Green sprouts?

ABOVE: The Queen Palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana) appear to have survived the bitter cold of early January. Pictured here at sunset the 4-year-old palms are still relatively perky. The 3-year-olds appear quite burnt but not dead. We do have about 8 more weeks of winter before we are historically safe from freezing temperatures.



ABOVE: The Centipede Tongavine (Epipremnum pinnatum (L.) Engl.) were severely damaged. This is the first time in at least 10 years that they were so frozen. Despite that fact, there are parts of the plants that were unscathed, like these green leaves.



ABOVE: This Staghorn Fern (Platycerium superbum de Jonch. & Hennipman) has been with me for 20 years. It was nearly killed. Still, I found one green sprout, pictured here. To see how this massive fern looked in better (warmer) days click here: STAGHORN FERN



ABOVE and BELOW: Between bird predators and weeks of subfreezing temperatures. I suspected that all the fish were dead. Yesterday we spent hours removing the leaves that covered the pond. The leaves were from the American Sycamore Tree (Platanus occidentalis L.) that towers 50-feet above the pond. Once all the leaves were removed, a school of fish appeared. . . quite hungry.



BELOW: A wide shot of the gazebo, pond, and now almost-leafless Sycamore. Below the Sycamore are my prized banana and plantain trees, completely frozen. In theory they will grow back from their roots if we don't have anymore severe cold.



BELOW: It appeared the Sycamore was flash frozen. Its leaves covered everything. The pond is in the foreground but is pretty unrecognizable in this shot, covered with leaves.



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Phillip's Natural World. . . the other photos

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PHILLIP'S NATURAL WORLD III