Your palms are looking really nice! Hopefully they will all make it fine (cacti, tree ferns, bananas, seqouia, and eveything else included!). Sorry to hear about the spear pull. They do still look healthy, so maybe they can recover.
I just added protection to my palms about a day or 2 ago. Its gotten into the mid to low 20s here already, but I am REALLY surprised that my Wandering jew plant is still alive (the parts leaning against the house). I also have some lucky bamboo that is still green and it is placed under a tree that doesnt lose its leaves. But other than that, the growing season is definitely over and lots of winter is in the forecast!
Good luck!
-Alex

Thanks Alex

I bet with a nice covering of leaves(kept dry)you may see your wandering Jew return next year.

I had a few surprises this year,Calla lilies came back,so did Tetrapanex- a Geranium,
some zone 8 lilies and even a spider plant!

I did not plant one this year and yet there was one there!

Another really big surprise that always blows my mind is
G.paraguayense-the succulent in the "some of the cactus" pic,I would have thought a succulent
like this would be toast(or at least jelly(-:)from low 20s-not so,it's one of the toughest period!

This is such a beautiful plant I had to show it again!

Jim, that's what i call dedication, the best of wishes with your weather shelters.

Your cacti pics are beautiful! And those trunk cut fortuneis, you never would have known. They grew a ton! Nice job. I also have a dracaena i'm overwintering. Do you plan to protect yours?

Thanks for the ID Jim! It really is a beautiful plant and its cold hardy to a zone 7b which means that it shouldnt need more than a little bit of protection at the most by me and that shouldnt be a problem since they stay so nice and small. How fast do they grow?
Good luck!
-Alex

Thanks guys

Ryan,it's in the Cactus shelter,it has been defoliated the last 3 winters but has grown back from the roots-
this is the best it's ever looked going into winter!

The next 10 days(esp the next 3)should tell the tale.

Good job everything is protected.

I have almost everything protected when im done ill post pictures

Good one Jim.

I tied up the fronds on my largest butias today just in case we get the really cold weather back again. It should be easy enough now to throw a blanket over them and wrap with a tarp to keep dry. The largest one stands at 10ft to the tip of the fronds, so i'm not sure how much longer i'll be able to do it if winters continue to be so bad as i had to use a ladder!!

Jim that cordyline looks good but have you considered cutting off all the sprouts except one so that you get one big cordyline at the end of the season rather than several.

Thanks Vic,Dennis

Hopefully you won't have to protect it every year Vic,this cold is already old!

Dennis

If you look at where it is in the Cactus cover,there isn't much room for upward growth-
I really put it in there as an experiment,who hasn't seen these things still around after some
long cold spells or well into December.

I find it interesting that it comes back from the roots and has changed it's leaf shape
from long and wide to short and slender,if it shows any ability to increase it's hardiness
and have foliage survive winter I would certainly do more to protect it in the future.

The short answer is,I like the way it looks in a clump!(-:

So Jim

How is has the temperature been within your enclosures and did they hold up to the strong winds? Keith

Heads-up, looking good Jimbo

I am going to try your enclosure style next year, mine is too cumbersome and may be overkill for zone 7. What material did you use outside the fence to make the cone?

Keith

I actually had a dream Saturday night that my Washy enclosures had blown away and my Butia
and Washys leaves were gone and the trunks had turned to mush/jelly.

I almost went home to check but realized there would be nothing I could do in -30F wind chills
except suffer the same possible* fate!

Luckily(to answer your Q finally)everything was fine,the palms are actually warmer during
the really cold weather with the heat on.

The Butia and Cactus "house" saw 23F(lowest),the Washy 36F
the Waggie 33F.
The ferns are consistently 39-47F

Greg

The cone like structures are rose cones made of styrofoam,the enclosures I made have 2 layers
of fencing inside,a layer of 1" bubble wrap,then a layer of foam,then another layer of bubble wrap.

Did the blizzard hit?

Greg

The winds did gust to 45+mph-
this was at a scary time for trying to keep an eye on your palms,basically late night/early morning.

We didn't get much snow but at times I am sure Blizzard criteria was achieved-I was fast asleep though(-:

>

Glad the worst missed you. Good news, maybe. Some long range seasonal outlooks said there is a possibility this could be one of the years that Dec is colder than Jan and if that model pattern emerges we can carry that right into March.

I observed this pattern is similar to last year with some variation. It could go either way and develope into a severe winter or just peter-out into a routine Jan with temps in the 30s and 40s on the east coast. I hope for the routine Jan. The palms like better:)

It would be nice to see the temps moderate some in January like a lot of forecasters are predicting
but I would trade that for being done with winter and right into spring March 1 !

Hey jim its just a lil over 90 days left. Im glad its the weekend now I can actually post something. I waited till the last minute to cover the palms, I made it to december for the first time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Protection

Everything looks good Mike-

I waited until December the last 2 years also,to bad December has been so nasty both times.

How are your temps in the Washy enclosure?

It sure will be fun to watch them grow next year,10 -15 leaves for sure next year if there is no root damage!

The washy is around 40f right now using the spiral lights. I added 1 100 halogen work light to the enclosre of one trachy and thats stays 65F. The palms should be great as usuall.

Early December is now my time of the year to move the Queens, Phoenix, containerized Med and Pindos, and non-hardy Trachys into Winter protection. Very early December has been safe but it seems Decembers have gotten colder over the years while January and especially February are milder than in the past.

Wish that was true here-
njoasis-maybe this year,at the very least-winter will end sooner,since it started sooner(-:

I have made a similar greenhouse for my palms in my yard, in staten island , NY....does anyone know how i can share those pics for others to see...and if anyone has questions please feel free to contact me

californiamike64@aol.com

take care
mike

Mike

Try using Photobucket or Webshots to load your photos,they are both
free and all you need to do is copy the code and paste here-
then check the "preview message" here to make sure they loaded.

thank you jim

Sure,looking forward to those pics.....
I like Photobucket because I can load BIG pictures.(-: