Snow is already mixing in by my house now. I spent the last 3 days (and part of those nights) taking my plants indoors. It was not an easy job, but it had to be done. I just didnt have time to take all the plants indoors though and the ones I didnt take indoors are covered and hopefully thats enough.

Good luck!
-Alex

Its snowing right now i brought in 2 snow cover majesty palms and a corn palm dracaena. Its snowing right now I still have alot of plants outside includding 4 dioons and a large norfolk island pine.

It's 52 here in Southern Delaware with heavy rain (55 in Virginia Beach). Thank God for 64 degree ocean temperatures. I always tell you guys my winter is closer to those in VB than metro NYC. ;-) Enjoy early winter.

The water temperatures about 60F here too, but the center of the storm is to our south so the cold air beat the mild ocean temperatures. Its still above freezing, but the snow is stickling because its falling so heavily. I doubt I will have to shovel though, or at least not yet. Now the snow is starting to consist more of a rain again.
But I agree, that DE is more like Vb than like NYC, but the main reason why your similar to VB right now is because you are both on the same side of the storm.
-Alex

But, here's the weird thing--local sea temps are around 60 F. and it's still snowing heavily! Washingtonias and P. canariensis covered in snow. Brought most of the Citrus trees inside expect for a large Eureka lemon. Sabals, Med. fans, Chinese fans, Raphis palms still out as are larger, containerized Butias.--They do look pretty in the snow. Real tropicals were taken under cover yesterday. More concerned about the trees--esp. M. grandifloras as this is a HEAVY snow. Min temps expected to drop to the mid 30's tonight. Surprised it is sticking considering the warmth of most of October and warm ground temps. Expect to loose power this evening as most trees still have leaves on them. Maybe will get a chance to use my new generator tomorrow. Expecting to hear some 'thunder snow' later as this storm revs up. This snowstorm is extremely anomalous for the NYC Metro Area this early in the season. Only the third time since the Civil War that snow of measurable depth has been recorded in NYC for October! Even December tends to be largely snowless. What a bizarre weather year, yet again!!

It's raining where I am. I hope we don't get our first frost/freeze behind this though.

Did it snow at all yet in Queens? I know people in Long Island who said they already have some accumulations.

Terrible year for snow. I know we will be breaking more snowfall records again this winter and fall (since now it snows during the fall too apparently). Time to move someplace warm since NYC is getting snowier and snowier.
-Alex

Rain and some serious wind along the coast here. Decided to bring in some plants. Two smaller plumeria, oleander, queen palm, and mass cane. Still outside and roughing it...in ground majesty (I think I;m going to experiment with this one), in ground calamondin orange, two large potted plumeria, pygmy date, canna and calla lillies, and potted and in ground basjoos. Odd, but again, a coastal storm riding north. This has been the trend the last few years. Lucky we missed any snow since my large maple tree is still loaded with green leaves...

Should I try to cover my Norfolk Island pine since i didn't bring it in yet. Its not expected to get below 32.

Magnolia grandiflora do not accommodate heavy snow very well. Our town library lost a 40 foot specimen tree in the back to back deep snow storms in Feb 2010. This tree had the graceful lower branches that touched the ground and likely rooted. It was heart breaking, especially after the town only replaced it with a 6 foot magnolia.

No snow here, though the temps have dropped to 41. They're getting snow just an hour to our north in Middletown, Delaware.

Good luck to everyone's tender tropicals.

HI Guys:

Yes, anything that can be brought in should be, and if protected, protect it. This is very bad for this time of year and the snow, rain and ice will freeze some of the plants and trees. Not good. I took in everything last night and covered my outdoor palms and glad i did. My elephant ears are shot, the last one went down about an hout ago. Well, good luck everyone. Remember the temps are supposed to bottom out around 29 or 30 in NYC with strong winds tonight.
Take care Mike

Still snowing in the Bronx. Believe it or not I actually went out on this mess and bought me a 15 gallon needle palm out in Jersey. I love seeing snow on my windmills and needles!

They are saying 32F tonight by me, but 29F for tomorrow night. I hope all the snow melts so at least we wont have that hanging around making things even colder. I agree, take in as much as you can.
-Alex

You go Hardy Palm Freak and so true Alex...must protect everything. I think this may be my last year of taking palms indoors, may be giving them away next spring, so someone can enjoy the windmills, etc. I want my den back...it looks like a jungle now. It is about 33 here on Staten Island, mix of snow and rain, but not very hard...heard it will be slowing down soon and stopping by midnight. Supposed to be in the 40's and sunny tomorrow, which will cause a lot of much needed melting, then a cold night and 40's and 50's the rest of the week. Good Luck everyone, Mike

Hello Everyone,

Its 41 degrees here in VB with the windchill at 36* Yikes!!!

I was outside last night until 3am bringing in everything last night!!!

MY DH is rolling his eyes now that all of the plumies, the ones i prepared are inside ready to go to bed in the backroom! LMAO!! ALl ii hear is hat type of bugs are coming in with all of these plants...LOL

Im worried about them, and he's worried about bugs....LMAO!!!

Wind gust are up to 30mph and its cold...MY greenhouse temps with no added heat is at 50* so what ever i stuffed in there will be fine. We are expecting temp to warm just a little by tomorrow after this passes..

I hope alll of you up north are doing alright..

Ive been watching the weather channel and wondering about all of you..

New York, NJ. PA, MA. all of my friends...keep warm!!!

Im soooooooo glad im not working... : )

Take care,

Laura in VB

Laura, we're at 40 now at midnight. It hovered at 52 most of the day before slowly falling into the 40 s. Thankfully.

Have Justin in VB get in touch with me. I want to discuss my sabal collecting with him.

Stay warm. DH is a good man.

Hi Wetsuiter,

Nice to see you!!!

It has dropped rather quickly here...Im so glad that i brought in everything...

You are right, DH is a good man!!! LOL!!! If you would ask his friends what i have to put up with...LOL ( Hunting, fishing and all of his hobbies....they would say the same for me!!! LOL)

We all try to understand what we enjoy, but it is funny to see the eyes.... imm sure i do my share of "eye rolling" at times...LOL!!!

I will be more than happy to have Justin contact you...

I can give you his phone number... That may be easier...i told himm bout you already...

He was excited to see others get into palms and visit here!!!

Let me know, i can send u the number at your email or i can give him your email...which ever you prefer!!!

Hope all is well up in Delmarva!!

It was so nice to meet you both!!!

Take care,

Laura in VB

We got a little less than an inch last night, it melted as soon as the sun came up. Luckily no freeze yet (only got to 34/35), the trees are still green (and standing lol). It's crazy how such a small distance can make a huge difference in the weather.

This was still very historic. I hope all is well for everyone on this board.

Good Advise Cal, Hi Laura, Wetsuiter, Alex, and anyone i missed.

I had to cover my green house frame with plastic in a big hurry. I brought most of the Citrus trees inside it because they have lemons. I really did not believe this could happen in NYC this early in a the season. We drove out to my moms on Long Island Saturday. They did not get much snow but had a few solid blasts of snow that melted fast as the wind went to tropical storm force with h. rain. You could imagine my surprise when a friend texts me photos that downtown brookln in covered in snow at 32* in the middle of the day!!?? My tracky and needle palms took it well, I am just concerned about my butia yatay in the ground, b/c it had froozen precip in the bud overnight. I figure they are so cold hardy and survive in southern cold spots that it should be OK. Come to think of it Laura, yours had withstood two big snow storms last year?

Yeah, there has been a trend in recent years for coastal areas to get clobbered by these really intense, coastal nor'easters or subtropical hybrid storms. There is still no power or cable at home--millions still without lights or even heat and hot water. Palms went through fine as did the Southern Magnolias. I did get damage on a large sugar maple (still with green leaves). No damage to Oak, Ginkgo, Japanese maples or Hemlock. This year's extremely erratic weather is frightening!--You can't but wonder, is this the new normal? Are we moving toward some as yet, unknown, weather norm--and what will that look like?

Oasis,

Your electric is out? I notice also that the weather has been very flukey - the record extremes are being broken in all directions. With this being the case, I would not be surprised by an unusal uncharacteristic lengthy warm spell during one of the winters coming up. We already have seen the record snows the last two winters, but no mid-winter record cold for NYC for so many years.

Still no frost or freeze here in Southern Delaware as told by my still green bananas and blooming impatiens. Thought the tropical hibiscus are not amused by the early chill. Weather forecast is warmer the next 10 days, so it'll likely be mid November before I have to cut down the bananas and haul the big potted tropicals in.

Mine frost in my yard. The mandevilleas and bananas are okay, but one of my 5 elephant ears got a bit melted and my Sky Glory vine's leaves are a bit rusty in the areas it was exposed with frost. My majesty palms and Birds of Paradise had no damage but surprisingly my large livistonia palms did get some minor frond damage after a low temperature of only 31! My Livistonia in the ground handles 20F with little damage, so I guess this proves that greenhouse grown palms are much less cold tolerant than those that are established in colder or more exposed climates.
-Alex

Hello Everyone,

I hope all of you are doing well!

Thinking of you guys and gals and wishing the weather will get back to normal temps for you all. I hope you guys didnt loose power.

Hi Greg,

I went looking for some pics and came across this one.

Yes, we did have a few snow storms that had alot of snow. But, our temps rebound so quickly and the snow melts quite fast. You can see in the pics that the trees are bending. I have some others that show Me and Hubby outside trying to get the heavy now off of the fronds. I hope you and your family are doing well!!!! Penny Too!!! : )

Take care everyone!!!

Laura in VB

Wetsuiter..you have mail!!!

{{gwi:55208}}

Still no power for hundreds of thousands from Connecticut into upstate New York, NJ, Eastern Pa, etc.. I finally broke down to get a generator after Irene. I've seen trees split down the middle--amazing! You can drive through miles and miles of suburbia and see nothing but massive tree limbs lying all over, blocking roads, streets, and houses. It looks like the kind of damage you would get from a significant tropical storm or a lower category hurricane. Temps are fairly mild and I have heat and hot water, but I am beginning to worry about my basement palms that are under florescent light conditions. It was not even very windy here--all damage was from heavy, WET snow. The deciduous trees (especially maples) seemed to fair worst. Good luck everybody!

Love that pic Laura!