Texas Palms

[ntxpalms]

1 hour ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

Some from my Florida trip this spring they are so magnificent.

I bet Alvin is great for growing palms!  You probably don’t see many nights below 32° in a normal winter.

[Robert Cade Ross]

18 minutes ago, ntxpalms said:

I bet Alvin is great for growing palms!  You probably don’t see many nights below 32° in a normal winter.

Unfortunately I’m kind of in a cold spot my side of HW6 is rapidly growing so maybe a heat  island of some kind will eventually help but till then most “normal “ winters we see 29-31° F which is too bad . 

[Chester B]

23 hours ago, ntxpalms said:

The bananas are Musa. The other plant is papaya. I grow the papaya’s as annuals and they usually produce fruit because we typically don’t get first frost until late November or early December. I got these in the ground a little late this year, but if I get them in the ground by early April, they are usually about as tall as the palm. On a side note, I noticed a variety of banana in Louisiana that I had never seen before and after much Googling found someone who was selling them and called them Apple bananas. I ordered two and we’ll see how they do. I’ve seen them growing in northern Louisiana and they freeze but come back from the ground every Spring, and make a huge clump.

I’m growing the Apple or Manzano banana here that I got off an established clump.  To me this sounds like the most appealing in terms of flavor, I like my bananas a little green when they still have that tang.
There are a number of bananas that you can grow.  I currently have Dwarf Orinoco/Burro, Dwarf Namwah, Ice Cream/blue Java and Raja puri. The Ice cream already has decent sized fruit so I’m hoping they mature before Christmas. they’re about 14 feet tall, my house has high ceilings so the photos are deceptive. I can stand under the leaves. 
 

[Robert Cade Ross]

Pearland double trunk majesty palms are recovering yet again! 

[Robert Cade Ross]

Harlingen Today:) 

[Robert Cade Ross]

W.Robsuta found an old pic i took fall of 2022 . 
downtown Alvin . 

[SeanK]

On 8/11/2025 at 10:41 PM, Robert Cade Ross said:

Harlingen Today:) 

WOW. No yellow or dry leaves. Absolutely Gorgeous. 

(the Majesties are sweet, too)

[Robert Cade Ross]

Galveston this morning:) went down to see the rare clear water lol . 

[JohnAndSancho]

3 hours ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

Galveston this morning:) went down to see the rare clear water lol . 

IMG_0241.mov

Clear water? In Galveston? I never knew there was such a thing lol. I grew up in Pensacola and lived close to Tampa for a couple years (Lakeland), and I missed the beaches so I went to Galveston once in 2009 and never went back. Anyway to stay on topic the palms look great. 

[SeanK]

34 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Clear water? In Galveston? I never knew there was such a thing lol. I grew up in Pensacola and lived close to Tampa for a couple years (Lakeland), and I missed the beaches so I went to Galveston once in 2009 and never went back. Anyway to stay on topic the palms look great. 

1899 Kinda ended Galveston's ambition as a resort community.

[Fusca]

51 minutes ago, SeanK said:

1899 Kinda ended Galveston's ambition as a resort community.

Are you referring to the 8°F in February 1899?  What about the hurricane in September 1900 that killed 6,000 and destroyed the city?  😲  That's a bad 19 month stretch of weather extremes!

[SeanK]

2 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Are you referring to the 8°F in February 1899?  What about the hurricane in September 1900 that killed 6,000 and destroyed the city?  😲  That's a bad 19 month stretch of weather extremes!

My mistake. 1900.

[MarcusH]

Found some mature Queen palms on North Padre Island.  I picked up some seeds as well. 

[Ben G.]

38 minutes ago, MarcusH said:

Found some mature Queen palms on North Padre Island.  I picked up some seeds as well. 

Nice! Hope you had a good time there.

[MarcusH]

On 8/24/2025 at 8:13 PM, Ben G. said:

Nice! Hope you had a good time there.

We had a great time. We stayed the night over in CC. Went to Mustang Island on the first day, Port Aransas on the second day

The Queen palms were planted after the freeze. One out of 4 already died. I see a lot of new Queen palm planting in the CC area. 

[MarcusH]

On 8/21/2025 at 5:56 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

Clear water? In Galveston? I never knew there was such a thing lol. I grew up in Pensacola and lived close to Tampa for a couple years (Lakeland), and I missed the beaches so I went to Galveston once in 2009 and never went back. Anyway to stay on topic the palms look great. 

At least we have a lot of natural seashore without miles of lined up hotels but I hear what you're saying.  We can't redirect the Mississippi River just like that.  

[JohnAndSancho]

6 hours ago, MarcusH said:

At least we have a lot of natural seashore without miles of lined up hotels but I hear what you're saying.  We can't redirect the Mississippi River just like that.  

Oh I get it. And I'm not being a hater at all, I hate that the Florida beaches are wall condos and hotels now. We went camping on the beach in Destin when I was a kid and there was literally nothing there. Sure it was like 35 years ago, but there was nothing and nobody for miles, it was awesome. We camped at Fort Pickens once too, and I slept in a live oak tree. Everything is all tacky and developed now. 

[PAPalmtrees]

11 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Oh I get it. And I'm not being a hater at all, I hate that the Florida beaches are wall condos and hotels now. We went camping on the beach in Destin when I was a kid and there was literally nothing there. Sure it was like 35 years ago, but there was nothing and nobody for miles, it was awesome. We camped at Fort Pickens once too, and I slept in a live oak tree. Everything is all tacky and developed now. 

I don't hate Florida but I would much rather go on vacation in North Carolina it's much more beautiful in my opinion. And it's not full of condos like Florida

[Xenon]

It's 50% off time...let's gooooo!!

 

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, Xenon said:

It's 50% off time...let's gooooo!!

 

I miss HGC almost as much as I miss El Rey Taqueria 

[Chester B]

4 hours ago, Xenon said:

It's 50% off time...let's gooooo!!

 

You're a wild man.  I did go there for 50% off but I bought some Hesperaloe, Oleander and three Trachycarpus fortunei.  If it's not a 9A palm or lower it's not going in my yard.  The Bismarckia is my only zone push and when it kicks the bucket a Sabal uresana will be going in its in place.

[Xenon]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

You're a wild man.  I did go there for 50% off but I bought some Hesperaloe, Oleander and three Trachycarpus fortunei.  If it's not a 9A palm or lower it's not going in my yard.  The Bismarckia is my only zone push and when it kicks the bucket a Sabal uresana will be going in its in place.

You'll get the itch when the Houston royal palms return 😎🌴

Besides it's a small-ish low impact palm easy to remove for the price of weekday lunch! No foul if it dies in a few months or few years 

[Chester B]

10 minutes ago, Xenon said:

You'll get the itch when the Houston royal palms return 😎🌴

Besides it's a small-ish low impact palm easy to remove for the price of weekday lunch! No foul if it dies in a few months or few years 

Maybe I'll consider one again once I have a proper jungle that can afford them some protection.  The thing is I've spent A LOT this year on putting in giant beds, soil amendments, mulch, steel edging and dozens of plants so I at this point I want to put my money toward things that will last.  My latest slightly iffy palm is a Sabal pumos.  If they can survive in Georgia they better survive here!

I've been selling plants/palms locally to help offset the costs.

[JohnAndSancho]

34 minutes ago, Chester B said:

Maybe I'll consider one again once I have a proper jungle that can afford them some protection.  The thing is I've spent A LOT this year on putting in giant beds, soil amendments, mulch, steel edging and dozens of plants so I at this point I want to put my money toward things that will last.  My latest slightly iffy palm is a Sabal pumos.  If they can survive in Georgia they better survive here!

I've been selling plants/palms locally to help offset the costs.

It's your fault I like bananas now. Allen got me digging holes in the yard, you got me liking bananas, who's gonna drag me down the next rabbit hole? 

[5am]

Hey fellow Texans, where do y’all send plant samples for DNA identification? I’m having a hard time finding labs that offer this service. There’s an A&M in Amarillo which specifically excludes this from the services they offer, and there’s a lab in Utah that tells me they won’t accept out-of-state material. My Sabal minors have grown so fast that I’m beginning to wonder if they’re some other species and until I find out it’s going to eat away at me.

[Robert Cade Ross]

On 9/2/2025 at 8:52 PM, Chester B said:

You're a wild man.  I did go there for 50% off but I bought some Hesperaloe, Oleander and three Trachycarpus fortunei.  If it's not a 9A palm or lower it's not going in my yard.  The Bismarckia is my only zone push and when it kicks the bucket a Sabal uresana will be going in its in place.

The recent carnage has already traumatized you haha . 

[Robert Cade Ross]

On 9/2/2025 at 10:20 PM, Xenon said:

You'll get the itch when the Houston royal palms return 😎🌴

Besides it's a small-ish low impact palm easy to remove for the price of weekday lunch! No foul if it dies in a few months or few years 

So far the Houston queens palms can barely get by haha . I was able to sprout a few mule palm seeds from a guy in Gainesville FL who makes the hybrid himself. Mules for the win 😉

[JohnAndSancho]

5 minutes ago, Robert Cade Ross said:

So far the Houston queens palms can barely get by haha . I was able to sprout a few mule palm seeds from a guy in Gainesville FL who makes the hybrid himself. Mules for the win 😉

What scares me about the Mules here is watching Allen's get too big to protect. But in fairness it gets a hair colder up there than it does here typically. I'd still like to try one eventually. 

[thyerr01]

@5am I'm not sure that any regular hobbyists do that?

I looked up the normal plant genes used for species identification and they are publicly available for most of the common Sabal species, so companies could offer that service. You would likely pay more for having the samples tested than the value of S. minor though.

[5am]

24 minutes ago, thyerr01 said:

@5am I'm not sure that any regular hobbyists do that?

I looked up the normal plant genes used for species identification and they are publicly available for most of the common Sabal species, so companies could offer that service. You would likely pay more for having the samples tested than the value of S. minor though.

I got a laugh out of that. You’re right, I’m sure most folks don’t! If I hadn’t put in years of time I may not be so inclined either. After  searching longer than I’d like to admit I found another A&M lab which offers plant identification in their analytical chemistry division. The page says they want the whole plant, but that’s not going to happen so I’ll contact them tomorrow. 

[thyerr01]

I'd post some pics here and get the community to weigh in. No downside to that.

[Robert Cade Ross]

Any idea why my baby Microspadix are becoming “fried” even in part shade ? They have never gone too dry . 💔🥲 

[Robert Cade Ross]

3 years ago today I took this photo of a lovely Foxtail planted at the former mosquito cafe in downtown Galveston. Unfortunately the horrific 2022 freeze turned it to mush 💔. Thx Barry for planting it haha .

[MarcusH]

Yesterday,  my job took me to McAllen. For me it's the first time in the "Valley". Couldn't really take pictures since I was driving but for those who haven't been down there yet I can say it's definitely worth a visit if you're into palms. McAllen is in zone 10a. I've seen plenty of mature Queen palms, Pygmy, Bismarckia, .... and of course millions of Mexican fan palms, the ones that are pencil thin. I also saw some Royal palms but I say there are a bit iffy for the area. Don't look as healthy as the Queens they grow there. Does someone know how bad the devastating was back in 2021 ? Did a lot of Queens die or were they just badly burned because I have seen a lot of mature ones but not as tall as the ones in California like 2/3 stories tall.

[5am]

2 hours ago, MarcusH said:

Does someone know how bad the devastating was back in 2021 ? Did a lot of Queens die or were they just badly burned

Has a queen palm ever taken cold damage in the valley? There are definitely fewer royals than there used to be, especially in the McAllen area. Most of my life is in Harlingen-Brownsville but I know McAllen and especially Rio Grande City get hotter and colder than we do on this side. 

[Fusca]

3 hours ago, MarcusH said:

Yesterday,  my job took me to McAllen. For me it's the first time in the "Valley". Couldn't really take pictures since I was driving but for those who haven't been down there yet I can say it's definitely worth a visit if you're into palms. McAllen is in zone 10a. I've seen plenty of mature Queen palms, Pygmy, Bismarckia, .... and of course millions of Mexican fan palms, the ones that are pencil thin. I also saw some Royal palms but I say there are a bit iffy for the area. Don't look as healthy as the Queens they grow there. Does someone know how bad the devastating was back in 2021 ? Did a lot of Queens die or were they just badly burned because I have seen a lot of mature ones but not as tall as the ones in California like 2/3 stories tall.

I moved here after Palmageddon in 2022 and it got down to 22°F here and 24°F in Brownsville.  I noticed a handful of queens died in new subdivisions but they were newly planted and likely not watered well.  Same thing with newly planted royal palms.  Many royals didn't survive 2021 but most did.  All royals saw at least some leaf damage the past 3 winters at 27°F but aside from 2021 27°F is the lowest temperature recorded here since 1989.  I planted this royal in 2022 and it hasn't been protected the last 2 winters.  When they're damaged they look pretty well recovered by the end of summer.  It's about 14' tall today but fit in my car when I bought it!

[amh]

On 9/4/2025 at 10:30 PM, Robert Cade Ross said:

Any idea why my baby Microspadix are becoming “fried” even in part shade ? They have never gone too dry . 💔🥲 

The problem is probably your water source.  Chamaedorea microspadix, unlike Chamaedorea radicalis does not like salt or a lot of dissolved minerals in its water. 

[Ben G.]

Well, my small Trachycarpus takil (that had not grown at all in the 18 months since I dug it up before my move to TX) finally gave up the ghost. 

I am not a big fan of regular fortunei due to the messy looking fronds. On the other hand, wagnerianus can look kind of awkward as they get taller because their leaves are so small and stiff. 

I have some space though close to a wall that faces ENE that I wanted to plant some fairly small palms that will not be bushy at the base (looking for minimal blocking of sprinkler heads) I already had one hybrid waggie x fortunei, so I bought another one to replace the dead takil. Trachycarpus grow more here during the winter than the summer anyway, so it is a good time to plant them.

New hybrid:

Hybrid planted last fall:

They don't look like much now, but I am looking forward to watching them grow over the years.

[MarcusH]

On 9/6/2025 at 11:09 AM, Fusca said:

I moved here after Palmageddon in 2022 and it got down to 22°F here and 24°F in Brownsville.  I noticed a handful of queens died in new subdivisions but they were newly planted and likely not watered well.  Same thing with newly planted royal palms.  Many royals didn't survive 2021 but most did.  All royals saw at least some leaf damage the past 3 winters at 27°F but aside from 2021 27°F is the lowest temperature recorded here since 1989.  I planted this royal in 2022 and it hasn't been protected the last 2 winters.  When they're damaged they look pretty well recovered by the end of summer.  It's about 14' tall today but fit in my car when I bought it!

It's amazing to see how the world of palm trees change between 2 to 4.5 hours of driving, away from San Antonio.  You go from California fan palms to Royals.  You Jon, have an amazing collection of palms and you're blessed to live in an area where you can grow all these incredible plants and trees. I would have Queen palms all around my house if I would live down there .

[MarcusH]

On 9/6/2025 at 10:13 AM, 5am said:

Has a queen palm ever taken cold damage in the valley? There are definitely fewer royals than there used to be, especially in the McAllen area. Most of my life is in Harlingen-Brownsville but I know McAllen and especially Rio Grande City get hotter and colder than we do on this side. 

I live in Texas since late 2021 and this is the first time driving down to the Valley. I hope to see SPI within a year . For some reason I always end up going to CC but now I say 2 hours on top of the ride is well worth it.