I walked down there the day of the fire, the damage was confined to pretty much to the game room. Of course the fire department probably caused more damage than the fire but that's a necessary evil. Jungle Golf is still open, but the inside area is closed. Thanks for the current picture of the sabal. The trunk tells the whole story. Looks like it struggled for a few years before it took off. Makes sense because we had some bad winters back then.

Lago Mar, that palmetto in Sandbridge is great. I see a lot around here that look like that. They do just fine. Another place to find great looking palmettos is at Capn George's Seafood on Laskin Rd. Drove by tonight and saw lots of excellent healthy palmettos with full heads (and NO plastic).

Oh yes, Captain Georges is outstanding! Someday the city should ask the folks who did Captain Georges and Hiltop Plaza to line Atlantic Ave for them.

In my dreams, the city replaces all the bradford pears east of Great Neck with sabals.

Might not be a bad idea to replace more trees with sabals in VB, or at least with trachycarpus. I'm sure the palms in VB help with bringing more vacationers and tourists to the area. In the summer, it's like Florida but closer to home.

BTW, nobody mentioned the needle palms in VB. The first mature needle I saw was at a put-put golf course in VB. Probably the only reason I still try to grow them. They are really nice looking palms when mature even though they don't trunk.

I agree, I think replacing a lot of the overused and underqualified trees (like Bradford pears) with palms like Sabals and Trachys would be great for the city! VB relies a lot on tourism and tourist love palms. Plus Sabals and Trachys are a lot less likely to cause problems during storms than bradford pears which are guaranteed to lose branches even during minor wind events.

And I agree islandbreeze. Needle palms in general don't get the respect they deserve. They are beautiful palms and extremely cold hardy!

-Alex

You should have more than just sabals looking good in Va. Our pindos look good as far in as Rockingham, far from a coastal town. Raleigh area pindos are burned, mature sabal at PDN looked good as did all minors and trachies. Coastal towns saw damage to dates, washies and sagos.

This phoenix is at an abandoned building, which is why none of the palms have been pruned yet. The only one I was able to photogragh, all others are just stumps.

Trachy on the left is the Trachy 'Takil' taken last Sat. at PDN.

If your sabals don't look like these then maybe you should drive to that place in Newbern and get you some real palm trees instead of telephone poles.

Chad,

Oh come on now Chad, surely your not say'in those Myrtle Beach sabals look as good as these sabals in SE Virginia.
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Shame on you, Dr. Cornelius! You know better than that! You should leave that pettiness over on the other board where they are used to that kind of thing.

The photo taker said there use to be butia planted there but when they died windmills replaced them, shame VB, shame, you need to stick to bradford pears!!!!
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Those Windmills in that last pic are not doing well either. Virtually zero watering and being grown in raised concrete beds like that (that isn't the ground they are in and it is facing away from the prevailing winds under an overhang for pedestrians) will kill any plant they try out there. They are welcome to try Bradford Pears since I could care less if Bradfords die. The fact of the matter is, its the Hilton, they have money to burn. Those are annuals in those pots. Bradford Pears are quite prolific in VB and only suffer during high winds. I guess that is a problem? Oh well, as long as Palmettos grow great here I'm cool with it.

Breath tak'in sabal beauties in VB, reminds me of Myrtle Beach, NOT!!!!!
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I wish the sabals in my yard looked half that good. After 1F 6 weeks ago there is barely in any green left in the spears. Pindos look worse even with a frost cloth and Christmas lights this yr was too much. My sabal Birminghams are the only palms that have not shown any damage. Louisianas have some tip burn and Brazoria is a let down. All non hybrid minors are bullet proof of course.

During winter the fronds were tied up. Box opened because of outside temps.

Carl, I remember buying that palm as a minor. You telling me it was a sabal long before it ever started forming a trunk. Good call!

Oceana NAS is in VA Beach (rather than Norfolk) and did get to 1F, so despite the conflicting reports, it doesn't surprise me to see photos of many Sabal palmettos looking rough at best. I am glad to read that the seed grown ones are mostly doing well. Even the hurricane cut planted ones here tend to look skinny and haggard for years, if not permanently. A significant percentage of these die here after planting, too.

Bradford pears (temperate trees) should be suitable to the climate of VA Beach, even if not the most interesting or elegant landscaping choice. Kind of like silver maples in the Midwest. We even have a few that I know of here in northern Orlando. These few do okay, but never bloom due to lack of winter chill. One near me did actually have some flowers after the extended chilly winter of '09-'10.

Chad, sorry about the latest round y'all went through out there, this winter has been rough stuff for sure. Except for sagos get'in toasted, we are thankful here in our area.

Williamr, i've found that start'in from seed or small containers is the best bet, in my case the cold hardies do great.

Dixieboy, get a life.

As a mater of fact, Dixieboy, I live in eastern NC, not tellin where, an know quite well your area. Not 5 minutes away from you inland palmettos often look skimpy and thin -lots of new ones and even ol' ones- so you and your easten NC area are not immune from bad lookin palms. Why you pick on Va Beach? They grow some beautiful palmettos. Who also fills me in is that fella in New Bern who confides in me that your little area is but a tiny are of decent palm growin, but inland just a few things start to take a rough turn.. He tells me you might be stretchin the truth a spell.

And this is what I found last spring in the Va Beach area for palmettos. Most palms in the area looked like this, even norfolk.:

And here's another from Norfolks botanical gardens someone sent me:

and another from a fella I found in norfolk from that botenical gardens: Why you make fun of Se Va palmettos??

In reference to your pic of the palmettos planted around the sunny street corner, most of the Sabal palmettos in the northern Panhandle of FL do not look that good. I used to travel to Southern AL frequently and would take the Defuniak Springs exit. The Sabal palmetto there looked skinny and sparse and definitely like they were not growing in conditions that are ideal year round. I suspect that this is at least partially related to the hurricane cut issue too. Still, many of the Sabal palmetto you see from Lake city north in FL just do not look like the ones further south.

The native range of Sabal palmetto does not include most of the FL Panhandle. Hard to believe that Bald head Island, NC is part of this species native range, yet Tallahassee, FL is not. This is interesting since average temps for extreme SE North Carolina are lower than those of Tallahassee, and all time record lows are similar.

Thank you for sharing those pictures, truth teller. I will have to follow up on that store that looked so beautiful. Hopefully they didn't hurricane cut and wrap. By the looks of your picture they haven't been in the habit of doing that there.

Williamr, a illustration of Bald Head island NC in pic #1 & then there's pic #2 in SE Virginia.
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I don't know how anyone possibly thinks that plastic wrap will help at all. It can do the opposite actually, and as far as I know, it provides no off-setting benefit.

Dixieboy, I see the plastic wrap but I have to say that from Carolinas to Se Va the only places I seen plastic wrap is on the Va beach beachfront, no where else -really jest along the street along the beach. As you go in a few blocks you see no plastic. Im amazed sometimes what palmettos I see growin in SE va.

More of the same away from the beach, 'prince' charming!
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OMG, anything but plastic. They are trying to kill the palms. Has nothing to with the sabals or location. Mummy wrap just does not work. Kevin can't remember his screen name had his windmill for 20 yrs in zone 4. Till last yr he switch to mummy wrapping. And guess what, it didn't make it.

Interesting that "plant1 truth teller" joined this discussion (and Gardenweb!) immediately after I posted a link to this discussion on the Hardy Palm & Subtropical discussion board, and sounds suspiciously like a fellow from Norfolk who quit that board not long before that. Oddly enough, first he claims to be from SE Virginia, then from NC and now even his grammar and spelling have changed so not sure just how much truth this guy is telling or who he's trying to fool...

So can anybody post any RECENT photos of any of these palms, showing what they look like AFTER this winter?

John, i posted this older VB pic on the other board with the question of if these SP's had the ability to fill back out as they do farther south, a resident of the area said he would go there to take a pic of the same angle there, i strongly suspect that he did & didn't care for what he saw.
PS i knew who 'plain truth' was from the first letter he typed!!
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Hey Dixie, thank you for your sincere concern about palms in your pictures. I have been posting pictures of gorgeous palms in VB all over the place. I also mentioned that I DID revisit those palms in your pic and indeed they had been hurricane cut and wrapped. Disgusting. Anyway, here is one I took TODAY, just like many others I've posted on both boards.

Hey, Lago, your palms up that way are beautiful!!
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Here is my before..

This winter right after the 12 inches. Then the freezing cold settled in...
(Planted 19 years ago...)

I'll post another pic of the after when I get home for this trip..

Those pictures from the oceanfront have always had issues.. They can't handle the wind and they keep replacing them so they will never get established. The problem is that it is just to windy..

Now they have planted alot of Sabals at hilltop last year which look wonderful. I am Happy to see them thrive!! It. Makes the whole shopping center more inviting ..

Great thread!! I loved seeing all of the trees..

Mine are in VB near Great Neck...they have been planted for 19 yrs

Take care,

Laura

Summertime..

VB

That is my 23 year old son.. Working!!! ;-). Right

Laura

Gorgeous, Laura! What an amazing yard you have! Thank you so much for posting these!

My sabals in NC have some leaf burn and a few fronds broke due to heavy ice accumulation, but all three survived a 4 degree low which seems like a 25 year low for this area.

those are great palms Laura. It shows how good palms grow in Va Beach -espesialy those not on the ocean front. I have saw the ocean front palms and they take a beatin. Inland these same palms look 100 time better. I have also seen the new palmetos at Hiltop and they look great. The area in SE Va is thrivin with new palms, espesialy those planted inland away from ocean -where so many people think palms grow best, but wher we all know they do not grow well. The palms I seen also thru Norfolk, Portsmouth Cheasapeke look great, much better than the the ocean front. Inland VA Beach always has great palms too.

Hello Everyone....

Time to report the damage.. ;-(

Lagomar... Thank you, It's law us nice to hear kind words Nd I appreciate you telling me to hold on with mine. I also grow many plumeria and when you talk about " patience". I have it!! Lol. I have been working with my palms for about 20 years here in my area of VB and I honestly can say that its been the coldest winter I have seen in a long time. I'm a native 757 lady oh has been here a long time!! ;-)

Truth teller... Thank you. Inland is much better because we have a micro climate verses the constant winds that cause those trees at the oceanfront to have issues. I like to see the " tide" turning around here with the planting of palms here. I just hope it will continue and that they will be well cared for.

Carl, chad... Always nice to see you!!!

My Butias were hit hard. My friends down the street that have a palm business graciously cut away the dead fronds from the Butias. I will say that I was doubting their survival with temps down to 5 degrees and windchills in the -15 range. Just to cold for VB zone 8

I think I lost one.

The other three in the backyard have potential to make it. One is pushing green fronds and the other two are still holding on. Please forgive the pictures and the way the yard looks. I have a lot of work to do to get it back to the way it should be.

Ok... Gulp. Here they are.. It's hard to show. but, we all need to see and learn. Jordan... Many thanks to you. Xoxo

This is the Butia in the center island

Back near the water... I see some green! Yes!!!

Close up...

Sabal having issues.. I'm worried...

The last of the Butias in the back... I think they will make it. Patience.. Thank you!

I just want them to grow and be the best they can be. I'll fertilize and clean the bed and mulch. It's time for a new season.

Thank you all for this thread..

Hope you all can finely get out and get some yard work done. It's crazy to start this late for us... But, ill try and not complain!

Again... Justin, Jordan... You guys are the best. Thank you for trimming my trees. You did a great job. Now I'll get my son to trim the Sabals !!!

;-)

Take care,

Laura

So yeah, pretty obvious the majority of pindos in the area were heavily damaged. More and more of the green ones show damage as the heat increases. Still some nice ones down at Oceanfront and neighborhoods within 2 miles of the Atlantic (LagoMar/Sandbridge, Croatan). I haven't been able to check the north end yet. I am guessing that is where you live, Laura? Other than the Pindos, your palms look very nice! A slight tinge of burn on some tips is nothing to worry about. I wonder what is eating your trunk on that one palmetto? I've seen that on a couple of them around, particularly that ancient one at Jungle Golf. Thank you for the update, Laura!

Thanks Lago Mar... I live off of Great Neck... Lots of damaged ones around here, it just so sad. I have seen some that have green pushing now.. So if they would clean them up, they would look a lot better.

I'm not sure of the damage to the big Sabal, but I did have one at our business and I did lose if after a few years. The trunk is peeling away, but it is looking green and lush, so I'm not sure what this is.

The good news is that all of the tress in the back yard will survive including the questioned Butias.. I just need to trim the Sabals and just be patient with Mother Nature. I did have to get rid of the other Butias in the front yard. It wasn't planted very deep and was the youngest of them all..

I'm very happy tho.. Thanks for asking.

I hope you didn't have any losses?

Take care and have a wonderful holiday weekend!!!

Laura

Pretty much all of my little one or two year old seedlings that naturally sprouted have survived. Only the ones I planted myself look like the polar vortex hot them.

Great palmeto in your yard- Loveplants2. It seems palmetto fared the best in SE Va, far better than meny ever gave credit for.

I just noticed the beginnings of the flower stalks on mine this morning. I'll try to take some pics maybe tomorrow morning when my Palms are in full morning sunlight as they are planted on the southeast side of my house.

I just noticed the beginnings of the flower stalks on mine this morning. I'll try to take some pics maybe tomorrow morning when my Palms are in full morning sunlight as they are planted on the southeast side of my house.

Beach_bums- has your washingtonia started recovery or is it dead?