Texas Palms

[Robert Cade Ross]

2 hours ago, Rubberboots said:

@Robert Cade Ross what's the weather there...full sun in summer?

Humid . Wet . And hot as heck lol here are this weeks temps - Fahrenheit

[Rubberboots]

19 minutes ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

Humid . Wet . And hot as heck lol here are this weeks temps - Fahrenheit

@Robert Cade Ross I'm sure the humidity helps....dry heat here.

[Meangreen94z]

6 hours ago, Chester B said:

I thought it was coriacea but after seeing your post you got me thinking I might have been mistaken.

I had inspiration from Rod Anderson’s yard in Phoenix and at one point was trying to grow all species of Hyphaene. 

[Xenon]

Hooray, my bizzie is putting out normal leaves again! The jatropha is also back as expected. Added a Cancun Pink plumeria too 

[Ben G.]

2 hours ago, Xenon said:

Hooray, my bizzie is putting out normal leaves again! The jatropha is also back as expected. Added a Cancun Pink plumeria too 

Good to see it bouncing back. Let's hope it gets some mild years ahead to really put on size.

[Meangreen94z]

Comparing growth 9/21 to 10/24 to 6/259/2110/2410/246/25
9/2110/2410/246/259/2110/2410/246/25Copernicia alba 9/21Butia 9/2110/2410/2410/2410/246/25Copernicia alba 6/25 after protection from 17°F 

Ill get better shots early Fall once everything is recovered 

 

[Rubberboots]

On 6/8/2025 at 11:37 AM, Xenon said:

These seem to always recover if not killed outright. Leaf making machines too, should be nearly good as new by fall 

@Robert Cade Ross water them 

[Xenon]

9 hours ago, Rubberboots said:

@Robert Cade Ross water them 

No need, we've been living in a swamp lately. rain rain and more rain....I know it's a foregin concept to you guys in Cali 😝

[Robert Cade Ross]

Happy Lemmon tree and both bizzys are happy now. 

[Chester B]

My Bismarckia has put out 4 new fronds, its growing too fast for my liking.  I'm not sure how I can protect it after this summer, its already about as tall as me.

[Robert Cade Ross]

30 minutes ago, Chester B said:

My Bismarckia has put out 4 new fronds, its growing too fast for my liking.  I'm not sure how I can protect it after this summer, its already about as tall as me.

lol I might have to visit and dig  it up 😉🤣

[Chester B]

[Meangreen94z]

4 hours ago, Chester B said:

My Bismarckia has put out 4 new fronds, its growing too fast for my liking.  I'm not sure how I can protect it after this summer, its already about as tall as me.

They are one of the fastest growing palms, especially in high heat/tropical conditions. If you hit 30°F next winter, you will be fine. If not, wrap the trunk in Christmas lights or heater cable . If it drops into the teens, defoliate it. Chop all the fronds off or atleast what’s unmanageable and wrap the rest in a tarp. The palms in Pearland have survived 4 winters of teens fine. By August it will have put on so much new growth you won’t be able to tell. 
 

You do not want to dig it up. They are extremely root sensitive 

[Robert Cade Ross]

Planted a few palms over on tiki recently. 
3 queens and a young Bismarck with a friend:) 

[Robert Cade Ross]

Drove past two large queens recently planted in Manvel  plsssssss weather gods give us a true z9b winter for the Houston metro again 😭😭😭🤣

[fr8train]

Some palms from a recent bike ride around San Antonio, and a few from Austin:

[Xenon]

The Bismarckia in my area went unprotected for like 15-16 years so I'll take my chances. Might not even hit 20F for a decade or more. Hardly any leaf damage until at least 24-26F. You guys need to relax and plant more palms 😆

My unprotected queen is pushing it's first full-size spear. It spear pulled after winter but pushed growth on its own with no intervention at all from me. I'm seeing some planted in the area so hopefully they become ubiquitous again🙂. Sorry had to squeeze in a mango flush too that gets just a bit of protection on a few nights. 

Some things are worth and easy to protect like this Lanonia dasyantha 

[Chester B]

I lied about my Bismarckia it’s about to open it’s 6th frond and spear on number 7 is about 2/3 out.  Inhave four older fronds with some tip damage so I think I’m going to remove them.  
 

Here’s a few of my baby palms.  The only palm that is taller than me are the Washingtonia that have grown like crazy. The one on the middle has put out 16+ fronds since the cold spell. 
 

There are two different crosses of Butia and Jubaea, a P sylvestris, Sabal uresana and a CIDP that was a strap about 1.5 years ago.  

[Ben G.]

5 hours ago, fr8train said:

Some palms from a recent bike ride around San Antonio, and a few from Austin:

I didn't realize there were any surviving rows of sylvestris anywhere in the SA area. Or were those planted after 2021?

I also enjoyed that slim trunked butia with fronds that aren't as strongly recurved. 

I haven't seen any tarantulas in SA yet and my coworkers act like they have never seen them. I recently visited family in East Central Oklahoma and spotted 3 within a few days:

[Robert Cade Ross]

The last remaining 2021 queen survivor in Alvin lol . 

[JeskiM]

Well I don't post much palm pics here (yet), but that's mostly because I only really got started on my palm planting in earnest a few years ago and until now never really felt like I had much pics of palmy landscape worth posting.  Some of my palms are planted among grass and overgrown brush that desperatelt needs to be cleaned out.

Anyways last summer I decided to take out 3 large (40 foot) Chinaberry trees that were planted in a row 20+ years ago.  Palmageddon kilked them back nearly to the ground, but they then resprouted on the lower 15 feet or so of trunk. Those sprouts were epicormic and thus very weak jointed to the trunk. Once the branches would get to about 15 feet long they would tear away from the trunk and peel back 5 to 10 feet of the trunk. So last summer I decided to rip the trees down along with all of the brushy undergrowth. Here's some pics of that in progress.

This past March I replanted that area, and beyond (not pictured) with palms, cycads, yuccas, agave, etc. Then since the area was now exposed to copious amounts of sun, the weeds exploded from dormant seeds. In the last few weeks I've been focused on pulling the weeds and mulching it in. Mostly it's a mix of pine bark mulch and rocks of various sizes, texture and color. The last pictute was taken 20 minutes ago. It only shows about one third if the entire area I have been working. You can see that even in that area I have not yet completed the mulching, etc. ... it's a work in progress for the rest of this summer/fall.

I will add more pics as progress continues.

-Matt

[Xenon]

I guess silver queens might just be real. These two are still kicking somehow 🤩. Gotta be the oldest queens in Houston now at 30+ years old (planted early-mid 90s). @Robert Cade Rossneeds to get us a current pic of these palms  

[Robert Cade Ross]

1 hour ago, Xenon said:

I guess silver queens might just be real. These two are still kicking somehow 🤩. Gotta be the oldest queens in Houston now at 30+ years old (planted early-mid 90s). @Robert Cade Rossneeds to get us a current pic of these palms  

lol I’ll go check on them in about 3 weeks .

[JeskiM]

I took some more random pics of that area of my proprty that I posted up a few posts ago. 

Like I said, still a work in progress and some stuff that was planted in a few years ago before I cut down and dug out the Chinaberrys are complety overtaken with grass and weeds .... that'll be the last area I get cleaned up. It's literally pull some weeds around one plant, dump bag of mulch, move onto next area and rinse and repeat ... and of course it's hot in the sun.

Enjoy.

-Matt

[Chester B]

@JeskiM it’s definitely coming along but I don’t think you have enough palms, yuccas or cycads in that area😂

That is some backbreaking work and I’m sure you’ve sweat your own weight in water many times already.  Gardening is rough this time of year.  

[Swolte]

@JeskiM Thanks for sharing those pics! You may want to start your own thread (or a Youtube channel) cause it looks epic...  I like how you're mixing bark mulch and different type of rock! Looks good (at least before the weeds take over! ;)). What is your soil like underneath? Do you do any prep before planting?

[JeskiM]

2 hours ago, Chester B said:

@JeskiM it’s definitely coming along but I don’t think you have enough palms, yuccas or cycads in that area😂

That is some backbreaking work and I’m sure you’ve sweat your own weight in water many times already.  Gardening is rough this time of year.  

Lol 

There are lots of palms in there, but most of them are small (5G and under). In that area (behind the fence) there are the following :

3x Brahea armata (3G)

1x Brahea 'Super Sillver' (1G)

1x Brahea dulcis (15G)

1x CIDP (3G)

1x Phoenix slyvestris 'Robusta' (3G)

3x Chaemerops humilis v. Cerifera (3G)

3x Nannorrhops ritchiana (3G)

2x Thrithrinax campestris (1G)

3x Sabal brazoriensis (2x 7G and 3x 3G)

4x Sabal uresana (1x 15G, 1x 7G, and 2x 5G)

1x Sabal 'Riverside' (1x 15G)

... I agree, obviously not enough plants 😄. It'll be dense in a few years.

I'll need to review the list of cycads, yucca, etc. It's easily as long.  Then there is another area (not pictured)  I did outside of there that's got more similiar plants.

Yes, it's a ton of work. Good exercise, but sometimes it will mess up a joint or muscle for a few days or more. I enjoy doing it though. The reward is worth it ... kinda like going Griswold on Christmas lights ... I am kinda guilty on that too.

Once I get rid of the massive brush pile to the left of that area I'll be able to double the size of that bed.  It will be with palms and cycads, etc that can thrive in the understory of the live oaks.   

It's gonna take a while to get that brush pile disposed of ... it started from damaged trees in Palmageddon, then a massive ice storm, plus the big trees I cut down.

Feel free to come to the Austin area if you wanna assist

-Matt

[Robert Cade Ross]

2 minutes ago, JeskiM said:

Lol 

There are lots of palms in there, but most of them are small (5G and under). In that area (behind the fence) there are the following :

3x Brahea armata (3G)

1x Brahea 'Super Sillver' (1G)

1x Brahea dulcis (15G)

1x CIDP (3G)

1x Phoenix slyvestris 'Robusta' (3G)

3x Chaemerops humilis v. Cerifera (3G)

3x Nannorrhops ritchiana (3G)

2x Thrithrinax campestris (1G)

3x Sabal brazoriensis (2x 7G and 3x 3G)

4x Sabal uresana (1x 15G, 1x 7G, and 2x 5G)

1x Sabal 'Riverside' (1x 15G)

... I agree, obviously not enough plants 😄. It'll be dense in a few years.

I'll need to review the list of cycads, yucca, etc. It's easily as long.  Then there is another area (not pictured)  I did outside of there that's got more similiar plants.

Yes, it's a ton of work. Good exercise, but sometimes it will mess up a joint or muscle for a few days or more. I enjoy doing it though. The reward is worth it ... kinda like going Griswold on Christmas lights ... I am kinda guilty on that too.

Once I get rid of the massive brush pile to the left of that area I'll be able to double the size of that bed.  It will be with palms and cycads, etc that can thrive in the understory of the live oaks.   

It's gonna take a while to get that brush pile disposed of ... it started from damaged trees in Palmageddon, then a massive ice storm, plus the big trees I cut down.

Feel free to come to the Austin area if you wanna assist

-Matt

Throw in a mule for laughs 😎

[JeskiM]

6 minutes ago, Swolte said:

@JeskiM Thanks for sharing those pics! You may want to start your own thread (or a Youtube channel) cause it looks epic...  I like how you're mixing bark mulch and different type of rock! Looks good (at least before the weeds take over! ;)). What is your soil like underneath? Do you do any prep before planting?

The soil is a mix.   One one end it's solid limestone rock. Alot of it was exposed at the surface. I removed tons of rocks that were the size of my torso. I used a bunch of them to enclose some raised beds. 

As you move towars the other end there was an area where the builder had excavated some rock to build a large retaining wall around the house. They then filled it with some sandy loam. That area was pretty deep and the soil is both hydrophobic when dry, but then drains really fast. 

Then there was an area next to it that was more like clay.  I think some of the soils are mixed uo in that area because of work done long ago with the next door neighbors excavation of their pool and septic tank ... that was done when my plot was undeveloped ... I think the dirt was dumped on my plot, then when my house was build it got mixed up, etc

I didn't prep much.  I did dig out the stumps and roots of all the trees and brush and pulled out a lot of big rocks. The holes left behind were many and big. They got filled in with a mix of soils as I planted individual plants.  If it was an agave, yucca, nolina, dioon, or Brahea then I left it alone as they can handle limestone. The Sabals had more organics mixed in with decomposed granite to keep drainage good.

-Matt

[JeskiM]

19 minutes ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

Throw in a mule for laughs 😎

Oooh, I like that idea ... adds more variety.

-Matt

[Robert Cade Ross]

18 minutes ago, JeskiM said:

Oooh, I like that idea ... adds more variety.

-Matt

I found some decent priced ones here in Houston 

[JeskiM]

10 hours ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

I found some decent priced ones here in Houston 

That's tempting for sure.  

[ChrisA]

Here are some photos from my yard and a few from down near King William in San Antonio.  The Bizzie is making a strong come back. Makes me want to try one!  I see all these nice pics of palms being planted like those newly planted large Queen palms in Manvel and my mind is flashing to next winter when we are all posting photos of snow and ice and temps in the teens in places from Austin to Houston to San Antonio.. I think I’ve got some form of palm PTSD from the consistent winter lows we have been experiencing lately! 😂  Anyhow without further ado….

 

oh and @Ben G., those P. sylvestris were planted post 2021.  This past year is the first winter that didn’t fry all their fronds. A few of them did not make it from the cold they’d been through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29 by ChrisA
Removing photos which aren’t showing properly….

[ChrisA]

BTW, one of my big Cali’s is looking like *ss… Both looked pretty bad after being pelted by ice back in February along with the icy wind that was howling as the storm moved through. Washingtonia really cannot stand frozen precipitation.

[fr8train]

On 6/28/2025 at 10:57 AM, Ben G. said:

I didn't realize there were any surviving rows of sylvestris anywhere in the SA area. Or were those planted after 2021?

I also enjoyed that slim trunked butia with fronds that aren't as strongly recurved. 

I haven't seen any tarantulas in SA yet and my coworkers act like they have never seen them. I recently visited family in East Central Oklahoma and spotted 3 within a few days:

I checked on street view, I guess they were planted in 2022. 

I haven't seen a ton of them, but I think the one I most recently caught in front of my garage was the forth, not counting one my wife sent me a video of in front of the house. One was actually on the wall in my garage. I'm in Hill Country, maybe they're more common here? 

 

[Robert Cade Ross]

A new discovery I found recently with the help of a lady online lol . Here is a queen that’s still alive today after the 2021 freeze over in league city along the bayside 

[kukras]

On 1/14/2025 at 9:59 PM, amh said:

Eh, enough with the fear porn. So far this has been an unnaturally mild winter and the low 20's to high teen predicted for Sunday to Wednesday are normal. That being said, fingers crossed for February. 








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Yeah, exactly. It's winter — cold snaps are normal. Let's not blow it out of proportion. Here's hoping February brings some real winter vibes though!

[Keys6505]