Growing palms in San Antonio, TX

[Dwarf Fan]

33 minutes ago, MarcusH said:

The first picture you were looking at : the fronds had a green blueish color. 

Okay, then more likely an older Chamaerops Humilis var. Argentea/Cerifera.

[MarcusH]

17 hours ago, Dwarf Fan said:

Okay, then more likely an older Chamaerops Humilis var. Argentea/Cerifera.

You should come to SA . We go and identify some palms 

[MarcusH]

This CDIP is growing in our neighborhood.  Wonder how many freezes it survived.  What a true winner.  

[MarcusH]

These are Filifera seedlings that I'm growing . I collected the seeds from the Riverwalk downtown.  I'm trying to motivate people to grow more cold hardy palms in our region.  So far over 40 Filiferas growing and I haven't paid nothing but a bag of soil.

[MarcusH]

My palm growers in Texas are you ready for another artic front ? Lows of 18 degrees are expected in the SA area. 

[ChrisA]

No, I'm not ready yet! LOL, I've got some frost cloths on order from Amazon to get some things protected, like my Queen Palm and newly planted Mexican Fans.  It's still a ways out on the forecast but every time I look the forecast gets colder and colder. UGH!

Was hoping to have one gentle winter but mother nature has other plans. Time to freeze all the fronds again! San Antonio, solid Zone 8b 😥

Here's hoping the forecast goes BUST in a good way!

[MarcusH]

1 hour ago, ChrisA said:

No, I'm not ready yet! LOL, I've got some frost cloths on order from Amazon to get some things protected, like my Queen Palm and newly planted Mexican Fans.  It's still a ways out on the forecast but every time I look the forecast gets colder and colder. UGH!

Was hoping to have one gentle winter but mother nature has other plans. Time to freeze all the fronds again! San Antonio, solid Zone 8b 😥

Here's hoping the forecast goes BUST in a good way!

I really hoped for a mild winter after going through 2 cold winters in the 2020s. We're still quite a few days away from the cold frond but the weather outlook doesn't look to well for my area on the NE side . I'm using the AccuWeather app.  My Queen palms will be wrapped for sure .  I also see some snow and showers for Monday.  It's frustrating maybe I'll just keep planting Filiferas.  I already have 2 in the ground and 2 young ones growing in a pot. At least Washies recover fast . Yep 8b for sure Chris. 

[Swolte]

4 hours ago, MarcusH said:

My palm growers in Texas are you ready for another artic front ? Lows of 18 degrees are expected in the SA area. 

Oh man, I was really looking forward to a normal season for a change. Luckily I have a few days at home that I can use to prepare. That forecast just took a real ugly turn with 24+ hrs below freezing and, for me, probably temps in the mid-to-low teens. The past 3 years have just been relentless with historical droughts and deadly freezes. Luckily, everything new that I have planted since last year has been z7 or lower so there's increasingly less to protect. Its also not as bad as '21 or as early as the deadly winter of '23 which caught many plants off-guard (I have had 5+ mild freezes already this winter to harden them off).

[MarcusH]

9 minutes ago, Swolte said:

Oh man, I was really looking forward to a normal season for a change. Luckily I have a few days at home that I can use to prepare. That forecast just took a real ugly turn with 24+ hrs below freezing and, for me, probably temps in the mid-to-low teens. The past 3 years have just been relentless with historical droughts and deadly freezes. Luckily, everything new that I have planted since last year has been z7 or lower so there's increasingly less to protect. Its also not as bad as '21 or as early as the deadly winter of '23 which caught many plants off-guard (I have had 5+ mild freezes already this winter to harden them off).

I just looked at the weather forecast.  Now the low changed from 18 to 16°F . I might just let my two young Queens go because what's the point of protecting them when they look like crap till late summer after every freeze? I did not expect another severe freeze to be honest. I was planning on buying a Mule palm in March. This freeze is a game changer to me I might just stick with palms that are bulletproof in our area.  Filifera/Filibusta for me.  

[jwitt]

Makes one wonder what the new hardiness zones would "truly" be if they included the last 3 years.  Or is there an agenda at play?

[WisTex]

2 hours ago, MarcusH said:

I just looked at the weather forecast.  Now the low changed from 18 to 16°F . I might just let my two young Queens go because what's the point of protecting them when they look like crap till late summer after every freeze? I did not expect another severe freeze to be honest. I was planning on buying a Mule palm in March. This freeze is a game changer to me I might just stick with palms that are bulletproof in our area.  Filifera/Filibusta for me.  

The forecast for Corpus is 20. approaching the record low of 16 set in 1888.  The forecast for North Padre Island is 28.  If Corpus is 20, I expect North Padre to be 25.  If so, there are a lot of newly planted and recovering queens along with foxtails and pigmy palms that are toast.  The sad thing will be that it will dissuade future planting of palms by those who think a palm is a palm.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2024 by WisTex

[Swolte]

3 hours ago, MarcusH said:

I just looked at the weather forecast.  Now the low changed from 18 to 16°F . I might just let my two young Queens go because what's the point of protecting them when they look like crap till late summer after every freeze? I did not expect another severe freeze to be honest. I was planning on buying a Mule palm in March. This freeze is a game changer to me I might just stick with palms that are bulletproof in our area.  Filifera/Filibusta for me.  

Yeah, its increasingly looking like another rare cold event. I hear you. I was looking forward to one normal season but crazy appears to be the norm. It adds a lot of work for those establishing a garden.  

2 hours ago, jwitt said:

Makes one wonder what the new hardiness zones would "truly" be if they included the last 3 years.  Or is there an agenda at play?

I'd go a full zone lower, just to be safe! I find the current map misleading when used as a planting guide.

[amh]

5 hours ago, MarcusH said:

I just looked at the weather forecast.  Now the low changed from 18 to 16°F . I might just let my two young Queens go because what's the point of protecting them when they look like crap till late summer after every freeze? I did not expect another severe freeze to be honest. I was planning on buying a Mule palm in March. This freeze is a game changer to me I might just stick with palms that are bulletproof in our area.  Filifera/Filibusta for me.  

Use the hardy palms for the majority planting and keep a few zone pushers that you can protect.

Mule palms should be safe inside 1604, but as I've mentioned before, where are they planted?

[ChrisA]

Still crossing my fingers that the cold air won't come this far south.  I really don't think the meteorologists/climatologists have a clue what is going on with weather trends. I'm so sick of hearing about El Nino & La Nina. Ohh El Nino, only makes a difference in the winter, ooh could be La Nina by summer again which would mean it's going to dry out and warm up.  Ooh all this moisture because of El Nino, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  If I see another weather related article I am going to spit!  

[MarcusH]

On 1/9/2024 at 8:44 PM, ChrisA said:

Still crossing my fingers that the cold air won't come this far south.  I really don't think the meteorologists/climatologists have a clue what is going on with weather trends. I'm so sick of hearing about El Nino & La Nina. Ohh El Nino, only makes a difference in the winter, ooh could be La Nina by summer again which would mean it's going to dry out and warm up.  Ooh all this moisture because of El Nino, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  If I see another weather related article I am going to spit!  

Totally agree with you Chris I think their predictions are very misleading sometimes . I live between Windcrest and Converse but the closest weather station is Randolph Air Force Base and over there it's colder so I might be 1 or 2 degrees warmer due to microclimates.  Without spending big bucks now I'm wondering if there's a pretty accurate weather station available at Lowes or HD I would like to know what my temperature in the yard is on the North and Soutside . Do you have any knowledge about that ? 

[Ben G.]

Do any of you palm growers in the SA area have experience with C. radicalis or C. microspadix there? I would think they would do pretty well as understory/shade palms in that area. They could add a tropical look under the shade of all of those old oaks. 

I have been to SA several times, and I was also surprised that Butias weren't more common. 

I am sorry you all are getting hit with another colder than average blast. We are in the same boat up here to your north. We have had below average winter lows for the last 5 of 7 winters. The new zone map says I am in a zone 7b location, but I feel like I don't even have a true 7a anymore. We get blasted every winter now it seems. Even when the winter is fairly mild overall, it seems there is always at least one bad front that rolls through.

[MarcusH]

On 1/13/2024 at 9:45 PM, Ben OK said:

Do any of you palm growers in the SA area have experience with C. radicalis or C. microspadix there? I would think they would do pretty well as understory/shade palms in that area. They could add a tropical look under the shade of all of those old oaks. 

I have been to SA several times, and I was also surprised that Butias weren't more common. 

I am sorry you all are getting hit with another colder than average blast. We are in the same boat up here to your north. We have had below average winter lows for the last 5 of 7 winters. The new zone map says I am in a zone 7b location, but I feel like I don't even have a true 7a anymore. We get blasted every winter now it seems. Even when the winter is fairly mild overall, it seems there is always at least one bad front that rolls through.

Hi Ben, I don't have experiences with the palms you mentioned unfortunately 

Palm trees are planted infrequently in SA but I have seen some Butias . Why they aren't common I can't tell you . It's a beautiful palm.