Thank you for the time you put into your essay, Paul. I'm a biologist, not a climatologist. I think I can add another analogy to your last paragraph: ...

I bought a small specimen as an annual and left in the ground, hoping for a miracle. Doesn't look like I'll get it: the leaves look pretty dead. I gue...

Yes! I too dream of big palms. Here is a big dream: to own and run a wineyard.A palm wine wineyard! :D

That's for the link. It takes a strong El Nino to make a noticeable difference here, like the 1997-1998 one. That was my first winter in Oklahoma and ...

My dogs keep the rabbits away, so if they become a nuisance, get a dog. I use chicken and horse manure as fertilizer as I have so much of it, except i...

Bill,Since we're dreaming, I'll say, "yeah!"(Actually, hurricanes Keith (2000) & Iris (2001) smacked Belize hard. But this is a good dream, right?...

...is to move 20o latitude to the south. Here is a photo of me making notes on (I think) a Sabal spp. in Belize. No "winter protection" just hurricane...

That is what I'm missing: how to protect when the power goes out. Which it often does out here. We even lost power (albeit briefly) Tuesday night, jus...

It wasn't nearly so cold here, but for the area it was chilly. We've been well below freezing for >30 hours. Last night was about 9 oF (-12 oC)--co...

Barb,thanks for the reply!About the Musa (and Musella, Colocassa, Canna), the secret here is that the ground does not freeze. The air gets very cold h...

I'm happy to hear that. As a novice, that is something I worry about. I used heat tape and jugs of hot tap water (electric water heater) last night an...

Thanks for the update--I've been worried about you. Did you lose power? I was out but only briefly. I hear on the radio (NPR) some parts of Iowa have ...

I only had three. I stuck one in the large Butia shelter. I put a 5-gallon jug of hot tap water in there and snugged the heat tape under the burlap li...

My wife will have my trying to build those next year if she sees your photos, but my skills and budget aren't quite there. The reason she is so mad is...

I'm about to place some low-tech. alcohol thermometers outside, the kind you have to go out with a flashlight and look at in the night.