely have drying winds.

Cheers, Barrie.

I agree, but plant tissue is damaged more easily in cold weather and the wind sure beats things up. Other than that I agree 100 percent.

[TerdalFarm]

Barb, Barrie, Aaron,
thanks for the input.
As the photos above show, the larger fronds are very tattered. I could not get them wrapped up easily so they will stay out in the wind. If they survive, great. If not, the lower ones (now wrapped up--thanks, Barb!) will hopefully be enough to get new growth going in the spring.
I admit I do like looking out and seeing palm leaves moving in the breeze, even when there is snow on the ground. My other palms are either indoors or covered up and so invisible when I look out the windows.
I guess I also have to admit to having lost Trachys in the past. This one cost $125 and my wife will be mighty annoyed if I treat it like an annual.
Barrie, the winds here can be either maritime and humid or continental and dry. The humid air comes from the south, off the Gulf of Mexico. Those winds feel and smell wonderful even after blowing 1,000 km over Texas to arrive. The cold, dry air blows down from Alberta. That is the air that has been blasting the Trachy the past week. If the plant vascular tissue is still working, the ground under the snow is moist and above freezing. I hope that helps.
Speaking of snow, the drifting effect from Thursdays blizzard (Tulsa's first ever) left me with well over a foot in my tropical garden even as the pasture has just six inches. Hardyjim assures us that is a good thing as it keeps the cold, dry air away from the ground. Hope he is right. Snow is rare here so I don't know from personal experience.

[lucky1]

Now you can have a good trip...
Barb