Awesome trees. I'm surprised I've not seen anyone grow Spanish moss on trees here in Knoxville. It would probably have to be in a warmer microclimate here, but, with everything else people grow, it looks like there would be some of that here too.

Hey Brandon,

Sorry I've missed some of these messages. Some come to my email and some don't. The Spanish moss will survive here with no problem. It will be fine in Knoxville too. All you need is to get enough established before the birds take it away for nests. This moss in the last picture is on a college campus in Nashville and I have no idea who put it there. It's still there though.

Do you know how long the Spanish Moss has been there? Has it lived through a cold winter? One where the temp drops to 0 or less.

A live Oak or Southern Oak would be spectacular in about 20 years if planted at the 5/3 bldg or 1st TN or Batman bldg downtown. 5/3 bldg desperately needs some vegetation.

I recall the temp droping to -24 in Knoxville in the mid 80s. I lost many plants. My Nellie R Stevens holly and Buford holly lost all their leaves. The Nellie died. the buford came back from the roots, but the old growth above ground diwas dead and had to be cut off. So it will be interesting to see if these trees can survive a very cold winter. On the other hand, there is(or was, I haven't been by there in about 20 years) a southern Oak on McCallie Ave in Chattanooga that is probably 60-100 years old. The last time I saw it it was about 40-50' tall. It survived that extremely cold day.

I completely agree. I think they should line Deadrick with Live oaks as well because they would be completely hardy and provide a beautiful canopy. I also think they could plant some beautiful cold-hardy palms. I have had Spanish moss survive every winter since 2003 in Nashville and it has spread:
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As far as I suspect, Live oaks and Spanish moss can survive below 0 in very short spurts. In 1899, Tallahassee, FL recorded Florida's all-time record low of (-2). In 1985, places in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina with Live oaks and Spanish moss recorded as low as (-10 to -15). The benefit is that it is extremely rare and we tend to have nice mid winter warm ups in the SE. The hardest part is convincing landscapers north of Florida to plant things that we know are hardy here.

one of 3 Live Oaks near the Highland Cemetary in Knoxville, TN.

.. and acorns I found two days ago off the tree in the picture above in Knoxville.

Nikki,

Those acorns are NOT Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) acorns! They are probably Q hemisphaerica.

You're right! Darlington Oak...very similar to Quercus Virginiana.

Actually, Brandon, I *think* that those trees are laurifolia, not hemisphaerica. The hemisphaerica that I have observed on campus have larger leaves, some of which are diamond shaped. These trees seem to have smaller, darker leaves that really do look very much like virginiana. Dirr claims that laurifolia is mainly deciduous, but my observations seem to say otherwise. These trees pictured retain about half to a third of their leaves, depending on the severity of the winter.

This further begs the question, "Are there any true virginiana in Knoxville?" The much-debated trees on campus ARE some type of live oak, bc they have the tell-tell elongated acorns. Well, I know there are at least 2 bc I gave them to people as gifts. Both seem to be doing well.