Hey Alex, Moody Gardens used to have 3 coconut palms outdoors about 10 years ago. They were Malayan Dwarfs, as I recall, 2 Golden Malayans, and one Green Malayan, probably brought over from Florida. They were each about 10-12ft. tall overall height with no gray trunk showing, but the next time I went there about a year later they were all gone. I assume they died because Galveston, just like coastal Southern California stays too cool from late December to late February. Even though Galveston is borderline between 9B and 10A, with a normal lowest low temperature each winter of about 30, it just stays too cool in the daytime there in the winter. (I Used to live there so I am quite familiar with the climate. I tried growing a coconut palm there in our backyard that was killed by a hard freeze on the island in late December 1990.) Royals must be slightly more tolerant of prolonged cool weather than coconuts are since I have seen a particularly nice looking Cuban Royal in the older part of Galveston a couple of years ago with a solid trunk of about 15ft. and a nice crown on top of that. I have never seen them fruit though in Galveston, like they do in the Rio Grande Valley, where royals can reach 40ft. tall with trunks of 25-28ft.!

It looks good considering the kind of winter it has been through. It should be fertilized with a good 12-4-8 palm fertilizer containg the micronutrients, especially Boron and Copper to help it recover from the cold, and it needs to be watered since Florida has been experiencing severe droughts too. John

I know of a coconut in St. Augustine. Isn't Citrus county where a lot of manatee go for the winter? On the west coast of Fl.? Sure sounds good right now, coconuts or not!

NEW ! "Coconut bonzai": reducing the vertical growth of Tall-type coconut palms A traditional practice from farmers of the Mekong Delta - New video avalaible. Please visit: http://diversiflora-international.blogspot.com and/orhttp://coconutvietnam.blogspot.com Roland Bourdeix