pennerchris@gmail.com Posted August 24, 2016 Report Share Posted August 24, 2016 Over the last few years, I've been paying close attention to the large Filiferas that I find around the Lubbock area (from Hobbs, NM, to Snyder, TX). Most of the ones I'm tracking get no winter protection, and they see 10f or below every few years (down to 3f in 2011)-- so I'm pretty sure that they're pure Filiferas. I'd love to collect some seeds from these palms and share them with y'all, but I have yet to find a single plant that's fruited. Does anyone know why a large Filifera wouldn't be fruiting? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitsua0895 Posted August 24, 2016 Report Share Posted August 24, 2016 Maybe it's because of the extremely cold temperatures? It seems that might affect fruiting since the palm would have to use all of its energy to recover each year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalmTreeDude Posted August 25, 2016 Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 Maybe give them a few more years? PalmTreeDude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasColdHardyPalms Posted August 25, 2016 Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 Filifera need to be quite old/big to fruit. One down the road from me fruited for the first time ever last month and it is 20+ years old with about 20' of trunk. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasColdHardyPalms Posted August 25, 2016 Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 On a related note i was unaware that any sabal or washingtonia made it through 2011 in Carlsbad, Hobbs and especially lubbock. I know all of the large sabals in Carlsbad died in 2011 and i remember them being decent size in the late 80's when i was a kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennerchris@gmail.com Posted August 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 I haven't been to Carlsbad in a few years, but back in 2013 I saw several massive Filiferas-- clearly not newly installations. Attached is a recent google pic of some outstanding ones at a motel (I highly doubt these are getting protected). Their ability to survive there is no surprise to me considering how few large, unprotected Filiferas died in Alamogordo in 2011 (-13). An older buddy of mine brought a tiny Filibusta from Houston to Lubbock, protected it for a few years, and then let it go. It lived for 20 years (even through 2011) and then got tall enough to really suffer from it's poor location: the crown was a few feet from the chimney, and finally got so high that it was getting blasted by hot smoke all winter long. How ironic that it was killed by heat! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasColdHardyPalms Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 Here is a local filifera that fruited for the first time this year. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwitt Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 They have to have some age and size. On a side note many sabals and filifera survived 2011 in Albuquerque. They saw from -7f to -11f. They grow slower and will take longer to fruit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennerchris@gmail.com Posted August 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Are there any big Texas Sabals in Abq? I expect that's the only trunking Sabal that would survive there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trava Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Is it possible that W.filifera can survived -11f? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennerchris@gmail.com Posted August 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Trava- it has happened. Not sure if it could happen in other regions, but it did in Alamogordo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalmTreeDude Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 (edited) I want to try a Filifera is Virginia... Hmmm how will that go? Looks like I know what palm I am planting next spring! Edited August 31, 2016 by PalmTreeDude PalmTreeDude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennerchris@gmail.com Posted September 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 The only thing that may be an issue is if you get a lot of precipitation in the winter... They probably wouldn't survive in the colder parts of the SW if the winters weren't so dry. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorBold Posted September 15, 2016 Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 On 9/2/2016 12:45:48, pennerchris@gmail.com said: The only thing that may be an issue is if you get a lot of precipitation in the winter... They probably wouldn't survive in the colder parts of the SW if the winters weren't so dry. Agree.. I don't think there are any large Sabals in ABQ even though palmetto is listed to grow here. The moisture issue is a big deal for the survival if someone plants one need to be diligent in establishing them..and the winter pretty much preserves them in dry ice! My Tamaulipas Sabals are looking good and I am seeing good growth but when the next blast of cold comes along and kills the fronds the recovery might be a problem. Abq isn't palmy.. but if I go on palm safari I can pretty much find one everytime I drive around. I bet if large 20 foot Sabals... filibusta etc were brought in and planted theyd be just fine and that goes for Lubbock too maybe moreso for Sabal- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerarch Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 On 8/30/2016, 9:50:07, PalmTreeDude said: I want to try a Filifera is Virginia... Hmmm how will that go? Looks like I know what palm I am planting next spring! W. filifera are nearly invincible in the arid west. I know for sure that many mature specimens have survived sub zero temps (with complete defoliation of course) in places like Utah and New Mexico. This is far from the case in the humid eastern US. They will not display nearly the cold tolerance in Virginia, I say this not to discourage you from planting some, just letting you know not to get your hopes up too high. 2 Corpus Christi, TX, near salt water, zone 9b/10a! Except when it isn't and everything gets nuked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Las Palmas Norte Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Yes ... St George, Utah has some very nice W. filifera all over the city. Here's a random street view for an example. Cheers, Barrie. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasColdHardyPalms Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 St. George is a nice place and is certainly an example of the miracles of a mountain range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert DAC Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 I would like to see some Sabal mexicana here in Las Cruces, but given how green and unscathed they were after Feb. 2011 in Kerrville TX (dead or damaged W. robusta, brown recovering W. filifera nearby), maybe some might do great in parts of ABQ. Maybe. Carlsbad - I hear they wrap the crowns and put up christmas lights in winter, and I saw that one trip there. St George - I wonder if their long <32F and 0-ish lows a few winters ago did some damage? I recall some W. filifera crowns wrapped with heating coils on a visit in 1/1993, which should be unnecessary there, but maybe it keeps them green even in a colder winter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasColdHardyPalms Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 13 hours ago, Desert DAC said: Carlsbad - I hear they wrap the crowns and put up christmas lights in winter, and I saw that one trip there. They used to wrap the smaller ones with that silver bubble wrap stuff, but the older ones went unprotected for at least a decade until 2011. They all looked like Sabal Palmetto to me, but from my experience I think Sabal Uresana or Mexicana would be a better choice for New Mexico. Uresana may very well turn out to be the second hardiest sabal in the genus and Mexicana is ever bit as leaf hardy as palmetto if not slightly more so. With the added mass of the thicker trunk (Mexicana and Uresana) to further insulate the meristem I think they could easily be a few degrees hardier than the skinny palmettos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert DAC Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 (edited) On 8/24/2016, 3:01:16, pennerchris@gmail.com said: Over the last few years, I've been paying close attention to the large Filiferas that I find around the Lubbock area (from Hobbs, NM, to Snyder, TX). Most of the ones I'm tracking get no winter protection, and they see 10f or below every few years (down to 3f in 2011)-- so I'm pretty sure that they're pure Filiferas. I'd love to collect some seeds from these palms and share them with y'all, but I have yet to find a single plant that's fruited. Does anyone know why a large Filifera wouldn't be fruiting? I'm not sure. For 3 years I rented an office in a warm part of downtown El Paso. My landlord told me how 2015 was the 1st time in 2 decades owning that building, that his huge W. filifera fruited or at least fruited so heavily. I was surprised to hear that, given El Paso is much warmer in winter and stable than Lubbock or SE NM. I wonder about W. filifera's specific needs on pollinators, soils, irrigation, and temperatures at critical times. Edited January 16, 2017 by Desert DAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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