Nice picture Alex-

The 7th pic from the last always makes me think there is a big palm in the background....

Awesome post! Your pool looks like it must be a tropical paradise. That Oleander is my favorite. I believe it is called "Sugarland". Maybe "Hines Hardy Sugarland". I have those, many propogated from seed. They are so beautiful and I can tell you they are hardy to at least 17 degrees without protection (coldest mine have ever seen over about 13 years). You may see very minor damage below 20, but I do mean MINOR (hardly noticeable).

Here was 2012 in my yard in Sandbridge area of Va Bch, VA:

Jan 2012..........57F/39F...........2.43in
Feb 2012..........58F/39F..........3.05in
Mar 2012..........71F/51F..........4.92in
Apr 2012..........72F/52F..........2.03in
May 2012..........80F/64F..........5.99in
Jun 2012...........85F/67F..........2.07in
Jul 2012............93F/76F..........10.53in
Aug 2012..........87F/74F..........4.22in
Sep 2012..........82F/66F...........1.25in
Oct 2012...........72F/57F..........15.84in
Nov 2012..........58F/44F...........1.12in
Dec 2012...........59F/44F..........4.55in

Average temperature for 2012: 63.4F
Highest temperature in 2012: 103.4F on 7/8
Lowest temperature for 2012: 25.5F on 1/4
Days 86F or above in 2012: 86
Days 90F or above in 2012: 55
Days 100F or above in 2012: 4
Nights below 32F in 2012: 9

Annual Rain: 58.00 in.
Annual Snow: 00.11 in.

March and July were the warmest on record and November was also the coldest ever here (only 16 years of data for this area in Va Bch). October was the wettest.

Awesome tropical paradise you have created there. I also did a double take with the 7th from last photo. Looked like a 40 foot palm across the street!

Where did you guys get all that information?

- US_Marine

Thanks Jim! I like that pic too, it's a cool optical illusion!

Thanks LagoMar! You have some awesome temperature averages. Looks like November was a cold one for all of us. I did not have a lot of hope for winter after November passed, but December was pretty mild so it made up for it. Just 2 more months of winter before I dont have to worry about the bad cold again.
And thanks a lot for the info on that oleander variety! I've had it since spring of 2010 and I always wondered what variety it was. It seems pretty cold hardy but I've always made sure that it doesn't get too cold because I don't want to lose it! It has seen down to 5F with protection, but because of the protection, I doubt it has seen less than the upper teens. I might add some other protection to it, temperatures havent gone below 26F yet. Tonight is going down to 22F so I'll see if that has any effect. It's a great bloomer. Blooms from late May to August for me and the bloom season is getting longer and longer as it gets older!

Thanks wilki! It would be nice to get to see a real palm like that in the background every single day. I got the plumeria less than 4 years ago as a 1 foot tall plant so it grew a lot considering that it can mock a giant palm!

Thanks for looking everyone!
-Alex

Hey UsMarine, I got my temperature information from my weather station in my yard. I have a Davis Vantage Vue. It's expensive, but worth it if you love the weather or just want to know what temperatures your plants are seeing. Its 2 years old and it works as good as the day I bought it. It's definitely one of my best buys ever!
-Alex

This is where I got the info for my neighborhood.

Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Beach Weather

Oh lol. I was gonna say wunderground, weather.com and accuweather all don't have an option to look at the year like that. Although that would be a pretty neat option :p

How much was it? And nice pics btw. One day I hope to have a garden like yours :)

2012 was an odd year. Looking at the stats from both of your area's made me curious how mine did. I got this data from one website, not sure how accurate it is.

Heres mine, the stats are interesting.
NorCal:
Rain rounded up or down-
The second set of temps are for an average year:
Jan 2012..........56F/35F...........1in ...55f/41f
Feb 2012..........63F/40F.......... 1in ...61f/44f
Mar 2012..........62F/43F.......... 3in ...67f/47f
Apr 2012..........71F/47F.......... 1in ...73f/49f
May 2012..........82F/51F.......... 0in ...81f/54f
Jun 2012..........89F/55F.......... 0in ...88f/58f
Jul 2012..........91F/57F.......... 0in ...93f/61f
Aug 2012..........93F/60F.......... 0in ...92f/61f
Sep 2012..........90F/55F...........0in ...88f/58f
Oct 2012..........76F/51F.......... 1in ...78f/53f
Nov 2012..........65F/45F...........3in ...64f/46f
Dec 2012..........55F/42F.......... 5in ...55f/40f

Average temperature for 2012: 74F/45f-high/low
Highest temperature in 2012: 106F
Lowest temperature for 2012: 26 in Jan 2012
Days 86F or above in 2012: 113
Days 90F or above in 2012: 86
Days 100F or above in 2012: 11 Usually there are more.
Nights below 32F in 2012: 16
Last winter had the most frost days I've seen in one year. I think that is do to less cloud cover. Winter is our wettest season and we hardly had any rain. This winter I've only seen 2 frosts.

Annual Snow: 0 in.

- US_Marine

Thanks a lot UsMarine! I got my weather station for about $230. I've had a lot in the past in the 100 dollar range and none of them have ever worked and the ones that did work would never be accurate.
You have a nice climate! Your nights were a bit cooler than mine overall (my average night temperature this year was 49F), but your day temperatures definitely make up for it and so do your winters! Sounds like your off to a great start this winter. I stopped counting the number of frosts and freezes a while ago here! We have had nights in the 20s for the last 4 days alone which still isnt too bad for this time of the year around here.
-Alex

sometimes the zone maps just don't make sence to me..your a zone 7B and mine is a zone 6B yet the best I can remember I havent seen anything in single digits for about 5 years and last year the lowest was 12 I think..the lowest I have seen so far this year was 20 one night..it was projected at 18 tonight and its almost 32!..I guess its better to just know your weather the past few years and forget a zone map

You're welcome :) Its amazing how many different kinds of plants you have there. They are all very healthy and your yard look like a warmer zone.

I think I've seen the one you're talking about at home depot a few times. Almost bought it but decided I'd wait a while. I ended up buying a cheaper one some time later that records high and low temps over a few months period. Before I reset it still recorded the high for summer. It recorded 108f. Its kinda funny seeing 108f for the high and 31f for the low. lol thats some crazy temp swings! :p

Thanks! Not sure why my nights so cool though. I believe its because of humidity. The greater the distance between day/night the lower average humidity is. Thats why I think my summers have such a huge difference. Our low humidity allows air to cool down faster. And that would also explain why my winters have a shorter difference. We have a lot of humidity and cloud cover in winter so that keeps the air from cooling down as fast. I could be wrong about this though lol.

And I think your right about not only using the USDA maps. They are only good as a kinda guideline to guide you in the right direction Your own experience and observations are your best tool. Even the SunSet zones arn't quite right either.

- US_Marine

Miketropic I believe you said that you live on an island. The forecast for your zip code is probably for an inland location and that is why you have such a large difference. I experience similar here with some sites although not that extreme. The other possibility is that your temperature reading runs higher than the actual temperature. Being on an island I am sure your actual temp is higher than inland would be.

Tropicalzone7 do you protect your ginger in winter or is it completely hardy where you are?

Is that a big foxtail I see in the ground?

Looks like you have a nice sabal minor in the ground too. Great looking yard, nice pics.

Not on an island but near the Ohio river so temps are a bit differant than most place close by.

I have a sabal minor but I would like to know what kind of lows that foxtail can take..I've been thinking about growing one as a house plant but if I could have one in the back yard that would be even better. I don't mind protecting them if there going to be alive when I open it up.

Thanks UsMarine! I think the humidity has a lot to do with warming up our nights during the summer. The ocean temperature around here is in the mid 70s during the height of summer so there isnt much of a chance for temperatures to cool down much and the windows are fogged up pretty much every morning here during the summer because of the humidity and humid air cools down slower than dry air. Kind of interesting to see how different climates are around the country, the western part of the US definitely has some of the nicest weather in the country!

Largo Mar, I bring in most of my gingers (the Costus specious, the Alphina, and the butterfly ginger). I do keep my Hedychium "tai monarch" outside and it survives the winter without any problems and my butterfly ginger can definitely survive the winter too, I just dont want to risk it because they are getting so big now. I'd say that most Hedychiums are about as hardy as cannas and cannas dont have any problems coming back here (or at least so far!).

Thanks islandbreeze! I've had the sabal minor in the ground since 2009. It even made some seeds in 2011, its a great palm! The foxtail looks like it's in the ground, but it's actually potted. I got it for 30 dollars at a local nursery last summer, it was definitely my best plant purchase of the year! Not sure where I'm putting it next summer but I might just keep it in the same spot.

Miketropic, foxtails are definitely not hardy. There were some 20 footers at a local nursery here and they left them outside to die. I still have geraniums blooming in my yard, but the foxtail palms at that nursery have been dead for well over a month! They can handle a light frost or 2 with some damage, but they will die if they go below 30F for any length of time. They arent worth trying to protect in our zone, but they do make decent potted palms!

Thanks for looking!
-Alex