Palms of West Texas

[KPoff]

I wanted to start a thread here to share photos and put a place for others to share as well. The more time I spend in Midland and Odessa for work the more I appreciate what people are growing here and have through many years even 2021. This climate is 8A but after going back through climate data about 90% of our winters are 7b/8a/8b, luckily leaning more heavily to 8a and 8b. However about 1/10 winters the area sees 7a or even 6b lows and each winter there will be about 3 days where highs don’t get above freezing. So it’s amazing to see what these have endured. Unless many were cut down after 2021 it seems like filifera survival was close to 100% here and these seem to be the most common palm here and then sabal, Trachycarpus and chamaerops.

[Chester B]

Some seeds from these nice fat filifera would be great to spread around the palm growing community.

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

5 hours ago, KPoff said:

I wanted to start a thread here to share photos and put a place for others to share as well. The more time I spend in Midland and Odessa for work the more I appreciate what people are growing here and have through many years even 2021. This climate is 8A but after going back through climate data about 90% of our winters are 7b/8a/8b, luckily leaning more heavily to 8a and 8b. However about 1/10 winters the area sees 7a or even 6b lows and each winter there will be about 3 days where highs don’t get above freezing. So it’s amazing to see what these have endured. Unless many were cut down after 2021 it seems like filifera survival was close to 100% here and these seem to be the most common palm here and then sabal, Trachycarpus and chamaerops.

Those are some great looking palms! Fat washies!!!

[KPoff]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

Some seeds from these nice fat filifera would be great to spread around the palm growing community.

@Chester B I’ve sent some to a few folks already. If you want some message me an address and I’ll send some. I’ve got 3 big community pots with seeds popping already too. I’m sure these would do amazing for you down there.

[NC-Key-Bar]

Great looking palms here. Gives me hope we can get some well-established filiferas on the east coast

[Austinpalm]

On 11/24/2025 at 10:13 AM, KPoff said:

I wanted to start a thread here to share photos and put a place for others to share as well. The more time I spend in Midland and Odessa for work the more I appreciate what people are growing here and have through many years even 2021. This climate is 8A but after going back through climate data about 90% of our winters are 7b/8a/8b, luckily leaning more heavily to 8a and 8b. However about 1/10 winters the area sees 7a or even 6b lows and each winter there will be about 3 days where highs don’t get above freezing. So it’s amazing to see what these have endured. Unless many were cut down after 2021 it seems like filifera survival was close to 100% here and these seem to be the most common palm here and then sabal, Trachycarpus and chamaerops.

Thanks for sharing.  I have traveled to Big Spring/Midland/Odessa many times and noticed a few palms here and there.  I feel like they were more common before the bad winter of 2021, but I could be wrong. Always impressed to see any palms that far north in Texas.  Was raised in Wichita Falls and to my recollection, palms were/are much less common there than out in the Permian Basin.  I think WF is too wet and cold some years while Big Springs and others are more often just cold.  I expect the extra sunshine helps as well.  I seem to recall a former member of PSST who lived in Lubbock and even he had a few hardy species in his yard.

[KPoff]

4 hours ago, Austinpalm said:

Thanks for sharing.  I have traveled to Big Spring/Midland/Odessa many times and noticed a few palms here and there.  I feel like they were more common before the bad winter of 2021, but I could be wrong. Always impressed to see any palms that far north in Texas.  Was raised in Wichita Falls and to my recollection, palms were/are much less common there than out in the Permian Basin.  I think WF is too wet and cold some years while Big Springs and others are more often just cold.  I expect the extra sunshine helps as well.  I seem to recall a former member of PSST who lived in Lubbock and even he had a few hardy species in his yard.

@Austinpalm most of what I see is landscaping in residential areas. My guess is that a lot people are not aware of what they can plant here that will grown. 

[jwitt]

Once off of the caprock, and with the high winter insolation, palms with mass become "more" doable.   

Nice!

[KPoff]

1 hour ago, jwitt said:

Once off of the caprock, and with the high winter insolation, palms with mass become "more" doable.   

Nice!

@jwitt I’m not sure what this is? Solar intensity?

[jwitt]

5 hours ago, KPoff said:

@jwitt I’m not sure what this is? Solar intensity?

Insolation refers to the incoming solar radiation that reaches the Earth's surface, measured in watts per square meter (W/m²). It varies based on factors like the angle of the sun's rays, the duration of daylight, and atmospheric conditions.

It is a major factor of why large palms exist in Midland and not Wichita Falls. 

Or in layman's terms, a telephone pole in WF may feel cold on a 32f day, that same pole on Midland could be warm to the touch. 

The sun just feels different.....

[Meangreen94z]

Brahea armata . Chinati Hot Springs

[Meangreen94z]

Washingtonia filifera in the ghost town of Shafter, Texas. About a month after seeing 10-12°F in December 2022.

[Meangreen94z]

Washingtonia filifera in Candelaria, Texas , Chinati Mountains and surrounding area 

[Meangreen94z]

Phoenix dactylifera in Big Bend National Park at a former hot springs resort closed in the 1940’s and also Dugout Wells area. I’m sure they’ve seen low teens off and on over the decades .

 

[Meangreen94z]

San Angelo, Texas

Tech 

[Austinpalm]

Great pix MeanGreen.  Always loved seeing the Phoenix  when arriving to Hot Springs.  Washingtonia filifera generally seem pretty happy in the Tran-Pecos.  Have you noticed if they are naturalizing anywhere there?  I seem to recall seeing some volunteers in El Paso, but not sure about anywhere else out west of the Pecos.  Chinati Hot Springs is a great place.  Good to see the Brahea doing so well.  Are some of the San Angelo pix from the residence of the gentleman that brought in the Jubaea many years ago?  

[Meangreen94z]

32 minutes ago, Austinpalm said:

Great pix MeanGreen.  Always loved seeing the Phoenix  when arriving to Hot Springs.  Washingtonia filifera generally seem pretty happy in the Tran-Pecos.  Have you noticed if they are naturalizing anywhere there?  I seem to recall seeing some volunteers in El Paso, but not sure about anywhere else out west of the Pecos.  Chinati Hot Springs is a great place.  Good to see the Brahea doing so well.  Are some of the San Angelo pix from the residence of the gentleman that brought in the Jubaea many years ago?  

The San Angelo pictures were a neighborhood next to the state park there, it looked scenic so I drove through. I know who you are referring to. I found his business page on Facebook a while ago and it looked like he gave up around 2017, atleast doing installations. I asked about the status of a few of the palms he put in his yard and he never responded.

 

Im sure there are Washingtonia that have naturalized out there, but I’ve actually seen several reports of Phoenix dactylifera that have spontaneously appeared . There are a number of them in a desolate canyon within Big Bend Ranch State Park, atleast 60- 70 miles up river from the Big Bend NP specimen. It looks like they got there for no other reason than birds.

[Meangreen94z]

Technically Southwest Texas, but still a dry arid region.  Brahea armata in Brackettville, Texas.

[KPoff]

15 hours ago, jwitt said:

Insolation refers to the incoming solar radiation that reaches the Earth's surface, measured in watts per square meter (W/m²). It varies based on factors like the angle of the sun's rays, the duration of daylight, and atmospheric conditions.

It is a major factor of why large palms exist in Midland and not Wichita Falls. 

Or in layman's terms, a telephone pole in WF may feel cold on a 32f day, that same pole on Midland could be warm to the touch. 

The sun just feels different.....

@jwitt yeah I’ve tried to grow plants in full sun here and they get fried but that same plant will grow in full sun in DFW.

[TonyDFW]

All great pix.