Wxman and Jim- I'm curious to hear how this latest cold snap affected you guys. Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, and today (Sun) we are/were in the low to mid 30s highs with a few nights in the low to mid 20s. One of the nights I even had a low reading of 19f! Upper 30s/low 40s tomorrow, upper 40s and 50s onto the coming week, then back to normal and better with no more cold blasts in sight. Even 60s on the horizon.

Precip: We had heavy rain early in the week and when it turned colder Tuesday night into Wednesday morning we got an inch and a half of wet snow here! Just to the north of the twin cities area they got several inches and up to a foot in north central Minnesota! I heard Wisconsin got dumped on also (Wxman?), Green Bay got 17 inches according to the news. The river flooding is bad now and will get much worse as it melts up north. Many bridges already underwater here...

I'm glad I decided to wait to uncover my palms. Though 20'ish lows are no killer I hate to stress them coming out of winter hibernation. I think I'll uncover everything tomorrow or Tuesday as I won't have the time today. Pictures to follow soon...

I'm curious, too.
I'm on the southern edge of this. Low this morning was 36 F. Not a problem for palms in the ground, but I tossed mulch over emerging Canna and Musa, and hauled several potted palms back inside.

Wed 3/23 - 32/26 with 2 inches of snow and 1/2 inch of freezing rain
Thur 3/24 - 28/16 with snow showers - 1"
Fri 3/25 - 29/14 with snow showers - 1"
Sat 3/26 - 28/14 with snow showers - 1"
Today 3/27 - 29/15 and sunny

The snow showers were lake effect from Lake Michigan. Ground is frozen again. Glad I covered everything back up. 40s and 50s later this week!!

Let me remind you normals are pushing 50 here now. This cold is unprecedented.

Tim your too cold! It's been cold here but lows only in the mid 20's.

Our temps have dipped and we actually got some wet snow, if you could call it that. But the two disrobed Trachys did not even blink.

I have some new arrivals and thought it prudent to move them inside.

Low 20s one night was the worst of it but my Trachys had already
started growing from all the 60-70s temps we had earlier.

Most of the spears moved anywhere from a 1/2 to 1" as even the
soil temps were approaching 60F before the cold shut it down.

The good thing about the spears moving is that they bust out of
any chance of rot or spear-pull !

The only plants I covered are the Washys and T.ferns but that was to be expected.

Having 2 1/2 weeks of weather that was warm enough to uncover them was a nice bonus!

The T.ferns already are growing,the new fronds/croziers have already shoot up over
a half a foot and the Washy spears have grown over an inch since being uncovered/untied.

High temps have recovered to at least to 40F everyday-mid to upper 40s today/ one more
ugly day tomorrow.
Luckily it looks like we dodged all the snow/rain and starting tomorrow 50s-60s and 70s
will be back as I look out at the 15 day forecast-
Once we get out to about the 10th of April if the 15 day looks good
I will be thinking about getting the Banana,Abyssinian,Brugmansia etc in-thats when the fun really starts!

During the latest cold stretch we didn't get a day that did not at least get up to or above the freezing point here. Last couple nights remained above freezing in the mid to upper 30s and highs are back to at least normal (50'ish). No more nights dipping below freezing are forecast. The snow is gone except for a few dirty piles in parking lots and a few areas that are shaded or north-facing. My property is totally free of snow, over 3 weeks later than last year! They say it was the 5th snowiest winter on record here with 85 inches officially at the airport!

I couldn't find the time to uncover my palms last Sunday like I wanted to and have struggled all week with not getting home from work early enough to get it done. Today (if I get the time) or tomorrow for sure is the day to finally uncover everything. I'll start a new thread with pictures when I get it done.

Wxman and Jim- You guys get everything uncovered or re-uncovered?

My T.ferns and Washys are the only plants I covered.

They are basically uncovered now-I shouldn't need to cover the Washys
anymore now but the T.ferns(Squarossa-Cooperi)are a little more tender.

All the T.ferns are growing so I don't want to risk shocking the tender new growth
esp on the Cooperi-both are putting out some seriously nice croziers right now.
They are really stunning in regard to there growth speed!

Someone in Cali told me with the summer warmth here they could grow 1' +
of trunk a season! They may just do that this year too!

My Princeps looked beautiful with a little snow on the leaves the other day,
temps went up close to 50F that day which made quick work of the snow!

Next goal is to get the Bananas etc in(as mentioned),the only thing is, that
some of the computer models are forecasting a very large Arctic high
coming down somewhere in/after the second week of April time frame so,I
want to wait a little longer.....

BTW

The Rajapuri banana I planted a few weeks ago has grown(I think) like
10",it is in one of the enclosures(modified-made taller)I used for the Washys,
some days it gets in the 90s in there 😀

Keep the faith, spring will eventually arrive.

John

Jim,
I've seen those same models but they don't call for us down here to get below freezing so it's all out today.
No snow here this week but darn near. Emerging Musa spears (etc.) are frost-bitten; Bizzie in a pot too big to bring inside looking a bit purplish. Anyway, I'm ready to declare Spring "here" even if this is before our usual last frost date. --Erik

All of the cold air was seen to be headed east in this model
run,just grazing my area and not going far to the south.

That is what I am counting on; most of the models leave me free. Hence, all plants out of the house today!

I can not wait to get my plants outside, more snow today! I can't remember such cold and snow since i was a kid! The palms want out and so do the fungus gnats all over my windows

Paul :angel10: :angel10: :angel10: :angel10: :angel10:

I uncovered everything Wednesday night when I got home from work. Today I will be mixing manure into my beds and creating a few new beds. That should get them VERY rich for the other tropicals I will be planting in a few weeks...

Come on guys, I need suggestions for fast growing leafy tropicals to supplement my palms and bananas!! 🙂

Color is good too! 🙂

Manure is good--I use tons!
For tropical foliage, do you already have Canna, Colocassia, Caladium?
I'm going to try Papaya this year.
I use sweet potatoes for foliage ground cover.
Hibiscus coccinea is fun. Until it flowers, it looks like Cannabis; the flowers when they come are terrific.
I start a lot of foliage plants from seed, like Celosia and basil. Heck, even potatoes from the grocery store are fine and cheap tropical foliage plants. Have fun!