Rio Grande Valley “Weekend Biennial” … please post your photos here

[ASHCVS]

Excited to be flying toward South Padre Island/Brownsville for the first International Palm Society Weekend Biennial. The event is sold-out and I hope many of the participants post here. 

[ASHCVS]

First palms!

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Very excited to see what is growing in this region post-2021

[ASHCVS]

A great morning of palms and birding on South Padre Island.

Roseate Spoonbill

 

Reddish Egret

 

Great Blue Heron
 

[Cindy Adair]

I see our president and I are using the bus WiFi to post on PT simultaneously…

[Cindy Adair]

 

Pintail Duck

Gorgeous views on a beautiful day!

[ASHCVS]

Fantastic award-winning Texas barbecue lunch with a special dessert.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

1 hour ago, ASHCVS said:

A great morning of palms and birding on South Padre Island.

Roseate Spoonbill

 

Reddish Egret

 

Great Blue Heron
 

Beautiful

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Any interesting palms or other plants in SPI?

[5am]

I don't know about on SPI, but after lunch at the Brownsville zoo @Fusca and I saw these just down the street at 535 Paredes Line. I'm not familar with them so my guesses at names might be wrong

Corypha

 

Arenga

 

Tahina?

 

Attalea & Syagrus schizophylla

 

Trachycarpus princeps

 

Unknown

 

Unknown to me but I think Jon knows it.

 

...in addition to the Dypsis decaryi, Chamaerops argentea, royals and bismarks. There was also a tall but weak looking bottle and some small Butia archeri-looking palm. There's also a large silverish Nannorhops at the entry to that same address, much bigger than I see on the Google Street View imagery.

[5am]

Just up the street from that location is an old bank building across from a historic battlefield with more parking lot Royals and what I think is an Adonidia in a protected spot by the front door. 

There are some interesting palms but you have to keep your eyes open because lush, exotic landscaping doesn't seem to be a high priority.

(Pic not from today.)

[idontknowhatnametuse]

17 minutes ago, 5am said:

I don't know about on SPI, but after lunch at the Brownsville zoo @Fusca and I saw these just down the street at 535 Paredes Line. I'm not familar with them so my guesses at names might be wrong

Corypha

Unknown

 

Unknown to me but I think Jon knows it.

Copernicia sp. , another Copernicia sp. and Hyphaene sp.

[Xenon]

3 hours ago, 5am said:

 

Trachycarpus princeps

 

 

Looks to be Coccothrinax. The tall "bottle palm" I believe is a survivor Hyophorbe indica. This is Oliver's office, he used to post here. 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

2 minutes ago, Xenon said:

Looks to be Coccothrinax. The tall "bottle palm" I believe is a survivor Hyophorbe indica. This is Oliver's office, he used to post here. 

Now I know why that spot with the Attalea and Syagrus schizophylla looked so familiar.

@5am Did you by any chance see the big Acrocomia mexicana? Is it still there?

[5am]

28 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

@5am Did you by any chance see the big Acrocomia mexicana? Is it still there?

Yes, I believe so. Covered in thorns and old dried fronds hanging down. I want to say there was green on it but by that point I was overwhelmed with all those others. I’m in that area regularly so now that I know about it I’ll stop to check some time. My photos don’t do justice to the size of some of those! 

[ASHCVS]

Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, (paurotis palm or Everglades palm) in flower at the zoo entrance. 

[idontknowhatnametuse]

14 hours ago, 5am said:

Just up the street from that location is an old bank building across from a historic battlefield with more parking lot Royals and what I think is an Adonidia in a protected spot by the front door. 

There are some interesting palms but you have to keep your eyes open because lush, exotic landscaping doesn't seem to be a high priority.

(Pic not from today.)

These palm's fronds suggest these were recently planted, they got those "nursery fronds". Hopefully this winter is mild in the RGV so these can take off. The pre 2010 Adonidias in my city all are protected by walls except 2 of them in a microclimate in San Nicolás de los Garza.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

2 hours ago, ASHCVS said:

Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, (paurotis palm or Everglades palm) in flower at the zoo entrance. 

Those are fruits already! Underrated species.

[Cindy Adair]

Today we had time for a walk on the gorgeous beach after a delicious breakfast (included in the package). At 10 am we departed for the Sabal Sanctuary. 

I was so impressed with the efforts in progress to save these beautiful palms.

I am hoping others will post photos of the elegant surroundings, but I was enjoying the speakers and amazing food and happily taking a break from electronics. 

Afterwards most of us ignored the bit of rain and walked some of the trails.

 

 

I for one gained new appreciation for this species and will be delighted to try to germinate the gift seeds we were given. 

I feel so very fortunate to have seen both the Amazon in Peru and the Rio Grande (below) in a few months of IPS travel. 

 

We all agreed that the PSST (headed by Director Chuck Malloy) did an absolutely amazing job making the very first weekend Biennial a complete success.
 

Texas hospitality abounded. 

Thank you!!

It was as always hard to say goodbye, but at least those of us heading to Vietnam in early 2026 will see each other again soon. 
 

Lastly, I know for some PT users this was your first venture with IPS travel and it was wonderful to meet you! Thanks too for posting here. 

 

[ASHCVS]

I was incredibly impressed by our visit to the Palm Sanctuary. It was necessary to drive through the “wall” to the southernmost point in Texas, hard on the Rio Grande River. And I was astounded by a true palm forest, in fact the last relic forest of Sabal mexicana. 

[ASHCVS]

Very grateful to be leaving with a palm and a book!

[ASHCVS]

We also enjoyed a very wonderful, warm and gracious afternoon at the home of Dr. Romeo and Linda Montalvo.  Their home and gardens were just sublime. And, more gratitude, incredibly grateful for their hospitality, hors d’oeuvres and open bar. What fun! Thank you Romeo and Linda. 

[ASHCVS]

Most definitely the largest Medemia argun I have ever seen. But of course I’ve never visited the Nubian Desert.

[ASHCVS]

[ASHCVS]

Brahea dulcis- what a beautiful clumping form!

[ASHCVS]

Sabal mauritiiformis

[ASHCVS]

Tahina X two!!

[ASHCVS]

With tremendous gratitude to this guy, Chuck Malloy, President of the Palm Society of South Texas. On behalf of the International Palm Society’s Board of Directors and our members, I thank you for an absolutely memorable weekend in South Texas. The IPS and PSST are now linked even more closely and we all look forward to many reunions. 
 

[ASHCVS]

Remarkably, Romeo‘s neighbor Dr. Roberto has an equally impressive home and garden. And we are very thankful to him as well for hosting our gang of Palm people.

[Fusca]

20 hours ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Now I know why that spot with the Attalea and Syagrus schizophylla looked so familiar.

@5am Did you by any chance see the big Acrocomia mexicana? Is it still there?

Have you been to this office complex?  Or just previously seen other's photos?  I live here and just found out about the place last week.  I've driven past it several times not knowing what unusual palms were planted here.  It's unusual (and very nice!) to see a commercial planting like this in the region.  😊

[idontknowhatnametuse]

18 hours ago, Fusca said:

Have you been to this office complex?  Or just previously seen other's photos?  I live here and just found out about the place last week.  I've driven past it several times not knowing what unusual palms were planted here.  It's unusual (and very nice!) to see a commercial planting like this in the region.  😊

No, never been to the United States. But Oliver is a very well known poster because he had one of the best and biggest collection in Texas. He is one of the few collectors in Texas who dared to zone push rarer species of Dypsis (At the time when PT was all about Dypsis).

[Fusca]

1 hour ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

No, never been to the United States. But Oliver is a very well known poster because he had one of the best and biggest collection in Texas. He is one of the few collectors in Texas who dared to zone push rarer species of Dypsis (At the time when PT was all about Dypsis).

Yes, I remember when he used to post but it's been a long time ago.  Hopefully you can make a visit here - I'd be happy to show you this and my personal collection although most of the rarer stuff is still small.  Oliver's collection at his office is impressive and I'm sure he's got some interesting palms at his house too.  😊

[George Bailey]

My first “Weekend Biennial” was amazing. Chuck Malloy, and the Palm Society of South Texas, provided excellent programs that were very interesting. Everyone I had the pleasure of meeting were warm and friendly. I hope to see you all again in Miami, 2029

[LP305]

Had a great time in Brownsville looking at gorgeous Sabal mexicanum. Prettier than our hum drum S. Palmetto.🫣

[MikeL]

 The Sabal Palm Sanctuary in Brownsville is pretty incredible. It's rare to see any intact palm forest even if the sanctuary is only a remnant of a once much larger forest.

Sabal mexicana is a much more impressive tree than I expected; you can see how it dwarfs Mary in the picture. The crown is almost spherical and huge with large stiff leaves like a Bismarckia.