Looks great! Are all those pics from virginia beach? I didnt know ponytail palms cold live that far north.

The palms look extremely happy with your weather!

Thanks for the pics!

of course they are Va Beach. many people don't think va beach is this good with palms, thats exactly why I posted them. we are literally 1 min. from the coast so it stays a little warmer all year than the inland va areas. It definatly gets cold... but maybe in january 20's at night and then 60-70 sometimes in the day, so even tho it gets cold it quickly warms up again. we are pushing the limits here in VB so yes there will be some damage in march but all recover. most never even need to get wrapped either. thanks for looking!

I wonder if the Pindo with the thicker trunk could be a butia x jubaea hybrid?

Great pics! I'm amazed that washingtonias and sabals are doing so well in Virginia Beach. I've been there a few times, but the sabals I've seen right along the boardwalk aren't even doing that well. It gives hope that areas a lot further north and west should be able to grow windmills with no problem.

Fantastic photos! Makes me a bit jealous that such a nice climate is so close to home! only 4 hours south! Granted, its right along the coast but still. Gives me hope that even Butias could be grown here in DC given the right siting / protection. There are plenty of microclimates in my area that are protected from winds and stay much warmer than other places.

I think the Sabal Palmettos right along the coast in VB get battered by cold-ish winds in the winter which is why they may not the greatest. That, and some places may replace them every year.

So exactly what sections of VB are most of those pics from? Pungo? Are there alot more than just the ones you took photos of? Also, the Spanish moss pics, is that first landing state park?

Thanks for the awesome pics. I think its great, especially since not many people believe me when I tell them how warm the VB climate really is.

It IS amazing the climate buffering effect of the ocean...and how different it becomes even a few hundred miles away. Here in central coastal Jersey, I can grow windmills with virtually no protection, but sabals...that would be a neat trick. Unless some extreme measures were utilized (at least initially). My next palms in ground here will be a pindo and chinese fan. Who knows? Bottom line, VB's mild climate doesn't surprise me at all. Consider the Pacific Northwest and the palms that can and do grow there despite being much farther north in terms of latitude. All thanks to that vast ocean.

Great Pictures Justin!!!

That house with Jor... looks wonderful...is that back in Sandbridge? I recall some of the others... They all look so happy and healthy!!! Great shots of VB !!! Go 757 !!!

Laura in VB

Its hard to believe the amount of palms you can grow that far north. It would be really cool to see what they look like with a light coating of snow, but I guess part of the reason why they are there in the first place is because snow isnt too plentiful that near to the coast.

Thanks again for the pics, I must admit that huge grove of sago palms and the tall ponytail palm really caught my eye!

Great pics Justin -thanks for posting them!

Hi Justin,

Thank you for taking the time to share these. Its an education. Some trees were enormous! The pindo has arrived and thrived at VB with others as well.

"Some" of the sabals look like they were planted large already. Laura's palms tell the story as well - they do well with a proper start.

The winter wind at the open beachfront may be too harsh, but a few blocks inland its practically New Bern NC and the right mix of moderating temps and wind blocks. What was that really huge & towering palm in two of the pics??? It had to be 30 ft.

alabama- I don't think it is a pindo and chilean wine mixed however it doesnt look 100% like a pindo, I can try to find out tho.
islandbreeze- The ones at the oceanfront def. get a little damaged during the dec. jan. feb. months from the cold wind off the ocean... but dont look that bad at all. Ill be glad to go down there and take some pics of thoes also. when did you visit VB? they have grown now and look beautiful, not like florida of course.
nova- they are about 1-7 min. from the oceanfront and bay. they do good cuz we have the ocean and the chesapeake bay surronding most sides. im like a couple of min. away from the ocean and bay... not pungo at all and there are many more palms around here. thats just a "small taste of VB". yes that moss is from first landing st park good job. im about 2 min. away from there. you can def. grow pindos in D.C. with no protection.
laura none from sandbridge although i heard there was a canary island date palm down there i may go looking. all right here in VB great neck area and not much further...yea it hasnt snowed here in a while, and when its cold overnight usually the next day is a lot better 45-70 sometimes just depends. the more sensitive palms always bounce right back. sabals pindos and fan palms have no problem at all here. as u all saw lauras sabals. washys and others need a little help.all of the really tall ones are sabals from florida and some are literally 50'-60' easy. thanks to all of you for looking ill post more soon as i have time! -Justin in VB

Good heavens, that looks like Fantasy Island.

Lol it is basically i wanted to thank you all for checking out the pics of Va Beach and posting responses... and yes Lauras large palms r beautiful and she has grown them from small palms for almost 20 years! soon i will go down to the oceanfront and get some palm pics. see how they look in the winter being that close to the water and wind damage. for the most part surprisingly they have grown in and gotten larger and filled out. ill check soon ans see. thanks again! -Justin in VB

I figured I would dig this thread up. So any more photos? We would all love to see more! Especially me since I will be visiting that area fairly soon. =o)

Very nice! The perfect area for pushing the envelope for sure!

I was down there for memorialday and everything looks tropical except oceanfront palms which look burned.
I also stopped by pungo palms and got lots of plants

How is that pony tail palm doing?

i was lookin for your pics staten isl but i didnt find them?... yea thoes sabals at the oceanfront looked burned pindos surprisingly better. just very cold windy all winter off the water... i havent been back yet to see that pony tail ill check soon. thanks Justin in Vb

I didn't get a chance too take pics when i was down there. I found the landscaping at jungle mini gold on pacific to be amazind. I noticed they had some philodendron selloum with 4 feet of trunk in the ground. I didn't think they are hardy in va.

At pungo palms i saw the biggest needle palm ever.

I picked up all this at pungo palms:
1 gallon trachy
3 gallon variegated giant reed
hardy agave
hardy aloe
variegated yucca glorisa
1 big musa basjoo.

VB February 10,2011

Hey Justin, amazing pics. Hard to believe thats only 2 1/2 hours drive south of me here in coastal Delaware.

You mentioned that pindos could make it unprotected in DC? I'm in a milder zone here on central DelMarVa than DC and people keep insisting they need winter protection in our zone 8a. I planted my first (10 gal) pindo this spring. I'm planning on protecting it this winter, but hope to leave it unprotected in the future, if it gets larger and more winter hardy. Thoughts?

Anybias, i would love to see what all went into wrapping the butia like that!! Some ingenuity!

Glad someone brought that back, I have never been to VB. I always go south to Myrtle Beach.
Wetsuiter, I know of a few pindos around here that are left unprotected during our winters. Last year one in Lexington seen 9 degrees and over a 1' of snow. Its about 10' and defoliates every year, but always comes back.

Wow! I just got back from vacation from south carolina and I saw all of those exept the ponytail palm. I saw some nice palmettos and pindos, sagos, windmills, and mexican fans. I loved it. I dont see palms like that all the time where I live. I got some new plants which I will show tommorow. I also have a question. I was hoping at least one of my foxtails had sprouted when I got back but none were. Why? I have the plastic wrap on them and they are very wet. I looked at one and I saw two little things going down the bottom of the seed but I think they were just some of the fibers from a seed. I really want these to sprout. Thanks!
-Hunter

Those Pindo palms look great. Do you know any of the of history of the largest one? I just planted one here last summer and it seems to be doing quite well so far (with some lights for protection).

It would be awesome to have a palm that big in say 10-15 years

Hard to believe that is only 2.5 hours drive south of me (Delaware Beaches). If there was a direct interstate highway between here and there, it would be more like 2 hours drive. Even more incredulous.

Wow! Nice pics! :)

I recognize many of these pics from the home of the guy that sells palm trees near Hunt Club Farm on London Bridge Rd near Strawbridge. I forgot that he had a Ponytail palm. I bought a beauty this year out in Pungo. I wish I knew where that house is that was for sale at the time of your photos. That was so beautifully landscaped! It's not too hard to have a "tropical" yard in Va Bch! I've lived here for 20 years and the average annual low in the winter over that span is 21 F.

To answer many questions, Washingtonia Robusta (Mexican) is NOT hardy in VA Bch, but Washingtonia Filifera (California)is (although much harder to find). Sago is definitely hardy here, although if we receive snow -which is pretty rare but we have had in both 2010 and 2011- or temps drop below 20 F (which also happens every few years) the fronds will turn brown and you have to wait till May for them to bounce back.

Sabal Palmettos are 100% hardy here, even from seed. However, many will die if not watered well enough for a while after transplant. Also, too many people wrap them in plastic in the winter (completely unnecessary), which burns some fronds. That is likely why some at the oceanfront look bad sometimes. That and the heavy winds with salt spray. Some other types of Sabal are less hardy, but those that thrive if planted from seed or container with zero protection are Sabal Palmetto, Sabal Minor and Sabal Texana (NOT Sabal Mexicana).

Other easy to grow palms in Va Bch include Needle Palm, any Windmill Palm and European Fan Palm. Some other "tropical" type plants seen in many spots around here are Bananas (Musjoo is most popular, but some people grow edible types as well), hardy citrus (many edible), elephant ears, Oleander, Yuccas, and Cordylines (sold as "Dracena Spikes").

The spanish moss pics I recognize at First Landing State Park, which is the farthest north on the East coast that it grows naturally. There are other parts of the city where it can be found growing naturally, such as around Back Bay at First Landing State Park and Knotts Island.

Thank you for sharing the pics, Justin!

Oops, forgot to mention above that Jelly Palms (Pindo) also grow here very easily to a huge size and pretty easy. Last winter I noticed many had damage due to the snow, but they bounced back quickly in the spring and they rarely have this problem (doesn't usually snow).

Awesome pics. I have a couple of Ponytail palms that have been in the ground here for about three years.

I throw a cover over them when frost comes, and I put lights around the base if the temp gets below 25F. So far they have never seen any damage; we even got to 15F and then 17F the next night, two or three years ago.

However, I do notice they always drop several of their older, lower "leaves" when the weather is cold.

So, do you protect your ponytail palm at all? What is the coldest temp it has seen?

Welcome LagoMar!!!

I have a good idea where you live !! : )

It is nice to see another person from VB..

Go "757!!"

Here are some pics from another yard form VB!!!

Take Care,

Laura

Where the heck you been, Miss Laura?

Is that a Caryota I see in one of those pics???

Click for weather forecast

hit me up Lago Mar if you need anything this spring here in Va Beach... Have a Great Spring to come and its been a great winter.

Hey v,

I have been so busy lately...cant even breath!!!

Thank you for noticing..."miss Laura" LOL...

You are way to funny!

I am always popping in and checking on you all!!

How have you been?

Jim,

What pick are you wondering about? " Caryota ? " : )
Hope you are doing well...

Justin,

Hey there buddy!!!

Your yard is looking marvelous!!!

Take care,

Laura

Laura

The last picture in the first set-
the plant all the way on the left looks
like some type of Caryota(Fishtail palm).

Click for weather forecast

Hey Jim,

Those are Justins pictures.. i hope he sees this thread and can answer your question.

Take care,

Laura

yes it is very good eye Jim! How is everything going up north?

Amazing!

My palms will have been uncovered all week and not very much this winter!
Beautiful temps in the 50s & 60s all week(-:even the Washys and T.ferns are uncovered.

Click for weather forecast

I am definitely going to drive down to VA beach this year and visit Pungo Palms while there. I am so jealous of what you all can do in the mildest part of the state.

I'm thinking of stretching my limits here in VaBch. Has anyone tried a Canary Island Date Palm? They are selling Sylvester Palms at Home Depot as "cold hardy" palms, but I don't think they'll make it here. Canary Island is a bit more hardy and I wonder if it would succeed.

Also, what happened to collectorpalms.com? I wanted to order a Washingtonia Filifera and they're nowhere to be found. I ordered one from them at my old house and that tree grew beautifully for several years before I moved and a palm hater moved in and destroyed every palm there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lago Mar Weather

Lago, I just found out the Collector Palms is no more, they had a pretty big weather event that wiped out Ryan. I don't know if he out of business for good, or just suspending ops, but I agree, Collector Palms had great product for great prices.

I was in the area last weekend and I was on the lookout for Windmill Palm seeds. I saw some on 2-3 palms but I assumed they weren't ready because they weren't dark, maybe they were just old. When do they seed? I didn't see anything on any Needle Palms either.

I saw a seedling poking through mulch near one tree, I didn't want to disturb it though.

Most palm seeds form in spring and summer, but aren't mature until late fall or early winter. Windmill seeds look like big clusters of blueberries and stay on the tight through the winter. Sabal seeds are small blackish berries and also are ripe as winter approaches. They are often stripped bare by birds and animals, or blow off in the wind. So it's best to collect them a bit earlier. Needle palms don't seed as well as other palms. It may be part of the reason their range is more limited even though they are the most cold hardy palm. I've never seen the seeds, but the fruit reportedly smells like rancid butter. Whatever that smells like.

Lagomar give us a call, we can get you any palm you want we have canary isl any size and have grown successful in va beach. can get filifera any size. Paradise Palms Va if you need anything or any help please let us know! 757-572-1500

Hey tropicpalms, I've tried to call a couple of times but get voice mail. I'm looking into Washy Filifera or Filibuster. Someone else suggested Cretan Date Palm. What sizes/prices do you have, and are they in pots or would they be dug up and replanted? The ones that are dug up seem to have a much more difficult time making it.

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