Updated Photos Of Some Rio Grande Valley Coconut Palms

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Here are some updated photos of the biggest coconut palms in the Rio Grande Valley that I know of (both Mexican Talls) at the Flamingo motel in Brownsville, and a Green Hawaiian Tall Coconut Palm at a home on the southeast side of Brownsville where we had our Palm Society of South Texas meeting last Saturday.  The first two palms are about 45ft. to 50ft. tall in overall height with almost 30ft. of woody trunk, and they are both producing medium to large sized nuts!  The last palm is a juvenile palm that is just starting to trunk.  The Mexican Tall variety (first two palms is the MOST cold hardy variety in the Western Hemisphere), and the Green Hawaiian Tall is also an apparently somewhat cold hardy variety as Keith in Palmetto, FL, who has a Green Hawaiian Tall that he says made it through 27F when it was a juvenile palm.  A friend stood in front of this one for size perspective.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Notice how the Green Hawaiian Tall is just starting to produce woody trunk.  If it is this healthy and robust now, just imagine how robust looking it will be in about 3 years!

[Xenon]

Wow the first one is looking real good! Seemed like it was declining last time I saw it. Curious, do you have any more pics of the private collection?

Edited April 26, 2017 by Xenon

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

1 hour ago, Xenon said:

Wow the first one is looking real good! Seemed like it was declining last time I saw it. Curious, do you have any more pics of the private collection?

Do you mean the yard where the Palm Society meeting took place in Brownsville?

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Jonathan,

I also noticed a while back that both of the big Mexican Talls looked pretty bad to the point about a year or more ago, that I thought they had Lethal Yellowing and were dying, but now I think it was probably just lack of water.  The more tropical palms in the RGV that are used to growing in areas that get more rainfall, look pretty bad when they don't get enough water.  Royals there are a good example of this.  So, I think these Mexican Talls were finally watered and probably received some fertilizer too, which is why they are now looking a lot better again and have some nice nuts on them.

John

[Jdiaz31089]

They seem to do well there, I wonder why they're not planted more like they are in South Florida? All of the other landscape plants look kind of, well, "common". I'm just curious as to why there are so few palms in a place that can support tropical palms. 

[Xenon]

3 hours ago, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Do you mean the yard where the Palm Society meeting took place in Brownsville?

Yes

[Xenon]

3 hours ago, Jdiaz31089 said:

They seem to do well there, I wonder why they're not planted more like they are in South Florida? All of the other landscape plants look kind of, well, "common". I'm just curious as to why there are so few palms in a place that can support tropical palms. 

Coconuts are a bit touchy for the area and can look ratty after a freeze. Not a good "staple" plant. Royal palms are becoming increasingly common and may be close to edging out queen palms in some areas for the second/third spot after the Washingtonia robusta (outnumbers every other plant by at least 10x) and the native Sabal mexicana. Foxtail palms are also pretty common. Lots of tender landscaping can be found in recent real estate listings. Even the city is becoming more daring - royal palms, Bismarckia, Delonix regia, Bauhinia etc are being installed in public landscapes. However, the RGV in general is one of the poorest areas of the U.S.  so landscaping is often not a priority. 

Speaking of uncommon plants, the two columnar plants in front of the first coconut are Polyalthia longifolia. Wonder how they got there...

Edited April 27, 2017 by Xenon

[GottmitAlex]

What plant is in front and to the right of the Hawaiian Tall?

[Xenon]

26 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

What plant is in front and to the right of the Hawaiian Tall?

Looks like Sabal mauritiiformis 

[COCOTEX]

On 4/26/2017, 12:33:49, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

 

On 4/26/2017, 12:28:04, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

She's Beautiful!

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Yes, they are beautiful, and if they got a little more water each year, and some of the MicroLife fertilizer I use on a regular basis, they would be even better looking and full of nuts!