What Will You Miss About Growing Palms in Texas?

[romeyjdogg 30]

56 minutes ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

I think the best way to go about it is , have a base of bulletproof palms for your area as anchors and fill In the rest with zone pushes and BB store cheapies =) We all don't zone push but after a couple warm winters you can't help but try them haha 

T J 

  Here in DFW, I decided to plant a few Sabal Palmettos since they are a solid 8a palm. If this event goes on as planned, we'll have a 7a winter. Unreal

[Teegurr 181]

1 hour ago, NBTX11 said:

Just go out and plant a yard full of Trachycarpus, Sabal minors and such.

Sucks that trachys don't really grow that well here.

[Swolte 447]

They do, Teegurr! I have seen several mature ones that are very nice (I have a great-looking one too that I am not planning to protect). 
:)

[Collectorpalms 850]

7 minutes ago, Swolte said:

They do, Teegurr! I have seen several mature ones that are very nice (I have a great-looking one too that I am not planning to protect). 

No they do not grow well. There is not a single one in my yard, and it’s not for trying. Most large ones were trucked in. I have killed or had killed large ones and small ones, same for regular Butias. I get a few years some time.

They cannot take the combination of soil type and city water throughout most of the area. 

Edited February 12 by Collectorpalms

[NBTX11 400]

Remember, do not give up on any palms!!!  They will defoliate.  All your fronds will look like trash.  Don't worry immediately.   Don't go cutting off a bunch of fronds that still have green on them.  Be patient.  You will be surprised what shoots out new growth.  If you haven't seen any new growth by July or Aug, then start worrying.  Let them recover naturally. 

[Collectorpalms 850]

1 hour ago, NBTX11 said:

Remember, do not give up on any palms!!!  They will defoliate.  All your fronds will look like trash.  Don't worry immediately.   Don't go cutting off a bunch of fronds that still have green on them.  Be patient.  You will be surprised what shoots out new growth.  If you haven't seen any new growth by July or Aug, then start worrying.  Let them recover naturally. 

Any green is good for the palm. I’ll have to prune them all back because my next door neighbor is selling their house in April. Maybe the new buyer will just think mine are all new hurricane cut palms. By August I think the taller robustas will have crown collapse. Also my tall Phoenix Sylvester. 

Edited February 12 by Collectorpalms

[NBTX11 400]

9 minutes ago, Collectorpalms said:

I’ll have to prune them all back because my next door neighbor is selling their house in April. Maybe the new buyer will just think mine are all new hurricane cut palms. By August I think the taller robustas will have crown collapse. Also my tall Phoenix Sylvester. 

I once saw a really old and tall Robusta (I mean really tall probably 60 feet), after a harsh cold snap, recovered nicely in the spring.  However, I think that fall there was a big wind storm, and the crown literally just snapped off like 5 or 10 feet below the crown.  Leaving nothing but a large telephone pole.  While I still believe my tall Robusta will survive (mainly because I believe it to be a hybrid), I am not touching the fronds, even if they go dead.  I can't reach them anyways, I would have to hire someone with a cherry picker or 40 foot ladder to do it. 

Edited February 12 by NBTX11

[ShadowNight030 57]

I’m in central Louisiana, and we are expecting temps down to 10F. It’s freaking me out. All my neighbors have washingtonia or butia. I hope everything survives. There’s a few livistonia and phoenix too. Majesty palms have recently become popular in home gardens in my area. I have already told mine fair well. I’m really worried about my pink lemon tree along with my guava. A house down the street has the most beautiful white bird of paradise clump. It has grown into a nice and robust specimen. I know the woman, she was hoping it would bloom this summer :(( there’s also some very pretty bottlebrush trees in full bloom. Rip. New Orleans is expecting temperatures just below freezing. 

[Collectorpalms 850]

14 minutes ago, ShadowNight030 said:

I’m in central Louisiana, and we are expecting temps down to 10F. It’s freaking me out. All my neighbors have washingtonia or butia. I hope everything survives. There’s a few livistonia and phoenix too. Majesty palms have recently become popular in home gardens in my area. I have already told mine fair well. I’m really worried about my pink lemon tree along with my guava. A house down the street has the most beautiful white bird of paradise clump. It has grown into a nice and robust specimen. I know the woman, she was hoping it would bloom this summer :(( there’s also some very pretty bottlebrush trees in full bloom. Rip. New Orleans is expecting temperatures just below freezing. 

Citrus try to wrap and protect to just past the graft in them. The root stock is hardy but would come back wild. If you save past the trunk graft they grow back fast. Otherwise the branches are dead by 17.

Edited February 12 by Collectorpalms

[Advective 27]

Is it a fire hazard to wrap a frost blanket, then tarp, over the small incandescent string lights?

A hurricane cut like @Palm Man suggested to make trunk protection easy is intriguing.

[Allen 556]

2 hours ago, Advective said:

Is it a fire hazard to wrap a frost blanket, then tarp, over the small incandescent string lights?

A hurricane cut like @Palm Man suggeste to make trunk protection easy is intriguing.

The mini incandescent Christmas lights like shown are exclusively used on my palms with years of use.  They are safe wrapped directly on palm and then add a layer or 2 of frost cloth over.  This will get you at least +10F in those areas.  You can add a tarp if you allow some air space.  They can get hot over time under a blanket, etc so I can’t fully endorse that without using a temperature regulator like a thermocube.  Pm me for ideas on individual palms each can be different.
 

 

Edited February 12 by Allen

[amh 450]

22 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

So far nothing is being protected. I couldn’t find a tarp that was 1/3 an acre, and 30-40 tall. 

Do you know any exterminators? The tents used for termite control may work.

[Xerarch 634]

16 hours ago, romeyjdogg said:

  Here in DFW, I decided to plant a few Sabal Palmettos since they are a solid 8a palm. If this event goes on as planned, we'll have a 7a winter. Unreal

Forecast I just looked up for DFW puts you into 6b! This is incredible, best of luck to you, even the mighty Sabal palmetto won't withstand that, and I saw quite of few of them around town a few months ago.  Sometimes things can recover from surprisingly low temps though, I've seen Washingtonias bounce back from sub zero lows.

[NBTX11 400]

39 minutes ago, Xerarch said:

Forecast I just looked up for DFW puts you into 6b! This is incredible, best of luck to you, even the mighty Sabal palmetto won't withstand that, and I saw quite of few of them around town a few months ago.  Sometimes things can recover from surprisingly low temps though, I've seen Washingtonias bounce back from sub zero lows.

There will be a lot of surprising survivors.  People should not just assume their yard will be slaughtered.  A lot of palms are resilient, and will come back from very low temperatures.  Give them time and watch those new fronds push out in time.  The first few fronds will be deformed and ugly.  Spears will pull.  You still might be OK.  I actually can't wait to see who the survivors will be.  

[romeyjdogg 30]

48 minutes ago, Xerarch said:

Forecast I just looked up for DFW puts you into 6b! This is incredible, best of luck to you, even the mighty Sabal palmetto won't withstand that, and I saw quite of few of them around town a few months ago.  Sometimes things can recover from surprisingly low temps though, I've seen Washingtonias bounce back from sub zero lows.

I know, it's absurd. I think my efforts are all going to be a waste of time, but I have mini incandescent lights on the palm, burlap over that, then an outer layer of the reflectix radiant barrier bubble insulation.

 

These Sabals were planted in April, so haven't even had a real chance to establish themselves. The low on Monday night/Tuesday morning and what is looking like a string of 5-6 days below freezing...not a high percentage for survival.

Edited February 12 by romeyjdogg

[ShadowNight030 57]

14 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

Citrus try to wrap and protect to just past the graft in them. The root stock is hardy but would come back wild. If you save past the trunk graft they grow back fast. Otherwise the branches are dead by 17.

I’m going to try. Almost all my neighbors have large citrus trees. We had a hard freeze back in 2017/2018 around 15 that killed most of the younger citrus and all the lemons and limes. I’m in 9a, and there are 2 separate temperature forecasts. One for 13 degrees and one for 9 degrees on Monday. In my yard I have a sabal, chamaerops, and sago. My neighbors have a 10 foot butia, and the house next to them have 3 livistonia. There’s a few phoenix sylvestris around as well. I wonder how everything will fare. I have a washingtonia robusta I just planted, so I’m digging it back up for the next week. I feel bad for an aunt in Lafayette, she just had 4 queens installed around her pool, and has no way to protect them. They are expecting temperatures in the mid teens. 

[NBTX11 400]

1 hour ago, ShadowNight030 said:

I feel bad for an aunt in Lafayette, she just had 4 queens installed around her pool, and has no way to protect them. They are expecting temperatures in the mid teens. 

Some might survive 15 or 16.  I would expect that maybe 2 or 3 out of the 4 will pull through.  Hopefully all do, but they need to be prepared to lose some.

[amh 450]

Luckily, all of my palms are in pots, but I may reconsider planting my Sabal uresana's this spring.

[buffy 326]

I brought hospice in to talk to my palms about the end. A few Catholic palms have taken their last rites. I'm fighting with protection of all sorts, but we'll see.

[amh 450]

I have a Phoenix dactylifera that refuses to die, but this may do it.

[TexasColdHardyPalms 3,174]

3 hours ago, buffy said:

I brought hospice in to talk to my palms about the end. A few Catholic palms have taken their last rites. I'm fighting with protection of all sorts, but we'll see.

The nonstop wind will make protection very tough. I kinda hope we get the highest forcasted amount of snow to help insulate things. 

[Xenon 1,504]

I hope the robusta and Livistona decora lining I-45 and S Beltway interchange survive. The eucalyptus are iconic as well 

[ahosey01 531]

Hoping @TonyDFW 's garden isn't holocausted in this.  Love seeing those photos.

[Swolte 447]

I hope some of the mature palms at JFG gardens (formerly Peckerwood) will survive. They will have to go through this unprotected. Here's a piece from the newsletter by Randy Twaddle that hit me this morning.
 

Letter from the Executive Director

Dear Steven,   I'm writing this letter in fits and starts, having a difficult time not periodically checking the updated weather forecast for next week with predictions for the coldest temperatures this area has had since the 1980s. Furthermore, we're going to have multiple days of below freezing temperatures, a certain recipe for severe damage to the garden. Considering John Fairey's first plant expedition trip to Mexico was in 1988, it's likely some of our Mexican plants that John collected have not encountered the weather conditions we're apt to see next week.   It's hard not to scheme about ways to protect our vulnerable plants, and wish we could just drop a thermal blanket over the entire garden. At the end of the day, though, we are an experimental garden, and losing plants to extreme weather is part of the price expected and paid, though reluctantly, for planting potentially vulnerable plants. If you look closely at some of the cacti and agaves in the garden, you can see evidence of past damage due to cold weather. It doesn't always do much for their appearance but it does prove resilience. If we think of plants as more than just pretty things to look at, resilience should surely count for something. Actually, even damaged plants can still be beautiful. The image at the top of this newsletter is a Xanthosoma braziliense leaf that took a hit from a recent cold spell. It's clearly not coming back but even in death I find the linear pattern created by the high contrast between the white veins and the leaves, once vibrantly green but now the color and texture of dried seaweed, so arresting and beautiful and worthy of my attention and awe. I realize I can love it for what it is, not what it's supposed to be.   The garden has so many lessons to teach us. As in life, many of them are borne of failure rather than success. That glass half-full philosophy is going to be put to a big test next week.   If you have a garden, I hope it weathers the storm. Stay warm, and we'll see you after the thaw.   Sincerely, Randy

 

Edited February 13 by Swolte

[Will Simpson 329]

What about that huge Chilean Wine Palm ( Jubaea chilensis )  in Dallas ? Do they have a way of protecting it ? That palm had to cost $60,000+ ? 

 

[Palm Man 60]

On 2/11/2021 at 11:51 PM, Teegurr said:

Sucks that trachys don't really grow that well here.

Have you tried growing them in large containers? I've seen several in North Carolina in various places which have gone through cold winters without damage even though the roots are above ground. I'm talking about large planters. 

[Tropicdoc 371]

On 2/11/2021 at 9:50 PM, NBTX11 said:

Just go out and plant a yard full of Trachycarpus, Sabal minors and such.

That’s not the look many of us are looking for. those are palms, yes. But, not the tall pinnate type that just give you that warm all over feeling. Well, rum can give the same feelings too!

[NBTX11 400]

2 minutes ago, Tropicdoc said:

That’s not the look many of us are looking for. those are palms, yes. But, not the tall pinnate type that just give you that warm all over feeling. Well, rum can give the same feelings too!

I know that.  Windmill palm is the type of palm you plant when you can't grow anything else.  I don't have one, and probably would never plant one.  Just hoping I don't lose my 40 foot Robusta palm in this freeze.

[Xerarch 634]

2 hours ago, Will Simpson said:

What about that huge Chilean Wine Palm ( Jubaea chilensis )  in Dallas ? Do they have a way of protecting it ? That palm had to cost $60,000+ ? 

 

So many Texas cold threads right now I don't remember which one it was, but I thought I read that it was being protected, and I hope that's the case. Will it be enough? I guess we'll wait and see. 

[EastCanadaTropicals 113]

I heard the weather will get warmer again next week.

[EastCanadaTropicals 113]

The sabals definetly wouldnt die. At least in southern Texas but I think tifton hardy will be fine.

Edited February 14 by EastCanadaTropicals

[boaterboat 40]

8 hours ago, Will Simpson said:

What about that huge Chilean Wine Palm ( Jubaea chilensis )  in Dallas ? Do they have a way of protecting it ? That palm had to cost $60,000+ ? 

 

Where in Dallas is this?

[EastCanadaTropicals 113]

7 hours ago, NBTX11 said:

 

On 2/12/2021 at 3:28 PM, Xerarch said:

Forecast I just looked up for DFW puts you into 6b! This is incredible, best of luck to you, even the mighty Sabal palmetto won't withstand that, and I saw quite of few of them around town a few months ago.  Sometimes things can recover from surprisingly low temps though, I've seen Washingtonias bounce back from sub zero lows.

 

Yeah, in dry climates. But washys wouldn't come back from a bad freeze in Dallas.

[PalmTreeDude 1,710]

Looks like people will have to re-palmify much of Texas with marginal palms after the freeze. I hope everyone is protecting what they can, I sure would. 

[NBTX11 400]

4 minutes ago, EastCanadaTropicals said:

I heard the weather will get warmer again next week.

Of course it will.  It's Texas.  It gets warm every month of the year.  The average high here is around 68F/20C right now.  That alone should tell you how far below normal we are.  We will be 40 degrees below normal for a high Monday.

Edited February 14 by NBTX11

[JohnAndSancho 518]

2 minutes ago, NBTX11 said:

Of course it will.  It's Texas.  It gets warm every month of the year.  The average high here is around 68F/20C right now. 

We literally hit 80° between these last 2 winter storms. Texas weather is nuts to anyone who doesn't live here. We're used to it lol. 

[Xenon 1,504]

9 minutes ago, boaterboat said:

Where in Dallas is this?

The Dallas World Aquarium

[WestCoastGal 2,337]

On 2/12/2021 at 1:20 PM, ShadowNight030 said:

.... I feel bad for an aunt in Lafayette, she just had 4 queens installed around her pool, and has no way to protect them. They are expecting temperatures in the mid teens. 

An aside, Don’t know how close to the pool they were planted, but queens are heavy seed producers and I’d be reluctant to plant too near a pool for that reason. 
 

If her queens don’t make it and she still wants a safer cold weather palm, I’d think about a Trachycarpus fortunei and have them skinned. Can still look rather tropical. Their inflorescence is pretty easy to remove before going to fruit, takes a while, and even when they do fruit the fruit falls pretty close to the trunk. Here’s an example of a few recently skinned trachs.

 

[Xerarch 634]

Boy that gives those trachys a whole new look. 

[Will Simpson 329]

19 hours ago, Xerarch said:

So many Texas cold threads right now I don't remember which one it was, but I thought I read that it was being protected, and I hope that's the case. Will it be enough? I guess we'll wait and see. 

It's that huge palm planted at the aquarium in Dallas .