Foxtails in Central Texas

[Joe The Palm]

I found these Foxtails yesterday near Pflugerville TX, I wonder what the owner plans to do with them before the winter come because they would obviously not survive unless thoroughly protected, like with a build-over green house. 

I wonder how they will do when the colder weather arrives tomorrow.  https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=30.440560000000062&lon=-97.61993999999999#.Y22IprbMJEY

 

[kinzyjr]

Hopefully they have a plan in place for those.  The Foxtails they got are really nice.

[South Carolina palms]

Yeah if you can keep us updated, I saw the forecast for 35 and am curious how they’ll do 

[JohnStraz]

Just wait it gets under 30 degrees in texas for 24 hrs every year. Pfluggerville is just north of Austin they will be dead by mid winter. 

[Joe The Palm]

Update: After more than a week of cloudy days in the 50s with nights in the mid 40s including a couple in the mid 30s. Here is what they look like. 

But there's more coming https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=30.440560000000062&lon=-97.61993999999999#.Y3hLGcfMJEY

 

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by Joe The Palm
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[DTS]

idk why they just dont plant hardier palms

[ahosey01]

Sometimes these are funky gimmicks (coconuts as annuals in Rehoboth Beach or something) put on by local, seasonal businesses to be eye-catching.  To me, this just looks like an unwitting, wealthy homeowner asked a landscaper (paradoxically the least knowledgeable people on earth when it comes to plant advice) for insight and got screwed.  I could certainly be wrong.

[Joe The Palm]

UPDATE: Well like I expected, the palms perished. To my knowledge they were alive up until the arctic blast we had right before Christmas. The lowest temperature in this area was 14F on Dec 23rd. I don't think they were protected whatsoever but it would have most likely not made a difference.

Edited January 19, 2023 by Joe The Palm
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[aztropic]

Nope. I have found that even under my own dry desert conditions, 28F without any frost, will kill most foxtails. If you wrap the crownshaft with C9 Christmas lights, even though it would be completely defoliated,they will survive lower 20's F. (the wooden trunk does not need any additional protection to survive)

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[greysrigging]

You know,  Foxtails are native to a monsoonal wet/dry climate in far North Queensland,  AU at 14.2*S.... yes, they are surprisingly hardy re colder temps, but in their natural habit in the ranges near the coast, would rarely if ever see sub 10c (50f ) temps....
So a Central Texas 'blue norther' winter outbreak would fry them for sure.... 
Zone pushing is fun, but can also be heartbreaking...

Climate data from the nearest towns to Foxtails native habitat

[richtrav]

2 hours ago, aztropic said:

Nope. I have found that even under my own dry desert conditions, 28F without any frost, will kill most foxtails. If you wrap the crownshaft with C9 Christmas lights, even though it would be completely defoliated,they will survive lower 20's F. (the wooden trunk does not need any additional protection to survive)

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

That is weird, they look surprisingly good here after the advective freeze of Dec 23 when we had the upper 20s. This is the first time I have seen them do noticeably better than royal palms, which were burned in colder exposed areas down here. 

[WisTex]

I have not seen a Foxtail that was replanted on North Padre Island after the 2021 freeze survive the Christmas event.  It was the price property owners paid to unscrupulous landscapers and nurseries who sell gratification to those who don't know better. 

[Xerarch]

45 minutes ago, WisTex said:

I have not seen a Foxtail that was replanted on North Padre Island after the 2021 freeze survive the Christmas event.  It was the price property owners paid to unscrupulous landscapers and nurseries who sell gratification to those who don't know better. 

I haven’t been by to check, but did even those ones on Encantada die that survived 2021? Would be a shame to not protect them from this event after surviving that one.  
 

My foxtail (protected) is alive and growing well. It’s too bad we’ve had a rough streak here the last few years, but I still maintain that foxtails/royals and the like are worthwhile on the island or milder parts of CC as we get enough mild/normal winters in a row for them to look great. Buyer should be aware of the risk though. 

[Meangreen94z]

I saw foxtails for sale at more than one Austin Home Depot last summer, not sure why. Im guessing the owners of that property assumed that meant it was a palm for their climate. 

[Fusca]

11 hours ago, richtrav said:

That is weird, they look surprisingly good here after the advective freeze of Dec 23 when we had the upper 20s. This is the first time I have seen them do noticeably better than royal palms, which were burned in colder exposed areas down here. 

I was going to say the same thing.  There's a guy in town who has more than a dozen of various sizes planted around his pool on a small lot.  He wrapped the crownshaft with Christmas lights on the majority of them but I don't think he protected all of them.  Varying degrees of frond damage but nothing fatal and some look untouched which was surprising to me.  Low in my yard was 27.3°F

[Fusca]

Here's a photo

[WisTex]

19 hours ago, Xerarch said:

I haven’t been by to check, but did even those ones on Encantada die that survived 2021? Would be a shame to not protect them from this event after surviving that one.  
 

My foxtail (protected) is alive and growing well. It’s too bad we’ve had a rough streak here the last few years, but I still maintain that foxtails/royals and the like are worthwhile on the island or milder parts of CC as we get enough mild/normal winters in a row for them to look great. Buyer should be aware of the risk though. 

I only got a quick glance while driving by at the Encantada palms, but they don't look good.  The sad thing about the newly replaced Foxtails freezing off is that it will discourage the planting of palms on The Island.  Appears the newly planted Queen palms made it, nearly every replacement Pigmy palm had damage, but most look like they will survive.   Other than Mexican/California fan palms, Mexican sabals from the Rio Grande Valley or Palmettos trucked in from Florida, and lately Sylvesters, there are few differing cold tolerant palms planted on North Padre.  There are some Bismarcks (incurred some light damage) and a couple of CIDP on Eaglesnest.   The three foot and five foot Mules and the four foot Brahea armata in my back yard are the only ones I am aware of on NPI.

Edited January 20, 2023 by WisTex

[Xerarch]

4 hours ago, WisTex said:

The sad thing about the newly replaced Foxtails freezing off is that it will discourage the planting of palms on The Island. 

That's exactly what I'm afraid of, average Joe homeowner will get tired of replacing palms real fast, and who can blame him? Bad freezes in consecutive or closely spaced years are what drove the entire citrus industry south in Florida, Texas too, also frustrated many home gardeners. Floridians have largely forgotten the queen-killing freezes of the 80's and don't think about them during gardening decisions, unfortunately for us, we've had some reminders that are a little too close for comfort.

[Xerarch]

5 hours ago, WisTex said:

 The three foot and five foot Mules and the four foot Brahea armata in my back yard are the only ones I am aware of on NPI.

There is a house on Sea Pines with a handful nice looking mules in front.  I wish Park Rd 22 had mules all up and down it, that would really up the tropical vibe of the place and they're very hardy to boot.

[WisTex]

3 hours ago, Xerarch said:

There is a house on Sea Pines with a handful nice looking mules in front.  I wish Park Rd 22 had mules all up and down it, that would really up the tropical vibe of the place and they're very hardy to boot.

Whenever the subject of palms along PR 22 comes up, the answer always is that it is for the Texas DOT to do and they will not do it.