my trees are confused (abnormally warm Fall/beginning of Winter)

[Sir Goosenseresworthie]

low of 38°F this morning, first frost of the season. it was light and patchy, many areas had no frost. may convince the trees that its winter now.

i would like to correct an error i made above stating the ratio of coniferous vs deciduous in my area. i was focusing on deciduous trees the other day and i guess i took for granite just how many coniferous trees we have, makes the deciduous trees stand out more. my location is more like 80% coniferous and 20% deciduous. near the beach its more like 90% coniferous and 10% deciduous. in fact many areas of Anastasia Island, not a single deciduous tree in sight. out near Gainesville its around 67% coniferous and 33% deciduous. hard to get an idea of the average because it really depends on the habitat you are looking at. ex: creeks are almost entirely deciduous while flatwoods are almost entirely coniferous.

Originally Posted by BullochResident

I live about 200 miles north of you. My deciduous trees were doing this during early-mid December. They're now all bare. The American Sweetgums in particular were incredibly disappointing. When I traveled down to Jacksonville the week before Christmas, their Bradford Pears were for the most part, completely green. I was astonished.

i had similar astonishment when i traveled to North Carolina 2 years ago. it was the middle of April (i think it was the 16th). I was driving through Spartanburg, SC (800 ft.) and basically all of the trees were full and lush. you can tell the leaves were fresh and brand new but nonetheless full and looked like a very green springy place. 40 miles later Hendersonville, NC (2,100 ft.) and all of the trees were completely bare! it still looked like winter! not even buds. it was an amazing change in 40 miles and ~1,300 ft.

another note, you can see some full grown Sabal palms in Spartanburg but in Hendersonville not a single one and instead you start to see what looks to be a variety of spruce.

i remember one winter here in St. Augustine it was towards the end of February, most of the red maples in my area were still bare and i went to Orlando and saw that all of the red maples were already in full bloom and i recall distinctly how jealous i was.