PENSACOLA, Fla. — Non-native palm and fruit trees are a popular but costly part of the Florida’s Panhandle’s landscaping. Nowadays, those trees are mostly withering because of an unusually cold winter.
Brown trees line neighborhood streets, shopping centers, and thoroughfares. Dead palm fronds stand in contrast to blooming hydrangeas, dogwoods, and azaleas.
The Panhandle may be part of Florida, but it’s not tropical like Miami — it’s more than 300 miles farther north, and the average low temperature in December and January is 40 degrees. Freezing temperatures aren’t uncommon, and this year temperatures plunged into the 20s and below. The region was blanketed by ice for a time.
‘‘Unfortunately there are a lot of South Florida trees that are coming up and being planted in our climate that are not really tolerant of our rare cold freezes,’’ said Carol Lord, an environmental horticulture technician at the Escambia County Extension Service.
But this doesn’t stop Panhandle residents from planting warm-weather trees that are stereotypically Floridian.
‘‘Most of the people down here are not native — they move to the area and immediately they’ve got to go out and get a few palms, a citrus or two in their yard, it’s just a natural thing,’’ said Mike Robertson, owner of Mike’s Garden, a landscaping company.
Depending on the species, one tree can cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Gulf Breeze homeowner Wayne Story could lose thousands of dollars’ worth of landscaping that includes a mature sago palm, a split-leaf philodendron, and a Canary Island date palm. All are native to warmer climates.
Story said the trees were recommended to him by his landscaper more than 15 years ago and that they have done well in other cold snaps, hurricanes, and dry spells. But Story isn’t sure the trees will come back this time.
Louis Kahn, owner of Palm Source, a landscaping company, said he gets calls daily from people wanting him to determine if their trees are dead.
‘‘If the tree isn’t buckled over, I probably couldn’t tell you it was dead,’’ Kahn said.
Yet the entrance to the Pensacola airport is lined with Washington palms that look more like totem poles. Their tops have been trimmed back in hope of promoting growth.
Many people are opting to replace lost trees landscaping with less-expensive one that withstand cold better, Robertson said. But many will still be looking to plant palms and citrus trees.
‘‘Everybody is looking for that piece of paradise,” Kahn said.