Albuquerque Palm Pics!!

[ABQPalms]

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[Desert DAC]

Just seeing this post: very nice! That house in NW ABQ with the two palms looked so much better before the sotols were removed.

Too bad ABQ had that 5F +/- low and such a cold January. Here in Las Cruces, we averaged 4F colder than average all month of Jan 2025, plus we dipped to 12F in much of town, 15F at NMSU and downtown but 6-7F in the valley bottom.  Nothing here was killed by that, though it took until April for the tall, so-so W. robusta by the Ramada Palms hotel to green back up. The few Phoenix dactylifera in town, mostly at the Walmart on Valley Dr, still look rough from that month.

[SailorBold]

Looking good.. now we need a mild winter please.. or id be happy with a closer to avg 10-15f..  or higher..

I dont think any were lost here thankfully.. really cuspy for the washingtonias... recoveries are definitely slower when below 10f and the spears get damaged.

[ABQPalms]

On 9/4/2025 at 7:45 AM, SailorBold said:

Looking good.. now we need a mild winter please.. or id be happy with a closer to avg 10-15f..  or higher..

I dont think any were lost here thankfully.. really cuspy for the washingtonias... recoveries are definitely slower when below 10f and the spears get damaged.

 Yeah, hoping we do have a mild winter! I think it took a while for us to warm up this spring as well. Granted that we did have a mild February after the January deep freeze! We did however get 27 days where our lows were above 70° this summer (it just didn't feel like it to me though).

Here are some up in the North Albuquerque Acres area taken the other day.

[5am]

The comments and photos in this thread... woah. You're all gardening in a whole different world. I love the desert aesthetic from the sparse but intentional planting to the building architecture. I wonder why the lack of Brahea and Nannorhops in this area?

[SeanK]

6 minutes ago, 5am said:

The comments and photos in this thread... woah. You're all gardening in a whole different world. I love the desert aesthetic from the sparse but intentional planting to the building architecture. I wonder why the lack of Brahea and Nannorhops in this area?

Brahea are slow and expensive. 

[jwitt]

8 hours ago, 5am said:

I wonder why the lack of Brahea and Nannorhops in this area?

I think that statement could apply virtually anywhere.  Even pretty rare in PHX/Tucson. 

I cannot speak to nannorhops, but there are some smaller brahea armata. 

I personally think brahea armata will be successful. 

 

Also never seen either for sale here. 

[ABQPalms]

On 9/9/2025 at 5:13 PM, jwitt said:

I think that statement could apply virtually anywhere.  Even pretty rare in PHX/Tucson. 

I cannot speak to nannorhops, but there are some smaller brahea armata. 

I personally think brahea armata will be successful. 

 

Also never seen either for sale here. 

Plant World has a few Brahea Armata for sale. They're just not a popular choice but they would add a nice contrast with their bluish colored fronds.

[SailorBold]

On 9/9/2025 at 5:13 PM, jwitt said:

I think that statement could apply virtually anywhere.  Even pretty rare in PHX/Tucson. 

I cannot speak to nannorhops, but there are some smaller brahea armata. 

I personally think brahea armata will be successful. 

 

Also never seen either for sale here. 

Agree.. and the blue sabal uresana actually..  it's slow.. but not that slow..stay tuned for an update.. 

[SailorBold]

Was around the area and was able to check on these..  full blazing sunshine..

[ABQPalms]

On 9/22/2025 at 8:12 PM, SailorBold said:

Was around the area and was able to check on these..  full blazing sunshine..

Took these shots on Saturday as well.

 

[ABQPalms]

And here are some more from this past weekend.  Some new finds as well!

[Desert DAC]

On 9/9/2025 at 8:58 AM, 5am said:

The comments and photos in this thread... woah. You're all gardening in a whole different world. I love the desert aesthetic from the sparse but intentional planting to the building architecture. I wonder why the lack of Brahea and Nannorhops in this area?

My guess is if Brahea are slightly more tender than Washingtonia robusta or even filifera, that could be why they lack? But the very few Brahea do look OK where I am (Las Cruces & El Paso), so I would guess their cold limit would be in T or C or Alamogordo. Nannorhops are probably never sold, unlike in AZ or Las Vegas. I would also add Sabal mexicana seems worth planting in ABQ, but like too many Washies, they need adequate room to grow and not cause damage to paving or their own root systems - far more than they "need" some perceived microclimate benefit of cramscaping. Cramscaping never ends well, especially for the plant. 

Central New Mexico's desert valley, along the Rio Grande (Socorro to Bernalillo, inclusing ABQ), just seems to experience too many freezing hours and coldest temps most winters, that make it much harder for slightly less hardy palms than my area. But nobody will know until they make an educated try - and - gives those palms room to develop.

[ABQPalms]

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

8 hours ago, ABQPalms said:

Will these phoenix palms survive, given they have very little crown and it's late in the year? Here's hoping for a mild winter for them! 

[ABQPalms]

@Zone7Bpalmguy These dactyliferas have been at this residence since spring of 2021, so this will be their fifth winter. They looked like this, this time last year and saw temps down to near 0°f. They are in a cold pocket.

They did wrap them last winter, however. 

[jwitt]

13 hours ago, Zone7Bpalmguy said:

Will these phoenix palms survive, given they have very little crown and it's late in the year? Here's hoping for a mild winter for them! 

 

When you consider the frost free growing season is somewhere between Corrales and Los Luna's(closer to Corrales), that may explain the smaller crowns.   Less than 170 day growing season! Compare that to other places in the US, and things become quite clear. 

In the U.S., areas with a growing season of around 160 days typically include parts of USDA Zones 5 and 6, which cover regions like the Midwest and Northeast. These zones allow for a variety of crops to be grown, including many fruits and vegetables, 

MAYBE EVEN DATE PALMS!

Location Average Days Albuquerque Sunport 210 Albuquerque Foothills 193 Albuquerque South Valley 187 Sandia Park (inactive station) 174 Los Lunas 3 SSW 171 Corrales 161 Moriarty 144

Location 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 Albuquerque Sunport April 7 April 6 March 23 March 25 April 15 April 1 Albuquerque Foothills n/a April 7 n/a April 21 n/a n/a Albuquerque South Valley n/a n/a n/a April 19 April 15 April 14 Los Lunas 3 SSW April 11 April 29 April 15 April 24 April 16 April 15 Corrales April 10 April 16 April 14 n/a April 15 April 14