Jump to content
  • WELCOME GUEST

    It looks as if you are viewing PalmTalk as an unregistered Guest.

    Please consider registering so as to take better advantage of our vast knowledge base and friendly community.  By registering you will gain access to many features - among them are our powerful Search feature, the ability to Private Message other Users, and be able to post and/or answer questions from all over the world. It is completely free, no “catches,” and you will have complete control over how you wish to use this site.

    PalmTalk is sponsored by the International Palm Society. - an organization dedicated to learning everything about and enjoying palm trees (and their companion plants) while conserving endangered palm species and habitat worldwide. Please take the time to know us all better and register.

    guest Renda04.jpg

Recommended Posts

Posted

It was a common misconception in the past to see photos of Saguaro paired with “Texas”. They aren’t native here, leading to the phrase “There ain’t no Saguaro in Texas”. But I recently saw a posting of a nice size Saguaro with the vague description “ South Texas”. In my quest to find the location I found a number of large specimen, strangely all located in border towns. I thought I would share.file.php?id=80587Original photo in question, possibly just outside Zapata, Texasfile.php?id=80588Between Rio Grande City and Zapata, Texas file.php?id=80589Langtry, Texasfile.php?id=80592Langtry, Texasfile.php?id=80591Langtry, Texasfile.php?id=80590Langtry, Texasfile.php?id=80593Langtry, Texasfile.php?id=80599

Langtry, Texasfile.php?id=80594Dryden, Texasfile.php?id=80598San Ygnacio, Texasfile.php?id=80597San Ygnacio, Texasfile.php?id=80596San Ygnacio, Texasfile.php?id=80595San Ygnacio, Texas

  • Like 16
  • Upvote 4
Posted

All of an amazing size. For sure they don't get frost over there or do they?

wxBanner?bannertype=wu_bluestripes_metri

Posted
  On 4/10/2022 at 8:18 AM, Palmensammler said:

All of an amazing size. For sure they don't get frost over there or do they?

Expand  

Some are in very mild areas, others like Langtry and Dryden can be harsh. I would like to go back and see how they survived the 2021 freeze.

  • Like 1
Posted
  On 4/10/2022 at 8:18 AM, Palmensammler said:

All of an amazing size. For sure they don't get frost over there or do they?

Expand  

They get frost in native habitat, Tucson is 9a, I don’t think they like humid frost though. 

  • Like 1

Corpus Christi, TX, near salt water, zone 9b/10a! Except when it isn't and everything gets nuked.

Posted

Super cool photos.  

  • Like 1

No one cares about your current yard temperature 🙃

Posted
  On 4/11/2022 at 6:21 AM, richtrav said:

There is also supposed to be an old one in the town of Candelaria north of Presidio. 

https://mapio.net/pic/p-85954240/

 

Expand  

Someone mentioned that one but I could never find a picture of it. Thanks.

 

71ECF604-0EA8-483D-8682-B54CE3AACF70.jpeg

 

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Posted

Here’s a higher-res shot. They were all saguaros as far as I can remember, mixed in with some other North American cacti.

It would be interesting to see if the saguaros native at the southern end of their range near the coast of southern Sonora are more tolerant of the climate of South Texas, it is wetter down there and they can get an occasional hurricane. It has a different look to it, almost like a green Pachycereus pringlei

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96361815

IMG_8602cactus garden bassett.JPG

  • Like 6
  • Upvote 1
Posted
  On 4/10/2022 at 3:26 AM, Meangreen94z said:

In my quest to find the location I found a number of large specimen, strangely all located in border towns. I thought I would share.

Expand  

Beautiful photography.  Amazing plants.

Posted
  On 4/11/2022 at 7:11 PM, richtrav said:

Here’s a higher-res shot. They were all saguaros as far as I can remember, mixed in with some other North American cacti.

It would be interesting to see if the saguaros native at the southern end of their range near the coast of southern Sonora are more tolerant of the climate of South Texas, it is wetter down there and they can get an occasional hurricane. It has a different look to it, almost like a green Pachycereus pringlei

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96361815

IMG_8602cactus garden bassett.JPG

Expand  

That' a good question.. Only thing i'd wonder is if Saguaro selected from that area, as juvenile specimens esp. would handle the nastier of the cold outbreaks S. TX can see since that section of Sonora / N. Sinaloa ranges from 10A to 12A, and rarely ( if ever ) sees temps below about 28f.  At least up this way they are exposed to cooler winters often enough to provide some flexability.

Heat, humidity, summer rainfall / Hurricane exposure matches up fairly well between both regions though.

From 2012  Plant Maps data, < likely warmer now >.

1742145101_Screenshot2022-04-11at13-03-52MexicoInteractivePlantHardinessZoneMap.thumb.png.badd59a4ee33e573f5f8ed40463e3ea2.png

Checking Accuweather data from near Alamos, ( Sonora.. ) Coolest they saw this winter was 37 ( Below 40 for only 3 days between Jan- March of this year ) Last year, they experienced 6 days below 40, w/ the 28th of Feb. at 34 for the same period. 

 

  • Upvote 1
Posted

Wow!!!! All this has my heart palpitating!! 

  • Upvote 1
Posted

Cool topic, thanks for sharing. I remember seeing some discussion about TX saquaros recently on one of the cacti or zone pushing fb groups. A few people there also expressed concern that the 2021 freeze could have been fatal for some of these guys. I hope not.

  • Upvote 1
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
  On 4/12/2022 at 12:35 AM, aabell said:

Cool topic, thanks for sharing. I remember seeing some discussion about TX saquaros recently on one of the cacti or zone pushing fb groups. A few people there also expressed concern that the 2021 freeze could have been fatal for some of these guys. I hope not.

Expand  

I know for a fact that my town has seen 17F here in AZ and we have tons of many-hundred-year-old saguaros all over the place.  I'd bet they can handle brief dips to the low teens and keep growing after.  That is, however, brief and dry.  In TX, they get way different winter cold.

Posted (edited)

Texas is a considerable piece of property for someone to claim the absence of a particular species, especially one (usually) so well-suited to the climate. If plants existed only where they're native, we'd have a very different landscape indeed. Besides, everyone knows "ain't" is a first-person contraction: (I) am not. Sheesh. 

Thanks for the terrific pictures. When I lived in the RGV in the early 2000s, the weird thing is I don't recall ever seeing saguaros, and I got around a fair bit. They're not exactly something that would escape one's notice.

Edited by Manalto
  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
  On 4/23/2022 at 2:04 PM, ahosey01 said:

I know for a fact that my town has seen 17F here in AZ and we have tons of many-hundred-year-old saguaros all over the place.  I'd bet they can handle brief dips to the low teens and keep growing after.  That is, however, brief and dry.  In TX, they get way different winter cold.

Expand  

The big problem is that Texas gets bad freezes and saguaro grow so slow. If you loose a nice specimen to a freeze, you probably will not live to see the replacement reach maturity. Can't buy a large saguaro at the local bigbox.

Edited by amh
  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Posted
  On 4/24/2022 at 7:07 PM, amh said:

The big problem is that Texas gets bad freezes and saguaro grow so slow. If you loose a nice specimen to a freeze, you probably will not live to see the replacement reach maturity. Can't buy a large saguaro at the local bigbox.

Expand  

Another thing is Saguaro also grow under " Nurse Trees " ( and other bushes ) for the first several years of their lives to protect from both the cold, and extreme heat. Brief exposure to lows below 20F might not kill a mature specimen, but will likely kill small ones, same w/ extreme heat/ sun exposure at that stage..

Saguaro can survive for several years after being fatally damaged during a freeze as well before finally giving up..

Specimens in the pictures were likely transported from somewhere else at a certain size, vs. being grown from small plants.  That said, as long as any seedlings that are dispersed from these specimens are able to survive those less common extreme winters,  naturalized specimens could be observed in far southern and southwestern TX's future.

  • Like 2
  • Upvote 1
Posted
  On 4/24/2022 at 8:57 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Another thing is Saguaro also grow under " Nurse Trees " ( and other bushes ) for the first several years of their lives to protect from both the cold, and extreme heat. Brief exposure to lows below 20F might not kill a mature specimen, but will likely kill small ones, same w/ extreme heat/ sun exposure at that stage..

Expand  

That is why I always inspect the areas under mesquite trees. You can find some neat cactus and other rarities.

  • Like 3
Posted
  On 4/24/2022 at 9:19 PM, amh said:

That is why I always inspect the areas under mesquite trees. You can find some neat cactus and other rarities.

Expand  

Mesquite/ other trees, ..any and all bushes, even if only a foot tall ..even tucked among or beside denser bunch grasses..  Always possible to find something interesting growing in the shade created below.

  • Like 2
Posted
  On 4/24/2022 at 7:07 PM, amh said:

The big problem is that Texas gets bad freezes and saguaro grow so slow. If you loose a nice specimen to a freeze, you probably will not live to see the replacement reach maturity. Can't buy a large saguaro at the local bigbox.

Expand  

If you can’t find one here they’re not that hard to buy in Arizona. In Arizona they can take pretty low temperatures. This is a large one in Bowie, Arizona, taken in early 2018. You can clearly see the effects of the 2011 freeze (2F).

 

1.JPG

  • Like 4
  • Upvote 2
Posted
  On 4/25/2022 at 4:18 AM, richtrav said:

If you can’t find one here they’re not that hard to buy in Arizona. In Arizona they can take pretty low temperatures. This is a large one in Bowie, Arizona, taken in early 2018. You can clearly see the effects of the 2011 freeze (2F).

 

1.JPG

Expand  

2F!

Corpus Christi, TX, near salt water, zone 9b/10a! Except when it isn't and everything gets nuked.

Posted
  On 4/25/2022 at 1:26 PM, Xerarch said:

2F!

Expand  

Bowie sits in 8B, not too far from 8a which extends west from NM.. so experiencing temps below 15F aren't totally out of the question from time to time.. Curious about them hitting 2F though since the all time record low is supposedly 3F, set on Dec. 9, 1978.  With that in mind, doing some street view touring, couldn't find any other Saguaro.. though there were numerous large Washingtonia ( both sp ) present in both 2008 and 2021 images..

Posted

It’s on Business 10 near Lincoln at an old hotel. There’s a dead robusta at the same hotel.

  • Like 1
Posted
  On 4/25/2022 at 7:56 PM, richtrav said:

It’s on Business 10 near Lincoln at an old hotel. There’s a dead robusta at the same hotel.

Expand  

What was the duration?

judging by the street views on the map, the dead robusta had a major growth spurt before dying. 

Posted

Street view taken in 2021.

1269466039_Screenshot2022-04-25at16-52-50BowieArizona85605.thumb.jpg.1378d1b8fab78c9db6408f9f239a9ebd.jpg

  • Upvote 1
Posted
  On 4/26/2022 at 8:03 PM, amh said:

What was the duration?

judging by the street views on the map, the dead robusta had a major growth spurt before dying. 

Expand  

 You see the fat, likely filifera in an empty lot as well ( was some building present in 2008 imaging ) across from the Saguaro?..  Numerous other robusta of all sizes down other roads as well.

Posted
  On 4/26/2022 at 8:20 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

 You see the fat, likely filifera in an empty lot as well ( was some building present in 2008 imaging ) across from the Saguaro?..  Numerous other robusta of all sizes down other roads as well.

Expand  

Looks like 7 filifera across the street. The '08 street views are blurry, but the shadows make overhead palm spotting easy.

Posted
  On 4/26/2022 at 8:30 PM, amh said:

Looks like 7 filifera across the street. The '08 street views are blurry, but the shadows make overhead palm spotting easy.

Expand  

Oct 2021 update image is clearer..  If you skip east across town, to the intersection of Business 10 and S. Truman Ave, then pan around / zoom in, more Washingtonia in view. Is a March '21 image as well.

  • Like 1
Posted
  On 4/26/2022 at 8:03 PM, amh said:

What was the duration?

judging by the street views on the map, the dead robusta had a major growth spurt before dying. 

Expand  

This is what the NCDC has. Data is missing from the 3rd. The town used to have some very large red gum eucalyptus easily visible from I-10, I wanted to go take some pictures of them. The damage to the saguaro is on the east side. 

F5D2594F-F056-41DA-823C-6E5085C4ED8B.jpeg

  • Like 3
Posted

I stopped by Langtry on a trip last weekend. The specimen at the Roy Bean museum are gone, replaced by native plants. It’s looks like the whole museum was renovated. The one across the street lives on though. I’m not sure what Langtry dropped to, but most likely single digits. Sanderson saw 5°F. There’s only minor burn evident on the growth point/tips. Flowers are growing from the area showing the minor burn, so the growth point is still alive.

7C6C3732-240A-4ED7-A7EA-8FFD876FC740.jpeg

5A2411D9-5965-4195-A63B-E1E92C87A068.jpeg

  • Like 8
  • Upvote 2
Posted

Langtry also dropped to 2F, following a snow and radiation freeze at the end of the cold outbreak. 

AB77AD72-A34F-435D-9F3B-4A9E5B2D546E.thumb.jpeg.7a9476c96254a850479a04208241989c.jpeg

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
  • 10 months later...
Posted

Here is another I found in Langtry. Somehow I missed it last time

C0ED256C-7568-4C34-B452-D81FA5DB0734.jpeg

  • Like 8
  • Upvote 2
Posted

And here is the specimen in Candelaria back in January.

57AAFA8F-9224-431B-83F8-F1628F723007.jpeg

0A133CC0-3729-4C96-9C96-15E5E9E8AAA5.jpeg

  • Like 6
  • Upvote 2
Posted

96D5E3F9-8982-40C1-959D-3CFCC2890761.thumb.jpeg.697ff674b36a86537e1fec983cc581aa.jpegSaw this one in Cotulla a few months ago 

  • Like 6
  • Upvote 2

Corpus Christi, TX, near salt water, zone 9b/10a! Except when it isn't and everything gets nuked.

Posted

Very nice, I wonder why you don’t see more in Laredo. There are several in San Ygnacio. Before about the year 2000 there was a well-known Trichocereus terscheckii on Interstate 35 between Laredo and Cotulla. Reportedly it had been planted around the Depression and had survived the worst freezes of the 20th century but it collapsed sometime in the early 2000s. This was a picture from the 1990s.

130137162_trichocereusterscheckiiencinal.jpg.44b6f90e8d2a7448109712d74d512149.jpg

In far South Texas the best saguaro type cactus is Neobuxbaumia polylopa, they can survive even in Brownsville. Eventually they’ll get so tall something usually knocks them down. The drier they’re grown the longer they usually last.

 

790423938_IMG_0603neobuxbaumiaWeslacohotel.thumb.JPG.4f2c054b51bd256935da192abc563175.JPG

  • Like 8
Posted

^I forgot that I stopped in San Ygnacio in September 

4F7863D7-9A0D-464A-80E0-888906560DB4.thumb.jpeg.6ec6f741f918ca9b3dd07924dfa265cb.jpeg

45475AEB-9368-477C-8CF2-D741DB20D6C8.thumb.jpeg.52557ab6c609b4ae0f3781ce9f476fe9.jpeg41CB1238-66B6-4109-B89C-28B903CB5833.thumb.jpeg.65ddb03cd2e9f02604db0798454af7f8.jpegDBE15B49-C55A-4CC9-B68C-8DAB09845D3F.thumb.jpeg.c008948ee25690003fd269b8c96a90ab.jpeg

  • Like 3
  • Upvote 1
Posted

A few Neobuxbaumia polylopha survived single digits in San Antonio, Austin, and John Fairey Gardens near Hempstead. Most of the specimen that died toppled from the weight of accumulated ice/ freezing solid and shattered. They are pretty hardy.
 

Here is one I saw in San Antonio at Mission San Jose that survived the 2021 freeze

54E6E939-5B90-4C42-A317-829F7723D0BD.thumb.jpeg.510a09869e238916014fdb5122717379.jpeg17CB9AE2-2A1D-41BA-BCC5-495F27AEFA28.thumb.jpeg.858e285afa6094a550efd0ec8ac36dd6.jpegDDE45900-E1E6-46BE-85B8-24E60D3A3BB0.thumb.jpeg.bda83af5ebddcebf7252d8f95639c73a.jpeg

  • Like 4
  • Upvote 2
  • 1 month later...
Posted
  On 3/23/2023 at 6:13 AM, Meangreen94z said:

A few Neobuxbaumia polylopha survived single digits in San Antonio, Austin, and John Fairey Gardens near Hempstead. Most of the specimen that died toppled from the weight of accumulated ice/ freezing solid and shattered. They are pretty hardy.
 

Here is one I saw in San Antonio at Mission San Jose that survived the 2021 freeze

54E6E939-5B90-4C42-A317-829F7723D0BD.thumb.jpeg.510a09869e238916014fdb5122717379.jpeg17CB9AE2-2A1D-41BA-BCC5-495F27AEFA28.thumb.jpeg.858e285afa6094a550efd0ec8ac36dd6.jpegDDE45900-E1E6-46BE-85B8-24E60D3A3BB0.thumb.jpeg.bda83af5ebddcebf7252d8f95639c73a.jpeg

Expand  

Do you think Saguaro could make it in the San Antonio area? 

  • Like 1

sticker.gif?zipcode=78015&template=stick

Posted
  On 5/1/2023 at 9:24 PM, fr8train said:

Do you think Saguaro could make it in the San Antonio area? 

Expand  

For a while but an event like 2021 would probably kill it, too much wet with extreme cold in SA. The juvenile sized specimen that are for sale aren’t as hardy as the large adult specimen I have pictured. There were pictures posted of a 10-12 foot specimen in San Antonio killed in 2021, I believe posted somewhere on palmtalk.

If you want a similar look, faster growth rate, and better record in wet cold look into Trichocereus terscheckii. Wrapping it in a tarp would be advisable in extreme cold, but they survived 2021 in Central Texas at a pretty good rate.

  • Like 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...