Earliest snowfall in Houston's history

[_Keith]

In my painful experience it takes 3 to 4 weeks to see the extent of the damage. When we hit the upper 26 range a couple of years ago, My Cocothrinax looked fine for 3 weeks and then all of the fronds turned brown all at once. I have noticed this delayed response with other plants as well.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Whoa what an unpleasant surprise ! "36.4 and is forecasted to drop to 23 tonight" and i thought Houston was warm subtropical being so far south

The bismarckias look great ,the temps should bounce back soon for you guys i hope ..

[Big Tex]

>My papayas are defoliated but the trunks and fruit look fine.

Hi,

The papayas should recover, but without the leaves, the fruit will get damaged by sunburn and spoil.

You could try covering them until a new canopy forms...

I looked at the papayas today and agree with you. There appears to be no damage to the trunks and the new growth of leaves seem to be undamaged. It may be hard to cover some of them since the male plants are about 20' tall.

[amazondk]

I just flew into Houston a few hours ago. It is sort of an ugly looking afternoon.

dk

[Big Tex]

I just flew into Houston a few hours ago. It is sort of an ugly looking afternoon.

dk

Welcome to Houston! Yes it has been raining and just nasty all day. However the temperatures have risen quite a bit in the last 24 hours.

[Austinpalm]

Big Tex,

Have you been to look at the Royals on 290 (I think) to see how they fared?

[Big Tex]

Big Tex,

Have you been to look at the Royals on 290 (I think) to see how they fared?

I am going to try to drive over there this weekend and see how they did. I would imagine there is some considerable defoliation but I would imagine they are very much alive.

[floridagrower]

Thanks for the update. I am very interested in seeing your 3-4 weeks results, as well as some of the local zone pushing palms and plants. I am growing a lot of the same palms and tropicals here. So this information is important to me.

[Ed in Houston]

Freeze and snow report in SE Houston from early December.

At my place In SE Houston large snow flakes began falling around 9 am. Many of the flakes were the size

of half dollars. The snow continued most of the day with the temperature hovering around 35 degrees. Most

of the snow melted as it hit the ground but at times it was so heavy that about 1/2 to one inch accumulated

on exposed areas for a few hours. The sky cleared off at sunset setting up a worst case frost. The frost was very

heavy the next morning.

The air was very still overnight allowing for varied temperatures to settle across my yard. The coldest area

reached 27 degrees, exposed to the sky. On my back porch it was a bit warmer at 30 degrees and the warmest part

of the garden was about 32 under the canopies of large water and live oaks.

Most of the usual palms around town did fine but some species did not. The damage done has had a bit of time to show

up since it has been a couple of weeks now since the event.

One of the most prevalent palms in the area are pigmy dates. How well they did in the freeze was a matter of exposure

as these palms do well planted in full sun to a shaded canopy. The pygmies that were exposed to 50% or more

of the sky were universally damaged and have taken on a bronze appearance. Others in less exposed areas

seem to be undamaged. I do expect that the damaged pygmies will fully recover from this event but there is a long winter to come

it seems.

Another somewhat tender palm in the area is Ravenea Rivularis. Most of these are planted in an exposed (sunny) area and they

suffered heavy foliage damage but I expect they too will recover. The shade grown examples did not have damage.

I have quite a few types of Chamaedorea palms that are all in somewhat sheltered areas, under a canopy or next to the house.

All did well that were not exposed to the sky. The most exposed were Cat palms that saw 27 degrees with a 40% exposure to the sky

and they have about 30% foliage damage.

My first year in the ground foxtail and king did not suffer any damage but they are under a tall canopy that gets sun from the open

south most of the year and the temp was around freezing or just below in their garden location.

There are two 10-12 foot royal palms a couple of blocks over. The larger one has a good bit of damage, perhaps even damage to the spear.

The smaller of the two has more shelter from the sky and it also has some foliage damage but from my street observation, it's spear seems ok.

I think that generally most all of the "tender" palms mentioned would recover fine form this single event. However, the forecast

for south Texas this year is cold and wet and the damaged palms could continue to get beat down or worse.

Ed in SE Houston

[Big Tex]

There are two 10-12 foot royal palms a couple of blocks over. The larger one has a good bit of damage, perhaps even damage to the spear.

The smaller of the two has more shelter from the sky and it also has some foliage damage but from my street observation, it's spear seems ok.

Here are a three Royals in Pasadena, Texas similar to the ones you mentioned. They are over 90% defoliated. This was a very foggy, damp miserable day so the pictures are not that clear.

[popper1]

Did any of you down there use the new FreezePruf? It would be nice to hear of any experiences with it & if it did what it is supposed to do.

David

[Big Tex]

Did any of you down there use the new FreezePruf? It would be nice to hear of any experiences with it & if it did what it is supposed to do.

David

I used it AND IT FAILED MISERABLY! My advice is don't waste your money on it.

[Zeeth]

Any updates on those royals? Did any Houston royals make it?

[Austinpalm]

Any updates on those royals? Did any Houston royals make it?

The Royals at US 290 and SH 6 (NW side of town) are toast. Checked on them about 3 weeks ago. Not sure about any other Royals in Houston.

[JASON M]

If I get freezpruf will my palms survive in my winter.

[John Case]

If I get freezpruf will my palms survive in my winter.

I am convinced that Freeze Pruf may be one step up from a scam, and maybe not that. In any case, it claims to protect marginal plants up to only a few degrees. That is important to us where 1 or 2 degrees of protection make all of the difference. When you deal with Milwaukee winters, I am not so sure. How long do you get below 15 degrees F? That would be death to most palms, even with protection.

My advice would be to move the palms into protection. It is so disappointing to work hard to keep your palms alive through the good months, only to have a Canadian cold spell destroy all of your work.

Listen to others, though. I am often wrong.

[Xenon]

Are those giant Royals in Galveston ok?

Jonathan