Kaylah, If only your flu could be as entertaining for you as you've made it for us! Get well soon! Growing up in north Florida, and then attending college in Gainesville in the middle of the state, I remember plenty of hard freezes and a few snowfalls. Florida's not quite the balmy tropical place people think it is. You probably get lower lows than we do here. But the average temperature in Florida is a lot higher: you don't get week after week of temperatures that go from the high twenties to the low forties. And I bet Floridians aren't still lighting fires in the morning in early May. I always thought those frosty mornings were beautiful: a clear sky, a heavy frost on the ground, and the piercing gold sun rising above the horizon and glittering through the dark leafless trees. Don't worry Sherry, it'll pass, and the roses will be fine. Melissa

My Trachys are on the south side of my house,which is my front yard.I planted them late,Sept.I know your not suppost to plant them that late,but I dont have anymore room in my house for plants.I have two 15 gallon Cycas revoluta,one 15 gallon Phoenix sylvestris,three 3 gallon Butia capitatas.one 3 gallon Trachycarpus fortunei,one 15 gallon green Mediterranean fan,one 5 gallon blue Mediterranean fan,four 3 gallon Butyagrus nabonnandii,one 15 gallon Phoenix roebelenii,not counting the agave's.My wife says our house looks like a palm forest inside,I plan on planting most of them in late spring.You asked me If my Trachys were yellowing,yes they are.I gave them epson salt about a month ago,it dident help the old fronds but the new ones are a little more greener.I planted a Trancarpus fortunei as my frist palm outside,it was a 15 gallon size.It roted in the ground in about a month.I use to do construction work and everywhere we worked at in GA. had red clay,except south GA.I live in the historic distric of Douglasville,GA. you dont see any pines trees here,its all white oaks and red oaks 200yrs old or better.My soil is nearly black,I know some parts of my yard dont drain well enough,so I tried tilling in some sand in one bed and it made the soil hard as a rock.Its just about like concrete.The president of S.E.P.S.lives here,and he couldent figure out why Trachys dont do well in my yard.He has pbobley 20 or so in his yard,and its red clay.He said that I had something wierd going on,its reverse from what it should be.Trachys should do good here and pindos shouldent survive without protection.Thats been true up to the last couple years,with the pindos.Thats why I thought I would give Trachys another chance.There going to do a soil sample this summer to see whats going on.Mabey I will find out whats going on then.I have one 15 gallon blue Mediterranean fan palm thats been on my front pourch all winter with no damage,I dont water it,and its growing.My guess is all the rain plus very cold temps.are the main problem with the palms planted in my yard, thats just my guess.

Junkyardgirl, where do you live? We live in Melbourne. I think it got to 32 on Wed night. Several places near here spotted a few snow flurries.

Gram - it's too cold up there. I once lived in Rhode Island when my husband was in the Navy and I begged him to send me back to Florida in the winter (I wasn't painting then). Fortunately, I got my wish and all of our duty stations after that were in the South, five years in Hawaii and two years in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This morning it is about 34 degrees outside and this weekend it will go down to 28 degrees but the good news is it only lasts a few days and then it goes right back up. But you know how painters are - they will paint anytime and anywhere. Last year I drove to another city to take a class with Elizabeth Pruitt Hayes and it turned out to be one of the coldest nights of the year and the place we were painting in had no heat. I brought an electric blanket, feet warmers, two sweatshirts and thick socks but even with all that it was hard to concentrate with steam coming from your mouth LOL.