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Where to purchase Washingtonia Filifera in Texas


SusanDallas

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Is there anywhere in Texas where you can be sure and get true filifera and not filibusta? I don't care if it is online or sold at a nursery. I have 8 of them that are over 14 ft. tall. I bought them when they were about 18 inches tall. I need 2 more of them. I would like them to be about 3 ft. tall. I live south of Dallas in a rural area. The filibusters do not live where I am located. I have acreage on top of a hill with no windbreaks. I have been to Dallas Palms quite a few times. I have been told by the employees that they have the filifera. But due to the language barrier, I am not sure if they are true filifera. Most of the employees speak only Spanish and I don't. Any help would be appreciated.

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@SusanDallas

You can get them relatively close by from @TexasColdHardyPalms.  You can contact them using the information on this website: https://texascoldhardypalms.com/

I've bought from them plenty of times before, including a pair of Washingtonia filifera.  Few nurseries go through the care that they do to make sure their filifera are not hybrids and are more tolerant to moisture and humidity.

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Wow! Thank you for the info. They are not far from me. Their prices are great ! I am going to call them later today and see if I can set up an appointment. With those prices, I can buy a lot of other palms that I want as well. My poor checking account is going to take a ding. Gardening is one of my passions.

 I hate to pay shipping when they are close by and the plants would be better than being boxed in this heat.  I have  got to get back to my mowing and weedeating right now. I just stopped to take a break. Thanks again

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20 minutes ago, SusanDallas said:

Wow! Thank you for the info. They are not far from me. Their prices are great ! I am going to call them later today and see if I can set up an appointment. With those prices, I can buy a lot of other palms that I want as well. My poor checking account is going to take a ding. Gardening is one of my passions.

 I hate to pay shipping when they are close by and the plants would be better than being boxed in this heat.  I have  got to get back to my mowing and weedeating right now. I just stopped to take a break. Thanks again

Yeah, those guys are good.  Joe has a great variety of stuff and he prices are off the charts reasonable.  A lot of his palms are small, but they are often selectively bred through specific lineages that have been proven to be particularly cold hardy.  I believe he was the dude that identified the fact that there were two strains of Sabal uresana, one significantly more cold hardy than the other.

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56 minutes ago, SusanDallas said:

Wow! Thank you for the info. They are not far from me. Their prices are great ! I am going to call them later today and see if I can set up an appointment. With those prices, I can buy a lot of other palms that I want as well. My poor checking account is going to take a ding. Gardening is one of my passions.

 I hate to pay shipping when they are close by and the plants would be better than being boxed in this heat.  I have  got to get back to my mowing and weedeating right now. I just stopped to take a break. Thanks again

Hi Susan, welcome to Palmtalk!

I recommend making a personal visit to Texas Cold Hardy Palms and selecting something in person.  His palms are well grown and I'm sure he has several different sizes of filifera - he has hundreds of them.  I made a trip up to his place in Mansfield a couple of years ago from San Antonio on my way to Ft. Worth and it was well worth it.  I know what you mean about not being able to find W. filifera specifically.  Joseph collects most if not all of his filifera seed himself so you know what you are getting.  And he's got plenty of other interesting palms that can grow in your zone that are not easily found elsewhere.  Brahea armata for example.  I'm including a couple of threads from @TonyDFW showing some of his awesome palms.  Good luck and let us know what you end up getting!

Jon

 

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Jon Sunder

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Thank you for all the excellent advice. I called and spoke to Joe. I made an appointment to visit his place this coming week. He also told me that he has a mix of palm fertilizer that he sells that is about half the price of Carl's palm food. So, I am going to pick up a bag of that as well.

I remember Tony in DFW. I used to subscribe to the Palm Society newsletter many years ago. I believe he is the one who got one of the Home Depot stores in Dallas to do a special order of the cold hardy palms. That is how I got the washingtonia filifera that I have now. At that time, I drove a little 2-seater convertible. I had to make 3 trips into Dallas to get all the palms and banana plants into my car. They wouldn't fit in unless I had the top down on my car. I looked like a mobile jungle going down the highway. I was terrified that a policeman was going to see me. Many thanks to Tony for getting Home Depot to do that. 

Now, I have a minivan. So I expect to fill it up next week. Again, thanks to all of you for recommending Joe' nursery to me. I really appreciate it.

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  • 7 months later...

Hi, this is an old thread but now relevant for me.  I'm having trouble finding Washingtonia Filifera in the Central Texas area (around Austin), presumably due to the freeze.  If anyone knows of any around please let me know, willing to drive to Houston too.

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  • 10 months later...

tigerflash, did you find any Filifera in Central Texas?

On 4/12/2021 at 12:06 PM, tigerflash said:

Hi, this is an old thread but now relevant for me.  I'm having trouble finding Washingtonia Filifera in the Central Texas area (around Austin), presumably due to the freeze.  If anyone knows of any around please let me know, willing to drive to Houston too.

 

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Only foolproof way is to collect seeds from an ancient Filifera in ATX or SATX, otherwise odds are you are going to end up with a hybrid of some sorts

Edited by DreaminAboutPalms
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They had a couple at Barton Springs nursery in Austin earlier this week. They are quite reliable, usually, with their labeling so they are probably your best bet after growing them from seed yourself.

Edited by Swolte
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14 hours ago, DreaminAboutPalms said:

Only foolproof way is to collect seeds from an ancient Filifera in ATX or SATX, otherwise odds are you are going to end up with a hybrid of some sorts

Even those have a chance of having some robusta. You pretty much have to go to habitat in California, Nevada, or Arizona to guarantee true Filifera, or buy from someone who has grown palms originating from that strain.

Or you can just take a chance and collect from palms that look true and survived the 2021 freeze in Texas. They may have adapted to our climate and be better specimen anyway.

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2 hours ago, Meangreen94z said:

Even those have a chance of having some robusta. You pretty much have to go to habitat in California, Nevada, or Arizona to guarantee true Filifera, or buy from someone who has grown palms originating from that strain.

Or you can just take a chance and collect from palms that look true and survived the 2021 freeze in Texas. They may have adapted to our climate and be better specimen anyway.

Adapted is very important as you go into humid East Texas and the Gulf Coast. Of the 25 or so Washingtonia I had, I am down to 2. Of the 9 that never really defoliated from temperatures ranging for 14/15F to 17F in the past (most likely highest percentage of Filifera) almost all tried to come back but all died except 1 in the wet spring and summer. They never attained the girth of some Filifera, and suffered some on old fronds by spring from nutrient/humidity issues. Of my Hybrids, the one that survived is one that would burn at 17F but is my most vigorous and healthy in my climate/soil. That is the one I would want to replant for my yard. Too bad it didn't flower this year, it flowered the year before, but those could have hybridized.  

So I figure looking at the back 30 years ( climate average) 23 of the 30 years the low was above 17F. So I have a 76% chance of having a good winter without burn, and still have one that will grow faster and look better than a pure Filifera with humidity/nutrient issues.

If you are in the Dallas to Waco to Round Rock corridor there are surviving Washingtonia most likely high or pure Filifera, and soil is better for them. So find one with seeds this fall near you that is not near a large building out of the north wind that had an advantage.

Edited by Collectorpalms
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Current Texas Gardening Zone 9a, Mean (1999-2024): 22F Low/104F High. Yearly Precipitation 39.17 inches.

Extremes: Low Min 4F 2021, 13.8F 2024. High Max 112F 2011/2023, Precipitation Max 58 inches 2015, Lowest 19 Inches 2011.

Weather Station: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KTXCOLLE465

Ryan (Paleoclimatologist Since 4 billion Years ago, Meteorologist/Earth Scientist/Physicist Since 1995, Savy Horticulturist Since Birth.)

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20 hours ago, DreaminAboutPalms said:

Only foolproof way is to collect seeds from an ancient Filifera in ATX or SATX, otherwise odds are you are going to end up with a hybrid of some sorts

I did that several years ago. I collected seed from an 1980s survivor in the San Antonio area. It did pay off. Planted three of them in Hutto, and they survived. They may have not hybridized. It was around 2F. Pictures from this winter.

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Edited by Collectorpalms
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Current Texas Gardening Zone 9a, Mean (1999-2024): 22F Low/104F High. Yearly Precipitation 39.17 inches.

Extremes: Low Min 4F 2021, 13.8F 2024. High Max 112F 2011/2023, Precipitation Max 58 inches 2015, Lowest 19 Inches 2011.

Weather Station: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KTXCOLLE465

Ryan (Paleoclimatologist Since 4 billion Years ago, Meteorologist/Earth Scientist/Physicist Since 1995, Savy Horticulturist Since Birth.)

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As some have stated, your best bet for anywhere in Texas.  Step one, drive to Austin or San Antonio.  Step 2, look for ancient Washingtonia Filifera, that is as close to pure as possible.  This will not be hard to do.  Look for the mangled up, gnarly, ancient trunks that pre-date 1980, and in many cases pre-date 1950.  Step 3, look around in every direction and make sure you don't see any Robusta on the horizon.  Step 4, scoop up some seeds off the ground, of which there will probably be hundreds.  Step 5, take back home, toss in some pots and watch them grow.  Plant in ground after a year or so.  Done.  

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On 2/27/2022 at 3:55 PM, Jimhardy said:

One on the right in the last pic has some serious battle scars.

Exactly what I was referring to. There are battle scarred Filifera, 70-100 years old, literally everywhere in San Antonio, and to a lesser extent, Austin. 
 

if you live in North Texas, it’s worth your dive time to get a couple hundred seeds this way. Every one of these palms has survived single digits. 

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On 2/26/2022 at 9:56 AM, Meangreen94z said:

ou pretty much have to go to habitat in California, Nevada, or Arizona to guarantee true Filifera

That is what I did.  I went to Thousand Palm Oasis in Coachella Valley Preserve, California and collected seeds last March.  The park ranger thought I was collecting them to eat.  I was like, "yeah man, they are delicious...you got to eat a lot though..." (...as I walked away with two big handfuls). 

Unified Theory of Palm Seed Germination

image.png.2a6e16e02a0a8bfb8a478ab737de4bb1.png

(Where: bh = bottom heat, fs = fresh seed, L = love, m = magic, p = patience, and t = time)

DISCLAIMER: Working theory; not yet peer reviewed.

"Fronds come and go; the spear is life!" - Anonymous Palmtalker

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The Beast.  Huebner Oaks, San Antonio (11745 I-10 West, San Antonio, TX 78230)

image.thumb.jpeg.6d59d961c162f92002841d690907bfce.jpeg

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Unified Theory of Palm Seed Germination

image.png.2a6e16e02a0a8bfb8a478ab737de4bb1.png

(Where: bh = bottom heat, fs = fresh seed, L = love, m = magic, p = patience, and t = time)

DISCLAIMER: Working theory; not yet peer reviewed.

"Fronds come and go; the spear is life!" - Anonymous Palmtalker

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Washingtonia sps. with a dope petticoat on Lackland AFB, Texas (on Security Hill for those who have base access).  I have obtained seeds from this specimen many times.

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Unified Theory of Palm Seed Germination

image.png.2a6e16e02a0a8bfb8a478ab737de4bb1.png

(Where: bh = bottom heat, fs = fresh seed, L = love, m = magic, p = patience, and t = time)

DISCLAIMER: Working theory; not yet peer reviewed.

"Fronds come and go; the spear is life!" - Anonymous Palmtalker

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I have always admired the petticoats on this planted group of Washingtonia sps. on South General McMullen Drive as well.  It looks like their survival rate post February 2021 freeze was low though.

image.thumb.jpeg.0a718798d7c82000a3adaa718b4b9bfb.jpeg

image.thumb.jpeg.fbea554fd9dd9076053e9aa680ab7dd3.jpeg

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Unified Theory of Palm Seed Germination

image.png.2a6e16e02a0a8bfb8a478ab737de4bb1.png

(Where: bh = bottom heat, fs = fresh seed, L = love, m = magic, p = patience, and t = time)

DISCLAIMER: Working theory; not yet peer reviewed.

"Fronds come and go; the spear is life!" - Anonymous Palmtalker

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31 minutes ago, GoatLockerGuns said:

I have always admired the petticoats on this planted group of Washingtonia sps. on South General McMullen Drive as well.  It looks like their survival rate post February 2021 freeze was low though.

Old San Antonio has some great palms; the area around SAC has/had so many great Washingtonias.

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2 hours ago, GoatLockerGuns said:

I have always admired the petticoats on this planted group of Washingtonia sps. on South General McMullen Drive as well.  It looks like their survival rate post February 2021 freeze was low though.

image.thumb.jpeg.0a718798d7c82000a3adaa718b4b9bfb.jpeg

image.thumb.jpeg.fbea554fd9dd9076053e9aa680ab7dd3.jpeg

That's interesting, I was given the impression by certain individuals on this forum that almost no Washingtonia died in the Urban areas.

Current Texas Gardening Zone 9a, Mean (1999-2024): 22F Low/104F High. Yearly Precipitation 39.17 inches.

Extremes: Low Min 4F 2021, 13.8F 2024. High Max 112F 2011/2023, Precipitation Max 58 inches 2015, Lowest 19 Inches 2011.

Weather Station: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KTXCOLLE465

Ryan (Paleoclimatologist Since 4 billion Years ago, Meteorologist/Earth Scientist/Physicist Since 1995, Savy Horticulturist Since Birth.)

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12 minutes ago, Collectorpalms said:

That's interesting, I was given the impression by certain individuals on this forum that almost no Washingtonia died in the Urban areas.

Oh, there were definitely casualties here in San Antonio.  What I find interesting is how many of these Washingtonia sps. look very similar, and are planted close to each other in similar conditions; yet, some made it and some did not (almost like it was a crap shoot).  From what I have seen, and generally speaking, the Washingtonia sps. with fatter trunks and dull green fronds (i.e., more filifera-like) seemed to have fared better than the taller Washingtonia sps. with thin trunks and dark green fronds (i.e., more robusta-like).  That said, I have seen a few tall robusta-like Washingtonia sps. around town that made it, as well as a few filifera-like specimens that did not (the corner of De Zavala Rd and I-10 W is a good example of this).  Even so, when you see planted "groupings" of similar palms like this, their outward observational properties alone are often not enough to make a good judgment on which will make it or not (at least when a wet cold in the single digits Fahrenheit is experienced).

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Unified Theory of Palm Seed Germination

image.png.2a6e16e02a0a8bfb8a478ab737de4bb1.png

(Where: bh = bottom heat, fs = fresh seed, L = love, m = magic, p = patience, and t = time)

DISCLAIMER: Working theory; not yet peer reviewed.

"Fronds come and go; the spear is life!" - Anonymous Palmtalker

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6 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

That's interesting, I was given the impression by certain individuals on this forum that almost no Washingtonia died in the Urban areas.

Go downtown around the riverwalk and in other favored microclimates.  

There are many other groupings like this where all or almost all the palms survived.

Some died, no one is denying that, but a lot of thin Washingtonia survived.  You can't base things off one photo. 

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9 hours ago, NBTX11 said:

Some died, no one is denying that, but a lot of thin Washingtonia survived.  You can't base things off one photo. 

I would submit that words/terms "some" and "a lot" in that statement are subjective.  If you believe that "a lot" of robusta-like Washingtonia sps. survived the 2021 Freeze event in San Antonio and its environs relative to the historic wet cold we experienced, then I can respect that.  I just personally do not concur.  Have "some" survived?  Yes, as many (including my myself) have aforementioned, there are multiple recovering specimens of robusta-like Washingtonia sps. that can be found in the area.  There is one even pictured in the subject photo (far left in the background on the other side of the road, next to the trunk of a clearly dead robusta-like Washingtonia sps.).  I believe the other Washingtonia sps. picture in the subject photo (i.e., the planting group in the median with many dead trunks) have/had a more even distribution of traits, and are what I typically think of as Washingtonia x filibusta.  In my opinion though, there was a serious die-off of the more robusta-like Washingtonia sps. specimens in this area.  Generally speaking (and of course this is solely in my opinion) more of the filifera-like Washingtonia sps. survived than did the robusta-like Washingtonia sps.  Can we find and take pictures of either that survived?  Sure.  But driving around town these days post-freeze, the number of tall thin trunked Washingtonia sps. I see has seriously declined.

Unified Theory of Palm Seed Germination

image.png.2a6e16e02a0a8bfb8a478ab737de4bb1.png

(Where: bh = bottom heat, fs = fresh seed, L = love, m = magic, p = patience, and t = time)

DISCLAIMER: Working theory; not yet peer reviewed.

"Fronds come and go; the spear is life!" - Anonymous Palmtalker

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39 minutes ago, GoatLockerGuns said:

I would submit that words/terms "some" and "a lot" in that statement are subjective.  If you believe that "a lot" of robusta-like Washingtonia sps. survived the 2021 Freeze event in San Antonio and its environs relative to the historic wet cold we experienced, then I can respect that.  I just personally do not concur.  Have "some" survived?  Yes, as many (including my myself) have aforementioned, there are multiple recovering specimens of robusta-like Washingtonia sps. that can be found in the area.  There is one even pictured in the subject photo (far left in the background on the other side of the road, next to the trunk of a clearly dead robusta-like Washingtonia sps.).  I believe the other Washingtonia sps. picture in the subject photo (i.e., the planting group in the median with many dead trunks) have/had a more even distribution of traits, and are what I typically think of as Washingtonia x filibusta.  In my opinion though, there was a serious die-off of the more robusta-like Washingtonia sps. specimens in this area.  Generally speaking (and of course this is solely in my opinion) more of the filifera-like Washingtonia sps. survived than did the robusta-like Washingtonia sps.  Can we find and take pictures of either that survived?  Sure.  But driving around town these days post-freeze, the number of tall thin trunked Washingtonia sps. I see has seriously declined.

Quality post. I was mainly referring to inside the downtown loop. If taking San Antonio as a whole, then yes thin Washingtonia seriously declined, although there are a lot of survivors. What percentage I’m not sure as I haven’t scouted out everywhere. 

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On 2/26/2022 at 4:09 PM, Collectorpalms said:

They may have not hybridized.

You very well may be correct.  According to Hodel (2014), one of the ways to differentiate Washingtonia filifera from Washingtonia robusta and Washingtonia x filibusta is the presence of white tomentum (a covering of dense matted hairs) at the hastula (triangular expansion at the upper surface of the petiole of a palm leaf where it joins the blade).  Hodel (2014) observed that Washingtonia filifera presented with no observable tomentum, while both Washingtonia robusta and Washingtonia x filibusta did (more so with Washingtonia robusta, but noticeably present on both).  From those pictures you posted, it does not appear that there is any tomentum present in or around the hastula of that palm, suggesting a Washingtonia filifera trait.  The Hodel (2014) paper is attached for further reference/reading.  He provides a really good close up picture of the Washingtonia x filibusta hastula for comparison.

68PhytoN-Washingtoniahybrid.pdf

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Unified Theory of Palm Seed Germination

image.png.2a6e16e02a0a8bfb8a478ab737de4bb1.png

(Where: bh = bottom heat, fs = fresh seed, L = love, m = magic, p = patience, and t = time)

DISCLAIMER: Working theory; not yet peer reviewed.

"Fronds come and go; the spear is life!" - Anonymous Palmtalker

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I’m going to make a large photo post on the palmageddon thread, but here is a quick sampling. I was able to drive around downtown SA for about an hour this morning scouting out palms. By downtown I mean inside the 37, 35, 90 loop. I strongly stand by my assertion that a vast vast majority of Washingtonia survived in downtown. Thin, thick, and all in between. Way over 90 percent. I saw less than 5 dead trunks in all of downtown SA. It looks like nothing happened. There are palms everywhere. I’m not joking. It looks exactly like pre Feb 21 freeze. Outside of immediate downtown there are way more thin Washingtonia deaths, particularly thin ones, but downtown no way. 

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  • 10 months later...

There's a guy I know who has a small nursery on the Southside of San Antonio that sells 4ft overall height Filiferas for $35 each .  He only has a small number of Filiferas I've bought two last year.  Look him up on Facebook market for the San Antonio area and message him . I believe it's his wife's FB account.  He's very friendly but doesn't know much about palms . It took me some time and several walks to other nurseries to confirm that the ones he's selling are Filiferas.  Palm Buddha sells a lot more but for twice as much and shorter in height. First purchase was in October '22 that one I planted right away.  The other one I got in December a week before the freeze.  Going to plant this one in March .  On the bottom sellers info. 

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2 minutes ago, fr8train said:

What time of the year do Washingtonia usually seed?

In the fall. Sep-Nov. 

Edited by NBTX11
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