Happy New Year everyone

! Im not sure if Im the only one to notice this, but at least around here (with the exceptio of last winter), the past few New Year's days have been VERY nice! I think it was in 2007 where it got to 70F in my yard. I didnt even need a coat! And even after that it has gotten to the 50s with lots of sun. Looks like much of the same this year with temperatures in the low to mid 50s and sun. Tonight is in the low 40s and humid so it feels pretty nice out there for this time of the year.

Early next week is very cold, but after that I see a warm up with temperatures back to the mid 40s which is not bad at all here. The problem with this cold spell is, like you said, there is not going to be any snow to insulate the palm's protection structures. And on top of that its going to be windy which means that its possible that will lower the temperature in the palms protection strutures. But a low temperature of 18F wont do tomuch damage to most of the palms I have in the ground. Im just a little worried for my Butia and livistona.

I'm hoping for a fantastic 2012... in weather, gardening, and especially health and happiness!
-Alex

Temps here in the Winston Salem area are going to be in the 60's today. However, Jan. 3rd. our low will be around 18 degrees also. So for the first time this year I am building my boxes for my palms. Not worried about my pindo since its so close to the ground the temps will remain warmer. I just have it heavily mulched and covered with a frost cloth. I have about 50 pots covering all of my cacti and agaves from rain. Sure the neighbors love that!

lets hope for a short winter and good luck to everyone!

63 and sunny on Delaware coast today. 21 forecast for Tuesday. The camellia blossoms will hate that! Happy New Year!

Well, here it is Tuesday and the cold arrived as they said. If this is as bad as it gets we are doing well. As Alex said the temps are scheduled to recover AGAIN reaching 52 in NYC on Saturday. Its 27 here now but I was looking at the DE coast and it was still 34 - not bad. We have not seen the big winds they keep warning about.

Yeah, we were "milder" than most spots along the mid Atlantic coast last night, even a few degrees above VB. Not so today and the revised forecast for tonight is now 16 (initially 22) is the coldest forecast I've seen since I've bought my house here in '98. Brrrrr.

Don't feel bad, this cold air made it all the way down to the north coast of Cuba dropping temps into the 60s there. Southern Florida is in the 50s and its in the 40s in central and northern florida. The silver lining is the temps are suppose to recover which is a real treat for January.

Definitely chilly down here in Central FL. Just a few days ago, highs were near or above 80F. Today, right around 50F, but the low will probably be in the mid to high 20's. If it goes below 26F, it will be a record low for us. The humidity is low, so we may dodge a significant amount of frost.

Cold here too! We only got up to 31F today and that was at 12:00am last night. Its been getting colder as the day has been going on. Right now its 20F outside and it will likely go down to 15F by tomorrow morning. The palms are covered!
You cant escape the cold anywhere on the east coast. Key West has high temperatures in the low 60s, Tampa has been in the 40s most of today and Miami didnt even get to 60F today! Lots of freeze warnings too down in Florida. But the weekend looks great and its pretty rare to actually have a recovery after a cold snap in January, usually when the cold air comes, it pretty much stays.
-Alex

We've been spoiled here in Southeast Michigan(the same can't be said for the Upper Peninsula). The lowest temp we've seen so far this winter is 19, only once. Daytime highs have been averaging in the upper 30s to 40s, and nighttime lows just under freezing. The last 2 days we were in a cold snap where temps did not get above freezing, but today breaks that cycle, and they're talking more 40s for the weekend. With temps like that, the ground won't be freezing, which is good news for the palms and bananas. Definitely does not feel like January, more like late November. I haven't turned on the Christmas lights on my palms at all this winter.

We got down to 12F in the coldest spot of my backyard yesterday. Before that the coldest temperature was 24F, but the cold yesterday and the day before was pretty intense. Now the forecast calls for days in the 40s and 50s with a good amount of sun as well! Not bad for January. There may be another cold snap about 10 days away though.
-Alex

Bottomed out at 18 here in Southern Delaware. Away from the ocean a bit colder. I put frost cloths on my Med Fans and then trash buckets over top of them and all the small needle palms I added to my garden this year. The big frost cloths didn't help my poor camellia blooms. They froze solid and are brown now. They were gorgeous last week. I hate when they bloom too early. Last year stayed cooler and kept the buds opening until a more appropriate Mid February.

That's a good point Alex, cold air usually entrenches this time of year at least up north here in NYC. It takes a while for it to moderate or get pushed back north. As has been the norm across most of the US, the warmer air is pushing unusually hard to the north and everyone will be seeing a recovery of sorts. A snow drought for many areas is not a good thing.

Wetsuiter: That was a smart move and you probably avoided any palm damage. With milder air on the way Delaware will be pleasent by Friday afternoon.

Yeah, I'm glad I took the extra step in bundling them all up. It must've been cozy under the platic tubs. The little needles and med fans loom health after I removed them since it was in mid 40s today and heading to mid 50s this weekend. Also inside the walls of one of the tubs... three live mosquitos.

I drove along the coastal highway today and even the seasonally planted queen palms are still green! I thought fore sure sudden temps in the teens would've killed them. One down in Dearth Beach even has seeds on it. I may have to see if they ever ripened. It may be worth trying to sprout them.

I took a look at my palms also and they all seem good so far except my livistona which has bad leaf burn. The center is still green though so as long as I protect it from any more cold, it should make a full recovery by mid summer.
I think the reason why it was damaged was because this year I used multi-colored Christmas lights this year instead of white lights which I think give off much more heat. Lesson learned!

Enjoy the warmer weather. The warm air is definitely fighting hard to advance north. Can you believe that South Dakota got to the 70s today?!
-Alex

Queen palms still green on DE beaches, my guess is that to cold snaps down there have not been long enough to kill them. The mild spells here in NYC have been prolonged this year as well. Down by you it must really be a mild winter. That's really ironic because many Queen palms were killed from Savanah GA to Orlando FL last year with the unusually long cold weather they had.

They didn't look as happy today, but some are still surprisingly green. They'll die a slow death this year. Even if any miraculously survived, the property owners will likely have them taken out in late spring in favor of a brand new tropical garden for the new tourist season. I still want to grab some seeds. I read that queen palm seeds from green fruit actually germinate better.

Hi Wetsuiter,

I'm not so sure queen palm seeds will still germinate after being froozen at the previous cold snap. Its worth reseaching.