Should I move to Houston, as a palm lover?

[_nevi]

On 4/9/2024 at 5:42 AM, Xenon said:

Nobody believes me when I say this stuff existed given how cold it's been lately to the point that the formerly landscape staple queen palm keeps dying 

I believe you. I browsed through an old thread a while ago that showed royals (!!!) ... in Katy (!!!)

[Aceraceae]

On 4/12/2024 at 10:36 PM, Xenon said:

There's even one coconut still around.

What and where is this one rare coconut palm that survived (in SPI)? or was it only in Matamoros? 

[Xenon]

7 minutes ago, Aceraceae said:

What and where is this one rare coconut palm that survived (in SPI)? or was it only in Matamoros? 

it's actually just south of Weslaco in far southern Hidalgo county,  a stone's throw from the border 

[RedRabbit]

On 4/28/2024 at 11:53 PM, Xenon said:

it's actually just south of Weslaco in far southern Hidalgo county,  a stone's throw from the border 

Thanks, it’s amazing one survived that. I suppose that just have been the least cold part of Texas on the day of the big freeze. I remember looking at the weather stations on SPI and knew it would be a total kill there.

[Xenon]

12 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

Thanks, it’s amazing one survived that. I suppose that just have been the least cold part of Texas on the day of the big freeze. I remember looking at the weather stations on SPI and knew it would be a total kill there.

Going by lows and damage to tropical dicots like Ficus, Delonix, mango, Araucaria columnaris, etc...central/southeastern Brownsville was the warmest spot. There are some Ficus that retained main trunks, mangos that retained main branches, huge Delonix that retained most larger outer limbs, and some Araucaria with more than half of the crown intact. 

It's hard to say with palms, because survival of royals in southernmost Hidalgo county is not all that different from Brownsville...maybe central/southeast Brownsville is slightly higher 70-80% vs 60-70% in southernmost Hidalgo. But also seemingly random and dependent on pre-freeze health...you'll see a group of half dead or mostly dead royals and across the street is a group of mostly alive lol.  The slightly drier conditions and slightly higher daytime highs may have helped with secondary death from rot. There is more money in southern Hidalgo too and palms are generally more well cared for.