Best pinnate palm choices for San Antonio TX

[SeanK]

On 3/26/2024 at 5:22 PM, MarcusH said:

Oh absolutely but here's the thing about Mules. If you want the most cold hardy mule you need to look for burgundy boots and more curved darker green fronds . A strap leaf palms isn't showing you all these traits but a 15 gallon does

Isn't San Antonio z9a? I would think any Mule would do OK if properly watered and acclimated to the sun.

[Fusca]

59 minutes ago, SeanK said:

Isn't San Antonio z9a? I would think any Mule would do OK if properly watered and acclimated to the sun.

I believe most of the city is 9a and you're right about mules.  Even my Syagrus-leaning mule survived 9° F during the historic freeze of 2021 but my largest one died (both unprotected).

[Ben G.]

A bit off topic...but I just thought to ask about this today. Does oleander grow well in San Antonio? I don't recall seeing much of it on a recent trip I made down there, but I wasn't looking for it either.

I have heard that oleanders like acidic soil, so I wondered if the more alkaline soils in parts of the SA area cause them to struggle.

[jwitt]

Oleander love alkaline conditions. 

And I wager there are few places that grow them better than the sw US.

 

 

 

 

[MarcusH]

22 hours ago, SeanK said:

Isn't San Antonio z9a? I would think any Mule would do OK if properly watered and acclimated to the sun.

Officially yes , thanks to the long stretch of warm winters PRIOR to February 2021.  This year it got down to 19f . Last year 16f and 9f in 2021.  A Mule palm should look fine in most years . Is it bulletproof in SA ? I'm not going to say yes unless you protect it from record cold winters.  Realistically we're more a 8b zone than 9a with rare dips to 7b zone winters.  That's Texas for you.  The zone rating means nothing in Texas , not here , not in Houston not even in the RGV.  Look up the data from the last 100 years you will see that not many species are bulletproof in San Antonio.  

[fr8train]

Here's another large Butia I forgot about:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Zoc1BGnCDjHpSXW46

 

[MarcusH]

20 hours ago, fr8train said:

Here's another large Butia I forgot about:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Zoc1BGnCDjHpSXW46

 

The closest one in my neighborhood is on Toeperwein and SA zoo. Looks very healthy .