Tropicbreezent, you certainly have mild winters. I guess it's because you are in an equatorial climate that changes very little temperature wise. Here in North America, even as far south as Miami, Florida, the all time record low is 27F, but their normal low in January is around 59F and their normal high in January is around 76F. Here in Corpus Christi, Texas, the all time record low is 11F. Where I live on a small peninsula (Flour Bluff) a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico on the far east side of Corpus Christi, I would estimate the all time record low to be around 13 or 14F. Our normal high/low at the airport (about 18 miles inland from here) in January is 66F/46F. Where I live, I estimate the averages for January to be 64F/50F. At Brownsville, about 130 miles south of here, the all time record low is 12F (Brownsville is about 26 miles inland from the Gulf), and their averages for January are 69F/50F. The lower Texas coast can go for 15-20+ years at a time without getting into the teens, so for those living on the immediate coastline, like where I am at, we can grow coconut palms for 5-10+ years at a time between coconut killing freezes (freezes in the mid 20's or lower). The Mexican Tall variety of coconut palm is probably the most cold hardy in the Western Hemisphere. I estimate it to be hardy down to 26F. The one in Brownsville in the above photos has survived several nights in the mid to upper 20'sF over the last 10-15 years, and has even survived a couple of inches of snow at Christmas 2004 (the first measurable snowfall Brownsville had in 105 years). There are some of the Malayan Dwarf varieties (green, golden, and yellow), and hybrids between the Mexican Talls and Malayan Dwarfs that are grown on the lower Texas Coast. The Malayan Dwarfs seem to suffer the most here because as I estimate, they are only hardy to about 28F and probably can't take week long cold snaps in the 40's and 50's as well as a mature Mexican Tall can.

Hey Gardenbysarasota, It seems like Florida has had some unusually cold weather over the last 12 years. I lived in Coral Springs on the northwest side of Ft. Lauderdale for a couple of years (2000-2002). In January of 2001, it got down to 32F where I lived, but in Homestead an hour south, it got down to 28F and they are only 25 miles north of Key Largo! It is weird how it got so much colder further south than it did in Coral Springs. In the northern part of the Everglades, though it got down to 19F and wiped out 40,000 acres of sugarcane! I am afraid the over-development of Florida, especially South and Central Florida is drastically changing the climate there for the worst rapidly with unusually cold winters and extremely bad droughts. Our Texas coconut palms do not reach the 70ft.+ height like they do in South Florida and the Keys. We are looking if we can grow them to 20ft tall in overall height, with a few in the 30ft. height range in the Rio Grande Valley. I posted a couple of photos on another thread here of one in Brownsville that is approximately 40ft. tall to the top of the crown. That is about the maximum height we cold ever expect to grow on on the extreme lower Texas Coast. I think the palm in front of the coconut palm in the yard in South Padre Island is a Thatch Palm. I have seen a few in the area that are about 10-12ft. tall.

Thanks for your respose! By any chance do they say how to do it? I have not been able to find much info on growing them from seed. I picked them in a dense rain forest close to the bank of the brackish river. My Mom put one in a pot with normal dirt and the top barely covered. I put two in the sand on Padre Island for a yr and nothing happened so I took them out and put them in a pot with a mixture of dirt and sand (found that somewhere). I leave it in full sun and now with these cloudy day s and cold I have it inside with a growlight. I keep the soil moist as suggested also. When I took them out of the sand I took them to a nursery and was told they seeds were still viable. I'd been heartbroken if none of them grew because I did not do something right. If they do start to grow I plan to put them back in the yard on the IS which is all sand, of course.

All is good. Everyone is invited. What could be better than knowledgeable friends in one's garden? Seriously, I have purchased a house with a well established semi-tropical yard. Pothos lawn anyone? I lived with the garden as it was for 2 years to give things a chance and to try to overcome prejudices and/or ignorance on my part. When that time limit was up, I ripped out the crotons, pothos, and some plantings that were too regimented, ie: a battalion of oleander, a straight line regiment of hibiscus. I separated and interspersed an entire monocultured bed of varigated ginger, others of macho ferns and philodendron. I've been victorious*, after waging all out war, over a 10 year old bank of trumpet vine that was consuming a garage, telephone pole and one fifth of the garden. All that said, I've probably made some mistakes in the invasive department: planting Hawaiian Snowbush, clumping bamboo, crepe ginger and heliconia among others. Texas will have to forgive me, a formerly well behaved gardener from Berkeley, California, so amazed to find myself in zone 9b! Best, JMV *maybe. Time will tell.