My husband and I spent a pleasant long weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware earlier this month. We love going to the beach during the off-season, not only because it's cheaper, but because it's a whole lot less crowded; we love being able to find parking and not having to wait for a table at a restaurant. Rehoboth Beach is beautiful in early October and if the weather cooperates, the water is still warm enough to swim.
Because of its proximity to the ocean, the climate is much more moderate than my own in Washington, DC; the summers tend to be a bit cooler and the winters a bit warmer, making the climate ideal for growing hardy palms like Trachycarpus fortunei. A few adventurous Rehoboth Beach gardeners have been trying windmill palms and I've been following some of these for several years. But the beach is by no means immune to cold weather and this past winter the palms of Rehoboth Beach were put to the test by the east coast's coldest winter in 20 years.
