Texas Palms

[Robert Cade Ross]

8 hours ago, PA-TX2024 said:

 A very old Filifera. I've noticed a lot of them around town have been tilting a bit. Is that normal?

A lot did that in Houston and the crowns snapped off lol soooo 🤷‍♂️🤞

[Robert Cade Ross]

What are the odds that a Manambe palm survives here in south East Tx ? My friend in devers bought 18 baby ones recently 🙊

[Fusca]

1 hour ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

What are the odds that a Manambe palm survives here in south East Tx ? My friend in devers bought 18 baby ones recently 🙊

It's possible but a struggle - if your friend has well drained soil and they need to be mound planted.  Weather isn't the problem with these (besides 2021-type events) but soil is.  There was a guy growing one in Louisiana that lasted for a while anyway.  Where did he source them?  I would like to try one here.

 

[Robert Cade Ross]

3 hours ago, Fusca said:

It's possible but a struggle - if your friend has well drained soil and they need to be mound planted.  Weather isn't the problem with these (besides 2021-type events) but soil is.  There was a guy growing one in Louisiana that lasted for a while anyway.  Where did he source them?  I would like to try one here.

 

Sourced from Neil a guy who lives in elverta California. 

[Robert Cade Ross]

South Houston general area today found some interesting palms 2021 queen still alive with significant trunk damage will likely snap off eventually…👀the star of the show two “big” majesty palms I randomly discovered last week poking out of a yard in Pearland . I asked the lady about the palms there was originally 6 the other two sets died in 2021 these survived with c9 lights .. age is around 18 or so ! nice pure robsutas - along 288 fox tails 2 of 3 in this Pearland backyard planted in February 99% chance they die Bismarck hiding in a Friendswood neighborhood 

Edited December 15, 2024 by Robert Cade Ross
Typo

[NBTX11]

On 12/10/2024 at 1:46 AM, PA-TX2024 said:

 A very old Filifera. I've noticed a lot of them around town have been tilting a bit. Is that normal?

Nothing wrong with any local Filifera. This palm will live for decades to come. No, it won’t snap. 
 

I saw 1 (one) old Filifera die in NB from the 2021 freeze, out of 100+, if not more. 

[Meangreen94z]

On 12/13/2024 at 6:39 PM, Robert Cade Ross said:

What are the odds that a Manambe palm survives here in south East Tx ? My friend in devers bought 18 baby ones recently 🙊

I bought a 5/7 gallon size from Jungle Music while I was in Houston. Never even made it into the ground. That palm is tricky to establish and has a very narrow tolerance of conditions. From what I remember they don’t even do well in Southern California, but have survived in Northern California.  Tell your friend to buy a greenhouse, maybe then.

[fr8train]

I went to Dallas over the weekend, and here are a few palms I saw:

 

[PA-TX2024]

Gotta love it when Robustas continue their legacy after death thanks to their seed production.

[MarcusH]

2 hours ago, PA-TX2024 said:

Gotta love it when Robustas continue their legacy after death thanks to their seed production.

One thing I can say is,  that I never get tired of looking at Washingtonias . It's such a beautiful palm. Even if I would live in zone 11 I would still grow Washies among others of course.  

[MarcusH]

2 hours ago, PA-TX2024 said:

Gotta love it when Robustas continue their legacy after death thanks to their seed production.

We saw a good amount of Robustas not making it in the San Antonio area . Evidence is still visible but if you get around San Antonio like I do ( local truck driver) I can tell you that I see many large Robustas with slightly thicker trunks than a 100 pure Robusta on every side of the city as far as LP1604 and beyond.  There's a lot of UHI inside of 410 but let's be clear the dominating palm in the entire San Antonio metro is the Filifera.  I call this smart planting.  Washies are popping out at so many places , give it 10 years and some areas will be densely populated by Washies at some areas. 

[Robert Cade Ross]

Galveston county today - inland 

[fr8train]

I went to Kerrville last night and had a chance to check up on how 2 CIDPs are doing. 

[Ben G.]

I got to take a pic with one of my favorite San Antonio palms. I am 6'2" for scale. This is maybe the best colored chamaerops I have ever seen:

 

[Ben G.]

And some "Christmas palms" tonight:

[Keys6505]

Terrible pic,  but League City is mass planting Minors on the medians on a bunch of roads throughout town.

[fr8train]

On 12/20/2024 at 6:40 PM, Ben G. said:

I got to take a pic with one of my favorite San Antonio palms. I am 6'2" for scale. This is maybe the best colored chamaerops I have ever seen:

 

Love these palms. There's a few planted around here that I've found, none are that blue though. 

[Robert Cade Ross]

Fort bend county yesterday warmish 9A 

[Ben G.]

2 hours ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

Fort bend county yesterday warmish 9A 

 

Nice to see a mature Nannorrhops.  I probably prefer the neater look of a silver med fan. On the other hand, my small potted Nannorrhops is growing relatively quickly. So, it may end up being quite a bit faster to mature. 

[Robert Cade Ross]

1 hour ago, Ben G. said:

Nice to see a mature Nannorrhops.  I probably prefer the neater look of a silver med fan. On the other hand, my small potted Nannorrhops is growing relatively quickly. So, it may end up being quite a bit faster to mature. 

Fort bend county has some interesting palms if you look hard enough after all it’s home to two large queens that made it through 2021  

[PA-TX2024]

More surprising Robusta suvivors and a hybrid in New Braunfels. There's also a CIDP with almost a full crown. Palmtalk won't let me delete the duplicate image for whatever reason.

[Robert Cade Ross]

@Xenon the large 2021 queen on Jackson st is gone it’s laying in a pile of rubble along with the robusta 😹🙈

[PA-TX2024]

More SA palms:

Sabal Mexicanas

More Robusta survivors

Hybrids

Sabal Mexicanas

More Robustas

More Sabal

A spared(?) Filifera

 

[Robert Cade Ross]

Humble queen survivor still kicking trunk rot damage is officially settled in lol … not bad for surviving every freeze including 2021 🙈

[Ben G.]

5 hours ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

Humble queen survivor still kicking trunk rot damage is officially settled in lol … not bad for surviving every freeze including 2021 🙈

That's a pretty tough queen. Cool that you found a survivor.

[CascadiaPalms]

Been lurking in here...I will say...the amount of Texas palms that survived that insane freeze is extremely impressive. 😶

[Swolte]

Yeah, lets hope we'll have no more of these tests! I am becoming a little less optimistic with this news (I know, its too far out):
https://www.statesman.com/story/weather/2024/12/05/texas-winter-weather-extreme-cold-ercot-meteorologist-forecast-winter-storm-uri/76767230007/

I think its safe to say now that December has been very kind. Going to pocket that!

~ S

[MarcusH]

I personally count on at least one cold snap with temperatures in the mid to upper teens just like every year since I moved here in 2021. If it doesn't get that cold that's a blessing and if it does get that cold I consider it as a normal winter .  

[NBTX11]

3 hours ago, MarcusH said:

I personally count on at least one cold snap with temperatures in the mid to upper teens just like every year since I moved here in 2021. If it doesn't get that cold that's a blessing and if it does get that cold I consider it as a normal winter .  

The long term average is around 20.  Above that  in warm pockets of SA (9a low to mid 20’s)

Mid teens is well below normal long term. 

[SeanK]

On 12/20/2024 at 7:40 PM, Ben G. said:

I got to take a pic with one of my favorite San Antonio palms. I am 6'2" for scale. This is maybe the best colored chamaerops I have ever seen:

 

Wow. That blue is amazing.

[Robert Cade Ross]

Hildalgo county - RGV royals 

[PA-TX2024]

14 hours ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

Hildalgo county - RGV royals 

I wish they grew them more often down there. For the "City of Palms", McAllen doesn't have much of them even before the freeze. It's a great spot for Royals. 

[Robert Cade Ross]

Museum District today  

[thyerr01]

I stumbled across this decent size Bismarckia yesterday, just east of the TMC across the highway. Looks like it was planted ~2008-2010. Apart from the one down at Enchanted Garden (Forest?), do we know of any others in central Houston (or elsewhere thats not far SE) that survived 2021?

 

[ahosey01]

On 12/29/2024 at 8:25 PM, Robert Cade Ross said:

Hildalgo county - RGV royals 

Next time you're down this way give me a shout and I will show you some really cool stuff you probably won't find just driving around.  Plus also my garden, which is nascent but also full of rare things.

[Chester B]

18 hours ago, thyerr01 said:

I stumbled across this decent size Bismarckia yesterday, just east of the TMC across the highway. Looks like it was planted ~2008-2010. Apart from the one down at Enchanted Garden (Forest?), do we know of any others in central Houston (or elsewhere thats not far SE) that survived 2021?

 

That Bismack is at Enchanted Forest.  It's so dumb with the two nurseries basically having the same name.  

I've been getting around a bit more into some older Houston neighborhoods.  I'm seeing some really big Non Washy/Non Sabal palms but nothing exotic.  Very large Chamaerops, Tall Butias and big Livistona chinensis but not much beyond that.  There's also the odd Trachy, mule and newer queens.

I do drive by this really nice tree sized Yucca in Pasadena, its huge.  They're not common around here at all.

[Robert Cade Ross]

On 1/3/2025 at 8:55 AM, Chester B said:

That Bismack is at Enchanted Forest.  It's so dumb with the two nurseries basically having the same name.  

I've been getting around a bit more into some older Houston neighborhoods.  I'm seeing some really big Non Washy/Non Sabal palms but nothing exotic.  Very large Chamaerops, Tall Butias and big Livistona chinensis but not much beyond that.  There's also the odd Trachy, mule and newer queens.

I do drive by this really nice tree sized Yucca in Pasadena, its huge.  They're not common around here at all.

There is the opportunity for Houston to have way more than Boring  sabals and robsutas but …… the only shit sold is everything not long term hardy for cheep 🙊

[RedRabbit]

Spotted an older queen in Pearland (Shadow Creek Ranch) yesterday. It’s not much, but it is the first one I’ve seen since moving to Texas.

 

Separately, I may have found a young royal in Houston in the Memorial area. I found it in streetview but I’m not sure if it’s still there.

[thyerr01]

@RedRabbit Great find. I don't know if its the contrast with the tiny vertical leaves, but that queen looks like it has a very thick trunk. It certainly hasn't recovered as well as the large one in Bellaire, which almost has a full crown now.

[fr8train]

Here are a few from a bike ride yesterday. This is the first time I've seen a citrus tree with fruit on it down here. The euro fan palm volunteer is a first too.