Palmageddon Aftermath Photo Thread

[amh]

13 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Interesting.. Thought these could tolerate a touch more cold, say a brief dip or two down to 17-18F-ish for some reason.. ( Thinking related, but shrubbier growing Cordia parvifolia can take cold down to 15F or so )  Definitely handles drought.. Planted everywhere here, and many are neglected, but they survive ( look much better when watered/ in more humid places though )..  Would hate to loose a Hong Kong.. long shot, but maybe it will come back from the roots. 

Ive wanted both Texas olive and Hong Kong orchid, but it was obvious that they would never survive where I live. This is a big problem for south and central Texas, the nurseries and ag extensions push plants that will only grow in the population center, but have no chance in other parts of the area.

[necturus]

Texas olive isn't going to die in the RGV. The real test is in Houston - there's some nice, large specimens around town.

I know a nursery in SA that had their Hong Kong orchid freeze to the ground and come back, producing a large tree once again. In Houston we had one die to the ground and not come back. I have another one in the ground now, so we'll see what happens. I wouldn't bother with them anywhere colder than Houston and San Antonio. Even the hardier orchid trees/shrubs in my yard are probably going to the ground this year.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

9 minutes ago, amh said:

Ive wanted both Texas olive and Hong Kong orchid, but it was obvious that they would never survive where I live. This is a big problem for south and central Texas, the nurseries and ag extensions push plants that will only grow in the population center, but have no chance in other parts of the area.

You might try to find seed of Bauhinia variegata var. candida, Is supposedly hardy to 15F when more mature.. Does seed, unlike Hong Kongs.  Even if damaged, they re-sprout pretty quickly.  Much larger flowers than the white flowered version of  B. lunaroides ( a great small tree as well )  and fragrant.  You should be able to find seed of Texas Olive fairly easily, so no real loss if you were to loose them.

Bauhinia galpinii may be really pushing it where you're at, but worth a try also for the red flowers.  Does shed most/all foliage for a month or two in Spring though.

[amh]

4 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

You might try to find seed of Bauhinia variegata var. candida, Is supposedly hardy to 15F when more mature.. Does seed, unlike Hong Kongs.  Even if damaged, they re-sprout pretty quickly.  Much larger flowers than the white flowered version of  B. lunaroides ( a great small tree as well )  and fragrant.  You should be able to find seed of Texas Olive fairly easily, so no real loss if you were to loose them.

Bauhinia galpinii may be really pushing it where you're at, but worth a try also for the red flowers.  Does shed most/all foliage for a month or two in Spring though.

I dont think Cordia boissieri would survive, but I could probably grow some of the Bauhinia species as herbaceous shrubs.

[Fusca]

5 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

You should be able to find seed of Texas Olive fairly easily, so no real loss if you were to loose them.

Nathan, I have plenty of Texas Olive seeds but have not had any luck germinating them.  Followed recommendations from a university study (can't remember if it was in AZ or not) but they're tricky.  Do you have any tips to share on germination?

[amh]

Does anyone know the hardiness of Asimina obovata?

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Nathan, I have plenty of Texas Olive seeds but have not had any luck germinating them.  Followed recommendations from a university study (can't remember if it was in AZ or not) but they're tricky.  Do you have any tips to share on germination?

They like lots of heat.. I'd toss seed collected here in pots in late spring/ summer and had no issues. Same w/ S. FL's native Red/Orange Geiger ( That one is very tender though )  Would sprout within a few weeks.  Be sure there is no flesh ( from the fruit ) on the seeds, and that they are as fresh as possible, though they may still retain some viability after a couple months..  Reminds me, need to grab/  start some soon.

[Reyes Vargas]

9 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Nathan, I have plenty of Texas Olive seeds but have not had any luck germinating them.  Followed recommendations from a university study (can't remember if it was in AZ or not) but they're tricky.  Do you have any tips to share on germination?

I'm surprised that you haven't had luck germinating these.  I have found that they are fairly easy.  I just put them in a community pot water them and they germinate.  I don't do anything special before.  I was watering one of my potted plants yesterday or the day before and found a tiny texas olive poking it's head above the soil.  

[Xenon]

Here are some carnage pics in Houston.

Notes:

-traveling on 290, robusta looks significantly better approaching BW 8

-traveling on I-10, palms look better east of HWY 6. Queens fried but many do not have crown collapse. Most robusta do not have crown collapse, a decent number have partially green centers. Palms sheltered from the north wind look significantly better and I even noticed some queens with partial green. No Livistona chinensis have crown collapse and most within 610 are partially green. Phoenix spp. are defoliated but very few have collapsed crowns.

-palms in Katy (east of SH 99) look worse but not substantially worse. 50/50 with regards to robusta and collapsed crowns. Livistona chinensis completely fried but all are stiff, no crown collapse (yet?). Same with date palms. 

Pics from Washington Ave area. Queens run the gamut from astonishingly good (esp with North wind sheltering) to collapsed fronds. Most are completely fried but with stiff crown and petioles.

The good

The bad 

[Xenon]

These are/were some of the most robust queens. Fronds were nearly as long as trunk height.

[Xenon]

Katy Area

[Xenon]

2 hours ago, necturus said:

Texas olive isn't going to die in the RGV. The real test is in Houston - there's some nice, large specimens around town.

Several big specimens (once breathtakingly beautiful) on Washington Ave are completely fried. Will have to wait for new growth to see the extent of wood damage. Wonder how the ones along NASA Rd 1 fared. 

Ebenopsis ebano in the same area is also fried. 

[Xenon]

Wonder if all that seed on the chinensis is still viable haha. Today has been so weird. It's in the sweaty 80s and there are blooming magnolias and peaches despite low teens last week. 

And if anyone doubts there are palms in Houston, now is the time to drive down! Fried citrus everywhere too. Fried bushes, fried hedges, fried bamboo, fried trees, fried everything! The smell of rotting vegetation is pervasive 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Xenon

[Xenon]

This is what my endeavors at my parent's place looks like. Not a sign of life to be found LOL. Among others...fried jackfruit, fried moringa, fried Ficus racemosa, fried Capsicum chinense, fried Thai Acacia and extra fried Syzygium from Sumatra. There's a palm frond in there, I think it might live. 

[Collectorpalms]

Almost all of the plants are brown, Torched like a fire went through TX. And yet Houston wasn't quite as cold as 89.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[VAPalms]

I wonder what kind of damage there will be to Bermudagrass and St Augustine.  I've seen Bermuda experience winterkill in Central VA from temps that didn't get as cold as some of these Texas locations.  We won't know for a little.

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, Collectorpalms said:

Almost all of the plants are brown, Torched like a fire went through TX. And yet Houston wasn't quite as cold as 89.

I finally got out and ran some errands today. It really looks like everything that isn't a pine tree here is toast. 

[amh]

1 hour ago, Xenon said:

This is what my endeavors at my parent's place looks like. Not a sign of life to be found LOL. Among others...fried jackfruit, fried moringa, fried Ficus racemosa, fried Capsicum chinense, fried Thai Acacia and extra fried Syzygium from Sumatra. There's a palm frond in there, I think it might live. 

The moringa may return from the roots.

[amh]

1 hour ago, VAPalms said:

I wonder what kind of damage there will be to Bermudagrass and St Augustine.  I've seen Bermuda experience winterkill in Central VA from temps that didn't get as cold as some of these Texas locations.  We won't know for a little.

My St Augustine looks fried, but it may return. I'm hoping the snow protected it somewhat.

[Collectorpalms]

1 hour ago, VAPalms said:

I wonder what kind of damage there will be to Bermudagrass and St Augustine.  I've seen Bermuda experience winterkill in Central VA from temps that didn't get as cold as some of these Texas locations.  We won't know for a little.

Bermuda killed...I wish, It’s too deeply rooted. St Augustine very shallow rooted, likely gone a lot of places that had little snow. Not sure how long St. Augustine can handle 16f as that was the temperature of the snowpack. I had over seeded perennial rye grass and it’s fried in spots. The snow was drifting so not uniform in depth.

[philinsydney]

[philinsydney]

The above picture is the saddest of all to me. It's still amazing that they could grow that big then get wiped out. Or maybe they're not wiped out?

[Collectorpalms]

27 minutes ago, philinsydney said:

The above picture is the saddest of all to me. It's still amazing that they could grow that big then get wiped out. Or maybe they're not wiped out?

Who knows, no one for sure. Tune in about a month to find out. That is usually when palms normally take off in Houston. Only saving grace is that it happened at the latest time of winter, with spring just two weeks away.

Edited February 27, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[Xenon]

46 minutes ago, philinsydney said:

The above picture is the saddest of all to me. It's still amazing that they could grow that big then get wiped out. Or maybe they're not wiped out?

Oh that's nothing. There are some that are twice that height or more. I think most of them will live. 

[Xenon]

1 hour ago, amh said:

The moringa may return from the roots.

That's the usual convention....but at 11-12F coupled with the duration I'm worried about stuff that usually returns not returning. I grow a lot of zone 10 stuff as dieback perennials 

[ahosey01]

4 minutes ago, Xenon said:

Oh that's nothing. There are some that are twice that height or more. I think most of them will live. 

How about that Araucaria bidwilii you posted pics of?

[Xerarch]

3 hours ago, Xenon said:

Several big specimens (once breathtakingly beautiful) on Washington Ave are completely fried. Will have to wait for new growth to see the extent of wood damage. Wonder how the ones along NASA Rd 1 fared. 

Ebenopsis ebano in the same area is also fried. 

Even Texas Ebony is fried? that is astonishing, I've seen them in habitat in Corpus, I know they aren't native as far north as Houston but come on.  You know it's bad when natives are getting slammed.  Cordia boissieri got burned in the RGV where it is native as mentioned above as well.

[Collectorpalms]

19 minutes ago, Xenon said:

Oh that's nothing. There are some that are twice that height or more. I think most of them will live. 

What is your conviction on they will live?

[TonyDFW]

Crown collapse showing up in W. Robusta but not W. Filifera yet in Dallas after the big freeze. 

[Collectorpalms]

7 minutes ago, TonyDFW said:

Crown collapse showing up in W. Robusta but not W. Filifera yet in Dallas after the big freeze. 

We had a horrible ice storm after the freeze. Filifera are shattered too. Taylor Texas had -2 and snow then Ice on their Filiferas.

Edited February 27, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[Collectorpalms]

10 minutes ago, TonyDFW said:

Crown collapse showing up in W. Robusta but not W. Filifera yet in Dallas after the big freeze. 

Do you think that all your personal palms that were unprotected will be fine?

Edited February 27, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[Fusca]

5 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

They like lots of heat.. I'd toss seed collected here in pots in late spring/ summer and had no issues.

 

5 hours ago, Reyes Vargas said:

I'm surprised that you haven't had luck germinating these.  I have found that they are fairly easy.  I just put them in a community pot water them and they germinate.  I don't do anything special before.  I was watering one of my potted plants yesterday or the day before and found a tiny texas olive poking it's head above the soil.

This I did.  Cleaned the fruit off, stuck some in containers out in the hot sun, put others in a baggie (like I do with palm seeds) on a heat mat set at 95°.  The fruits I collected had dropped from the trees and fruits were white colored and quite juicy.  Maybe they weren't pollinated/viable?  I sent some to seeds to @jimmyt and I don't believe he had any success either.  Maybe I'll try some from a different tree in town...if we have any left!

[Reyes Vargas]

3 minutes ago, Fusca said:

 

This I did.  Cleaned the fruit off, stuck some in containers out in the hot sun, put others in a baggie (like I do with palm seeds) on a heat mat set at 95°.  The fruits I collected had dropped from the trees and fruits were white colored and quite juicy.  Maybe they weren't pollinated/viable?  I sent some to seeds to @jimmyt and I don't believe he had any success either.  Maybe I'll try some from a different tree in town...if we have any left!

If the trees down here recover and actually flower this year I will definitely send you some seeds.

[Silas_Sancona]

4 minutes ago, Fusca said:

 

This I did.  Cleaned the fruit off, stuck some in containers out in the hot sun, put others in a baggie (like I do with palm seeds) on a heat mat set at 95°.  The fruits I collected had dropped from the trees and fruits were white colored and quite juicy.  Maybe they weren't pollinated/viable?  I sent some to seeds to @jimmyt and I don't believe he had any success either.  Maybe I'll try some from a different tree in town...if we have any left!

I usually collect seed that has fallen off the tree and are kind of already decomposing/ brown/ black colored.  If you can't find any there, let me know.. You or anyone else back there...

[Fusca]

Sorry for getting off topic.  One thing I have noticed is variation in green Chamaerops cold hardiness.  First pic is one that was unprotected on the north side of my house next to an unheated garage.  Only been in ground since September.  Minimal leaf damage to outer, older leaves but newer growth is healthy green and soft.  Spears intact and solid.  Second pic is one on the south side of my house that I covered with frost cloth and has been in ground for 3 years.  Plenty of leaf damage and multiple spears pulled from suckers and main plant!

 

[jimmyt]

@Fusca  that Chamaerops damage does not make any sense, doed it?   I have 2 in the ground with both having about 3 ft of clear trunk.  They both got leaf burn.  I tugged on the spears a couple of days ago and both were still solid.  They are both in the open and 20-30 ft apart.  They were exposed to -2 F temps for an extended period.  I will recheck them this weekend for certainty.

[Xenon]

2 hours ago, ahosey01 said:

How about that Araucaria bidwilii you posted pics of?

As I said in the thread, the inner foliage on both trees is still green. But if they live, they won't look the same. The top will continue to grow or in some cases you get another growth point. They will lose the imposing symmetry. 

 

(I posted updated pics in your thread)

Edited February 27, 2021 by Xenon

[Xenon]

2 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

What is your conviction on they will live?

Most in town are not collapsed. Some even have green in the inner leaves. It was "only" 14F within the Beltway more or less. Many robusta on the south side of buildings look clearly alive. 

Edited February 27, 2021 by Xenon

[PricklyPearSATC]

3 hours ago, jimmyt said:

@Fusca  that Chamaerops damage does not make any sense, doed it?   I have 2 in the ground with both having about 3 ft of clear trunk.  They both got leaf burn.  I tugged on the spears a couple of days ago and both were still solid.  They are both in the open and 20-30 ft apart.  They were exposed to -2 F temps for an extended period.  I will recheck them this weekend for certainty.

Woah!! I'm in San Antonio and mine are fried.  Mine are quite small, (long story)  Facing south.  I didn't cover them, because I didn't think of it.  I only covered my Livistona.  One of the spears pulled, but I'm not really worried about rot because the thing is so darn skinny!  Another spear is pushing up next to where it pulled.  I really should get a better specimen. 

I had an episode where a rhino beetle ate all my palms, so I bought this little one and planted it a contraption to prevent rhinobeetles from  going up the palm.  However, the contraption had seriously curtailed growth!

Edited February 27, 2021 by PricklyPearSATC

[PricklyPearSATC]

8 hours ago, Xenon said:

Katy Area

I can't tell if the first picture is Bismark or Washingtonia..LOL

We have those date palms in San Antonio.  They're considered a "status symbol" and are seen in upscale areas.  (Which happen to be areas where it gets colder than the rest of the city)
I wonder if they will survive?
Are they Sylvestris or dactylifera? 

(Never gave them much thought)

Edited February 27, 2021 by PricklyPearSATC