Cool!

Where the tropics begin – WTTB – was the slogan of a local radio station for many years. With the passage of time, temperatures in Indian River County have become more tropical, and this change is reflect in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness zones updated in 2023 and shown above.

We have seen higher summer temperatures that have produced tropical storms that pack more of a punch like Hurricane Milton which spawned a terrible amount of tornadoes that devastated the central beach area of Orchid Island and downtown Vero Beach.

January 2025 temperatures, though, have been unusually cool, and some substantial amounts of snow have fallen on 1/22/25 in northern Florida. Freezes always have been part and parcel of Florida life – even in Indiana River County.

If you were here in 1989, you likely recall the Christmas freeze of that year that brought three days of temperatures in the 20s (but no snow), devastating the citrus industry and killing many tropical plants. Mangroves, Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia), and many other tropical plants died back to ground. More temperate plants like live oaks (Quercus virginiana), which ranges as far north as Virginia as its species name indicates, cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto), and saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) fared well.

For many years, folks were focused on landscaping with cold-hardy plants. As memories faded, more and more tropical plants have come to grace our landscapes. Just in case, be sure to include some cold-hardy plants in your landscape.