Before the Freeze

Well, tomorrow it'll be November first, and not a sign of a pending freeze, with the Weather Channel giving us the clear sign through the 9th of November. But a freeze will certainly come, and the fruiting bananas will die, and the shelters on some of the less cold hardy palms (W. Robusta, B. Capitata) will go up. But before the freeze, one last photo of this year's growth.

S. Minor Thrives in the DC Sunshine

The S. Minors that I planted four years ago - and have never been protected - have again produced a prodigious amount of seeds. It appears the squirrels did an efficient job of scattering the seeds from last year, as my front yard is littered with S. Minor seedlings. The leaves are huge, and beautiful, as you can see from the pix. I have two of the stately palms at the front two corners of my yard.

Chinese Windmill Palm

The 5 and a half feet tall Trachycarpus Fortunei in my front yard has sent up at least 20 new fronds this year and seems well prepared for the upcoming winter. The trunk has thickened considerably this year which should provide it with the needed protection from the cold. This palm has not been protected - not even heavily mulched - in 3 years. Prior to that, I did provide a plastic-sheeted covering around it to allow it to attain a good enough size to tolerate the zone 7 cold we get here.

The Last Few Weeks Before the Freeze

Here are a few shots of my back yard taken yesterday afternoon. First, the W. Robusta is impressive, and will be quite the challenge to protect this year.

The next shot is my Pindo Palm, which unfortunately finds itself squeezed between the Mexican fan palm on its right and the grove of fruiting bananas on the left.

The last photo, for the hardy banana lovers out there, is my Muso Basjoo, which just started bearing fruit (close up shot) this week.

See the budding flowers and small bananas?

The Fall Is Upon Us

I'm planning on taking pictures in the next day or so of two remarkable things in my back yard. My Washingtonia Robusta is well over 12 feet high, and the idea of protecting it from the cold this winter is a big daunting. But, as odd as this may sound, on one of my recent trips to Hawaii I actually sat next to a guy who worked for the company that protected fragile palms in the Virginia Beach area for years. He was very well versed in the "shoulds" and "should nots" of palmestry and I gained a lot of savvy from the conversation.

Additionally, the Muso Basjoo hardy bananas, which have reached 12'-14' feet in my back yard, have began fruiting. I'm hoping our first freeze holds off until late October so I can see how well the bananas ripen. Pix are soon to follow.

Washintonia Robusta Shows Its Stuff

The four year old Washingtonia Robusta in my backyard is really starting to mature into a nice sized, beautiful and commanding palm. I intentionally planted it at an angle so that it would grow out and away from the garage, allowing for more space for the massive leaves. I sited is close to garage hoping that the barrier would provide a slight microclimate for the young plant. Well, with lots of protection and ample fertilizer, it's doing quite nicely. This photo was taken today. To give an idea of it's size, I'm 5'6" 1/2 (when you're this short, you always include the 1/2 inch).


The bananas, Muso Basjoo, which can partially be seen to the left, are magnificent. They have to have hit 12 feet by now, and I'm really hoping for some bananas. Unfortunately the size of the W. Robust on the one side, and the bananas on the other, is resulting in a mostly shaded siting for my Pindo Palm, which also is chugging along.

Out for the Spring

DC PalmCentral is back online. For those of you longing for the warm months, I've attached one of the last photos I took of my backyard before the first hard freeze last Fall. Note the bail of straw to the right of the photo was going to be used to protect the grove of bananas that had reached about 10 feet tall last year. The Washingtonia Robusta (large palm on the right by the frence) had a plastic, heated pavillion built around it and survived without a hitch.

I removed all of my palm pavilions from the winter and the front and back yard are edging towards full growth. No damage to any of my palms this winter, although it appears that the low in my backyard only reached 14 degrees F, which wouldn't cause damage on most of my outdoor collection. I will post some photos of the back yard taken this winter soon, and then an update showing the Spring growth.