I'm so ready for spring, my trachys, butia capitata, needles, sabals, and muss basjoo need some warm air from mother nature herself. T minus seven days for spring!

I hear you hardypalm. I am waiting just another week or two before doing more uncovering. Then I'll check the 10 outlook and forecast.

Its was suppose to be sunny and nice this weekend but the clouds never rolled away and subsequently the temps did not jump higher into the 50s.

But I am glad all the threats of cold weather are gone.

Awesome pics! Whats the scientific name for that Giant palm? I love the birds and that coconut palm looks pretty good despite the trimming and I'm sure that it will have some ripe coconuts by the fall. Thanks for sharing!
-Alex

I like the palm in the first pic. The boots remind me of a sabal but the trunk is huge.

Hey Greg....

I love all of the pics!!! Those taken down at the Edison estate are so beautiful...I viisted the Estate about 10 years ago..they have definately changed since then!! WOW!!! Especially the Royals lining the house...quite impressive.

The pics of the last snow storm makes me shiver!!! I certainly don't care to see anymore snow!! We have had enough!!! Penny looke like she would rather have grass under those cute littlee paws!!! : )

The pic of that huge sabal...with you standing beside it...OMG...that is the largest one that i have ever seen...

How are all of you trees? How is "my lemon tree" LOL...you know that i still cant get over the size of those
lemons...yes..im jealous!!! LOL...

Hope all is well with you and your family...hope to sometime meet up with you this summer when im in LGA..

Greg..i didn't see until a few weeks ago about the question on the post that i had on Photobucket..about Cape Hatteras..sorry for the late response..i did answer your question...i work for the airlines...i travel quite often!! : ) Up Up and Away!!! : )

Take care Greg...

Laura In VB

Hi Alex and Staten Island,
The large palm was a certian species from India. Yup the boots were also huge. Edison imported lots of large species of palm. That butia was also gigantic. I should have noted their names- Sorry Alex. Next year I will write it down, if I head to that area. There was so much to take in that day. The meyer lemons were blooming all over the estate and it smelled heavenly with so many honey bees.

Hi Laura,
Yup, your lemon trees are blooming and have lemons..lol. Hoping to get together as well at the botanical garden this summer and hope Alex feels free to join us. I never met another palm enthusiast in person. It will be good fun:) And if you guys are up to it, I live close to the garden and I could show you my small city "tropical" back yard if there's time. Plus you get to meet Penny in person. That's worth the trip alone! I am glad to be done with the snow as well and Penny is also:)Yes, she's a gentle spirit. What month would you like to get together - I was thinking May - June. June is usually nice in the city. Let me know. Alex, is June good for you as well?

Alex, are you out there?

Hi Greg! Sorry I didn't see your follow-up until now. Im definitely going to try and figure out the name of that gigantic palm in your pic because that trunk is so wide!

June might be a little busy for me but July should be better (June isnt bad though according to the day). Penny seems like a very nice and friendly dog and your yard looks very nice from all the pictures you've shown!

Im definitely done with the snow too. The weather looks beautiful the next 2 days but by the end of next week, it looks like temperatures will be about 10 degrees below average (which means mid 40s!). But I just want to get that over with because I know that planting weather is just around the corner. Speaking of planting weather I took a few of my plants outside yesterday to clean them up a little and get them ready for spring (and to figure out where they should go). Im hoping that the weather will be nice for planting by the second week in April (Last year most of plants were outside from the last week of March or the first week of April).
-Alex

Hi Alex,

Good to hear back from you. We'll see what days Laura can meet:) I have placed some of my plants outside as well. I left the potted pindo, date palm, and needle out on a 30-32 degree night figuring they are suppose to take some cold. My tracky and pindo planted in the ground both survived the winter well and that's some feat when you look at how deeply burried in snow the enclosures were..lol.

Friday I may open my enclosures. I'll some more pictures soon.

Ive had my enclosures opened for the entire month of March (with the exception of one night). Even though we had a lot of rain and some cooler weather on some days, they didnt seem to mind it! I have my majesty palm, Birds of Paradise, all my banana plants except for Dwarf cavendish and Thai Black, my queen palm, my ginger, my peace lilies, my nun orchid, my ti plant, one of my hibiscus, my potted windmill palm seedlings, and one or 2 other plants all outside today. They will stay outside tonight and then most of them will be back in tomorrow night right before the cold weather comes.
Im not looking forward to next week. It might be the first week of spring and one of the last weeks in March, but ironically, its probably going to be the coldest week of the month with the coldest days also :( I might also post some pics of what I have outside.
My pansies (which have been outside all winter long in small plastic pots) opened up its first flower today! That flower bud hanged on all winter long! Im very impressed!
-Alex

Ready for the snow?

Im not, but my plants are. Everything is protected from moisture (I cant believe I have to protect my palms this late into the year). I even protected my clematis vine because I saw flower buds and leaves coming up from it! And my pansies are all budding and making flowers now (they really impressed me with their cold tolerance this winter) and I protected those too just in case. I just cant wait until the next 2 weeks are over because it seems like the weather is going to stay cold until at least the beginning of April. Tomorrow might get to 40F IF we are lucky! Its going to likely end up being 15F or more below average!
March is a crazy month, but what ever happened to in like a lion and out like a lamb???
-Alex

Alex I wasnt ready for the snow at all I woke up this morning to find everything covered in snow including my norfolk island pine. I dragged the nip inside in the morning. I covered the plants when i got home unfortunatly they have all been soaked. I hope they dont start to rot.

The snow was a late March surprise in the city as well. It usually does not stick that well this late. As long as you do not let the water freeze in the bud, they should be fine in these temps. Keeping them dry is half the battle.

Hello Everyone,

We had flurries here in Virginia Beach this afternoon..crazy weather....im ready for spring...

I have brought all of my Plumies in and out three times...This time they are staying in until it really warms up....

My back cant take four times...LOL!!!

Take care everyone,

Laura in VB

I hear you Laura, even up here I placed some cold hardy potted palms and other plants outside. But once it began dropping into the 20s for 5 nights in a row, I had to move them back into the greenhouse again!!! I have done this about three times as well. Gosh -this has been a hard March compared to the last 2 years.

Hey Greg,
I don't know how,but I missed this post till now.That's a fat trunk on the palm your standing by.That's a big B.Yatay also.I told you they are the biggest of the Butia palms.You don't really get how big they get until you see one in person.They can get up to 60ft tall also,in 100 +yrs.They are amazing to see in person,aint they.Now there crossing Butia palms.I'm getting a B.eriospatha x capitata,they also have the opposite cross.I haven't seen a cross though with a B.Yatay.I don't know why there crossing them,because they all have about the same cold hardiness.Looks like you had a great time on vacation.Sorry about the late response.
Randy

Hi Randy,

Are you ready for Spring? Bet your temps have been warming up better than ours. How are the dogs and how did your pindo palm hold up this winter?

That fat palm trunk was so wild to see live.

Greg,
I'm definitely ready for spring.Last week we had temps.in the high 70's to low 80's.This week or temps have been below normal.Today's high was 54,Sunday's low was 34.We have some crazy weather in March,were never safe from a freeze till Easter.As far as my dogs,Rocky(my biggest dog) got loose and hit and killed by a train.It really hurt me bad,he was my big buddy.I loved that dog,everybody was scared of him because of his size,but he was just a big puppy at heart.No dog will ever take his place in my eyes.Both of my big pindos survived this winter surprisingly well.I say that because it snowed more times than I ever remember for here.One has no damage what so ever,the other one lost all its fronds but two.It's already pushing up a new frond,so that's a good sign.I just hope we don't have a freeze now.Good to hear from you again,Greg.I hope all your palms made it through well.
Randy

Hi Randy,

That is really sad and I am sorry to hear about Rocky. When did it happen? I am sure Rocky will be well missed and added a lot to your life. He kept you and your family safe and caught the AC copper theives. I always had big dogs as well and know their companionship is priceless, especially one that looks up to you. I had a big dog named Duke (border collie mix)who was like Rocky and it killed me to see him go. He was getting so old and I would nurse him by helping him walk. He got so old he would bark at a paper bag thinking it was cat:) We had many good years like that. It was so hard to put him down that the vet sent me such a touching card that I kept it. You may think this is totally crazy but I asked God if I can have him in Heaven; Biblically at one point we ride with Jesus on horses, so I asked if Duke can be my horse. God said ask and you will recieve, so I am asking in faith in the resurrection. We have hope in Him.

We had tons of snow here too, it was plain record-breaking bringing us to the 3rd or 4th snowiest winter. Its been getting milder slowly and we missed many of those nice days you had. My palms did well. Hope to see pics of your palms and Rocky soon. Take care.

greg,
Thanks for your condolences.Rocky was only 2yrs old.I've lived here for 42yrs and I've never known of a dog getting hit by a train.Yea you can get really attached to dogs.I haven't taken any pictures of my palms this year.I'll take some pictures Saturday,because there saying it's going to rain tomorrow.The Pindo I bought from HD suffered cold damage pretty bad,but the one I bought from Nearly Native Nursery(in Fayetteville,GA.)had no cold damage what so ever.He grows his in a field on his property.The cold hardy palms that they sell at my local HD come out of south Florida,according to the vendor.This just proves my theory that a palm,even a cold hardy one grown in a climate that doesn't have really cold temps is not as cold hardy as one grown in a temperate climate.I planted about 20 seeds in my back yard in rows to see if it makes them the most cold hardy they can be.Pindos are rated to zone 7b at the coldest.They will be grown from seeds to maybe a 7 gallon size in there most northern range.I want to see if this helps them be more use to colder climates.
Randy

Im very sorry to hear about your dog Randy. They are such great animals and friends. I really love dogs big and small because they are much more than just pets, they really do become a part of the family.
Spring is slowly coming and I cant wait to bring the plants outside! Im hoping that the snow doesnt make it this close to the coast tomorrow morning, but we will see. Even if it does snow, I doubt it will stick too much, but you never know (it is April fools day after all)
Good luck!
-Alex

Hey Randy,

I am so sorry to here about Rocky...what a wonderful dog you had...he will always be with you my friend...he is your protector...he will be there for you when you least expect it...dogs are great..and they do love their masters...Please show us another picuter of "Rocky"

I and others would love to see this beautiful proud dog..who loved you like no other....

Please post this beauty for us all to adore...rest in peace "Rocky" you and Rocky deserve this...lets see this proud dog that gave you such happiness...

From all your friends...we feel for your loss and your families loss...

Laura in VB

Thats a good point about cold hardiness of Pindo Palms. Some people have said it here before, like Alex. I know if you plant the seeds, each plant has a slight difference as to cold hardiness. The stronger ones survive further north and the ones with sensitive cold genes die out. However, experiencing cold weather appears to be a factor too since its looks like that to other cold palm growers. I heard the same about needle palms.

Thanks everyone for your words about Rocky,yea he will be dearly missed.Sorry to just now getting back to y'all.I had a very special guest come to my house today,and I've been trying to catch up on my yard work.It's hard to do after working so many hours at my job.I had today off so that helped.Here is a few pictures of rocky.
Rocky as a puppy,4 months old.Two Pics.

It was a hot summer.

More pics.sorry about the quality.


I like this picture because he looks like he's smiling.He loved to play with apples.Once he had that apple you couldn't dare get it from him.He was such a happy dog,he loved to play tug a war with a old moped tire the best.
{{gwi:1126259}}
It's hard to believe such a little puppy would grow up to be a 120lb big dog.
Greg I believe animals go to Heaven also.I know I will see Rocky again.
Sincerely,Randy

Im very sorry to hear about your dog I had a cat that lived almost 20 years.

I completely agree with your theory that cold hardy palms grown in warm climates like florida are less hardy. Last year i lost a needle palm from florida when the low temp was 14 degrees. This winter the replacement needle palm was 85% damaged after being protected with christmas lights and the low temp it experienced was about 20 degrees.

Hello Everyone...

Hello Greg...thanks for letting us say a few things about Randy's Dog....just wanted to give a little "love"....

Randy....What a beauty!!! Rocky really "Rocks" ....I know that you will niss him greatly...you and your family too!

Rest well knowing he is in a better place..and you will see again one day...

Thank you for posting a pic of your "ROCKY" may he rest in peace!!!

Take care Randy...every day will be better!!!

Hope all of your Pindos and other Plams are doing well...

Hey Greg...i was flying in and out of LGA yesterday and today..the winds were quite gusty...i looked over while we were over Brooklyn...did you see me waving? LOL...Look forward to meeting you and your wife sometime this summer...How are my Lemons? LOL...

Take care everyone...

Laura in VB

Great pics Randy. He really looks like he was a great dog. Just like Laura said, he is in a better place now and one day you will see him again. I hope he rests in peace!

Looks like a mild day here tomorrow (approaching 70F). Cant wait for the milder weather! At least the April Fool's day snow was nothing more than some wet flurries mixed with rain that didnt accumulate!
I hope everyone's plants are doing well!
-Alex