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I finally woke my 14 ft. 'baby' up from her winter nap.

12 years ago

She looks better than any other year after her winter nap. Looks just like she did when I covered her at the end of October. On Saturday I'll wake up my 8 ft. Mediterranean Fan Palm that's been outside for over 20 years. In about 2 weeks, I'll wake up my 8 ft. Washingtonia that's just been outside for 2-3 years. The Trachy and Washingtonia are growning like weeds!

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Comments (13)

tropicalzone7
12 years ago
Wow, beautiful palm! Its getting taller and taller every year and healthier too! One of the nicest trachys around and I don't know of any trachys looking like that in any other zone 4s! Looking forward to seeing the Med fan palm uncovered!
What was your low temperature this winter?
Thanks for sharing!
-Alex
mksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
12 years ago
Just amazing! do you take the lumber down also. It makes it look potted which is kind of a cool look actually

Mike
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Need a nap in the daytime can certainly be a symptom of a sleep disorder. It can also be a "symptom" of old age and less activity. I don't know anyone my age who doesn't say that they often fall asleep at night during the regular Primetime TV shows. Some do have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine, but they still doze off. Others take naps due to health issues that cause fatigue. My late mother had Lupus and had always turned up her nose a her sister who took a daily nap; she found she herself truly had to do so. Some people find a short nap is an energizer, the "executive power nap". There are as many reasons as there are people. Yes, if one sleeps well during the night and feels exhausted the next morning, a sleep study done by a specialist is in order. If one falls asleep early and then wakes up and has insomnia for hours, this should be checked. If one regularly has a drink or two before dinner or wine/beer with a meal and falls asleep afterwards, blame the alcohol and cut back or cut it out altogether. My late FIL had two rum and tonics for decades, each night before dinner. When he reached his mid-80's, he had no trouble going to sleep (and actually went up pretty early) but would awaken in the night and lie awake for hours. His doctor told him to cut back to ONE rum & tonic before bedtime, but he was a stubborn old cuz and said he'd done the same thing for 60 years and was not changing. Oh well... A bit of "sleeping over a good book" or dozing off while watching TV is usually nothing morbid that requires any treatment.
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jimhardy
12 years ago
Awesome!

We will all be following your lead when it comes to covering huge palms.(-:

Click for weather forecast
palmloverny
12 years ago
That's just awesome! beautiful work in taking care of that baby.
arctictropical
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks everyone! Alex, it was an incredibly WARM winter. It got down to about zero, but no lower. Very unusual. Mike, we took down a couple rows of the railroad ties, but just didn't have time to remove them all. I'm excited to pull the boxes off of the others. I'm going to plant a Mexican Blue Hesper fan palm this year. Maybe my Pino palm, if I find time to build another protection box.
tropicalzone7
12 years ago
Wow, only 0F, that is pretty mild for a zone 4 (thats like the equivlant of a zone 10 winter here!). A Mexican Blue Hesper would look beautiful and Im sure it will thrive with your protection methods! Pindos are great palms too, I cant imagine my yard without at least 1!
-Alex
kaotickelly
12 years ago
How how nice. and your son too lol hahah jk
denninmi
12 years ago
If anyone every asks me who my hero is, some athlete, a politician, some move star, I'm going to say, "no, it's the guy in Zone 4 Utah with a yard full of in-ground palms."
islandbreeze
12 years ago
Wow that palm is getting huge! Every year that goes by, the entire story of you growing palms that big gets more and more interesting and amazing. Nice job! I wish my trachys grew that fast.
chadec
12 years ago
Great job again! Can't wait to see your trachy and washy when they are 20' plus.
arctictropical
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi Kaotickelly. Who says that's not me, but my son? Yeah, it's my 6' son, so you can get some idea how tall the palm is from the pic. Thanks Alex. Yeah, this past winter is far different than the -45 and -39 temperatures we had about 15 years ago. Last year it got down to -20, which is pretty normal. Denninmi, no hero here... just a guy with some crazy ideas! Islandbreeze, once the Trachys get established, they will really take off. I actually wish it would grow SLOWER! Chadec, I thought the Trachy was a fast grower, but the Washy grows twice as fast. I'm kind of scared of it. Yikes!
jimhardy
12 years ago
Thats funny about the Washys....and you should be scared!

They are really fast!

Click for weather forecast
arctictropical
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi Jim! Yeah. It's kind of like the Jack & the Beanstock story. I hope I don't wake up some morning and find it growing out of control! It's not only growing tall, but WIDE. I had to cut most of it's fronds off to get it under the box last Fall. I'm sure it will outgrow the Trachy in no time. I guess I'd better start looking for a crane fairly soon to get high enough to cover both of them.

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