The problem with being a fair skinned, blue eyed, red haired, freckle-faced, hyper-active kid who was born before sun screen is that I can't count the number of bad sunburns I've had. Decades of blistering burns, accompanied by various rashes, etc., has lead me to a phrase to describe my brand of skin: K-Mart. It's indeed the blue light special skin.
And how this relates to palms is that it's often surprising to me how easily certain species of tropical palms sunburn after being liberated from the far corners of my house after a long winter's break. In fact, my skin seems to do better in the early Spring sun that some of my palms. I have a very nice Triangle palm, for example, that got so burned after spending the first day towards the front of my porch that it's now resting completely out of the full sun. There are actually scorch marks on the the portion of the frond that received the direct sun. (It reminded me of scene from "Interview with the Vampire" when the two female vampires are tied together and forced to face the rising of the sun: they both burst into flames and are left as a pile of ashes).
So they'll spend about a month acclimating and then get plunged into the grandeur of the full sun. K-mart palms?
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Hi Dave,
I enjoyed reading your blog. I am fast becoming a palm enthusiast. I live in South Jersey, an alleged zone 7A... So far, I have collected a Trachy, a few Washingtonia Filfera, and Sabal Palmettos. They will overwinter in my greenhouse, because I purchased them to late in the season to plant out in the garden. I will plan to get them in the ground next spring... I really liked your winter protection ideas. I might employ them in my own yard.
I will visit again. Patricia
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