Polar Vortex

[Robert Cade Ross]

4 minutes ago, thyerr01 said:

@Cade I think you posted a pic of the one in Humble just after the freeze this year? Is there a second surviving queen palm in Meyerland/Bellaire?

Yes there’s a very large one in bellaire 

[_nevi]

Both sabal palmetto and sabal mexicana should be to Houston how the washingtonia robusta is for Los Angeles: solidified and proliferated.

I've really been learning to love those sabals, they have a great aesthetic (nicer than washingtonia filifera, imo) that also is sufficiently cold hardy for the errant freeze events. This grouping near Houston's Memorial Park area was nice, but was (unfortunately) removed due to a new building construction.  

Edited March 31, 2024 by _nevi

[MarcusH]

3 hours ago, _nevi said:

Both sabal palmetto and sabal mexicana should be to Houston how the washingtonia robusta is for Los Angeles: solidified and proliferated.

I've really been learning to love those sabals, they have a great aesthetic (nicer than washingtonia filifera, imo) that also is sufficiently cold hardy for the errant freeze events. This grouping near Houston's Memorial Park area was nice, but was (unfortunately) removed due to a new building construction.  

Absolutely agree with your statement.  You can enjoy the looks of an evergreen palm tree even in cold winters . No defoliation just always looking great. I wish here in San Antonio they would plant Sabals in masses . I see an increased number of Sabals though.  One of the best palm in zones 9b and under in Texas.  

[Robert Cade Ross]

Moody gardens (Galveston) today 

Still no new palms being planted just some tropical shrubs 🤷‍♂️ @Xenon sorry lol.

[thyerr01]

Love the large Macrozamias. Anyone know what that Aloe is in the 5th last picture? 

[Xenon]

Stumbled into this very old Butia and two new mules today in Sugar Land 

[Robert Cade Ross]

$97 worth of king palms 😆

[Keys6505]

Just noticed a clearance Majesty corpse in my yard that I just hadn't pulled out yet is still alive after 20 degrees this past winter.  

[Robert Cade Ross]

24 minutes ago, Keys6505 said:

Just noticed a clearance Majesty corpse in my yard that I just hadn't pulled out yet is still alive after 20 degrees this past winter.  

Lol

[Chester B]

Not a challenge for these palms but they were massive. Pictures don’t do them justice. 

[Xenon]

Life finds a way😝 even after 18.5F. Discount rack Chamaedorea cataractum with just normal leaf mulch, a majesty with a 2 gallon jug of water and a bedsheet, and Lytocaryum hoehnei with a cardboard box. 

[Xenon]

Found a unicorn in Sugar Land today 

[Xenon]

A nicer looking mule. Still think most of them are ugly 😜

[Robert Cade Ross]

2 hours ago, Xenon said:

Found a unicorn in Sugar Land today 

Where is your lottery ticket 😆?

Edited April 12, 2024 by Cade
Typo

[Robert Cade Ross]

2021 survivor in humble update 

[ChicagoPalma]

Hailing just a minute ago!

[ChicagoPalma]

Addition, not even a severe storm day, lightning and hail is crapping on us! Welcome to the Midwest, where it is 64, sunny, hailing, snowing, and thundering outside today!

[MarcusH]

2 hours ago, Cade said:

Where is your lottery ticket 😆?

Lol what is that?  

[MarcusH]

2 hours ago, Cade said:

2021 survivor in humble update 

Come on seriously,  how desperate can you be to keep this palm alive ? Lol . That's why I don’t bother growing Queens anymore because they take ages (2years) to get a decent crown if it doesn't get down close to 20f.  

[Robert Cade Ross]

4 minutes ago, MarcusH said:

Come on seriously,  how desperate can you be to keep this palm alive ? Lol . That's why I don’t bother growing Queens anymore because they take ages (2years) to get a decent crown if it doesn't get down close to 20f.  

lol I’ll get the chainsaw for you  

[MarcusH]

1 hour ago, Cade said:

lol I’ll get the chainsaw for you  

 

1 hour ago, Cade said:

lol I’ll get the chainsaw for you  

You know me hahaha

[thyerr01]

@Cade Nice, definitely one we should keep an eye on for seed in the future.

[Xenon]

12 hours ago, Xenon said:

Found a unicorn in Sugar Land today 

Ok I'm 99% sure that these are the same palms in this video

Long live the cold hardy silver queen??? 😆

 

 

Here they are in Jan 2022  via streetview

 

Looks like the big one may just end up surviving the triple barrage of polar vortex !!!

[Meangreen94z]

Nice fat filifera in Lago Vista, Texas

[Robert Cade Ross]

19 hours ago, Xenon said:

Ok I'm 99% sure that these are the same palms in this video

Long live the cold hardy silver queen??? 😆

 

 

Here they are in Jan 2022  via streetview

 

Looks like the big one may just end up surviving the triple barrage of polar vortex !!!

lol watch it be a lie and they have been secretly protecting everything except the fronds 

[Chester B]

@Cade I have regular, SIlver (littoralis) and Santa Catarina queens all planted in the ground now.  It will be interesting to see if there are any differences.

[Xenon]

3 hours ago, Chester B said:

@Cade I have regular, SIlver (littoralis) and Santa Catarina queens all planted in the ground now.  It will be interesting to see if there are any differences.

Hopefully we won't see any differences for at least a decade 🤞.

Rooting for average and/or average+ winters, so tired of all these super negative anomalies! 

[Meangreen94z]

3 minutes ago, Xenon said:

Hopefully we won't see any differences for at least a decade 🤞.

Rooting for average and/or average+ winters, so tired of all these super negative anomalies! 

You said it out loud. Now we’ll have to wait another year.

[Xenon]

22 minutes ago, Meangreen94z said:

You said it out loud. Now we’ll have to wait another year.

Haha I doubled down on the tropical stuff this spring too 😆

People have been planting more cold hardy stuff these past few years and look what keeps happening...Plant more tropicals guys!!! The more tropicals you plant the more tropical the weather becomes LOL

[ChicagoPalma]

4 minutes ago, Xenon said:

Haha I doubled down on the tropical stuff this spring too 😆

People have been planting more cold hardy stuff these past few years and look what keeps happening...Plant more tropicals guys!!! The more tropicals you plant the more tropical the weather becomes LOL

You got that right!

[Xenon]

If only everything outgrew damage this fast, not even May yet 🤣. Washingtonia robusta in downtown Houston today

[Keys6505]

Bizzy finally snapped out of zombie phase and is pushing a spear again.  This is my survivor that made it through the last 3 polar vortexes (although I had to cut it after the previous 2).  This year it went unprotected at a low of 19.8°.

[_nevi]

On 4/14/2024 at 1:43 PM, Xenon said:

People have been planting more cold hardy stuff these past few years and look what keeps happening...Plant more tropicals guys!!! The more tropicals you plant the more tropical the weather becomes LOL

Then it's time to bring back the queens!

How expensive are they? Depending on the cost, they might be better to plant than washingtonia species — even with death (god forbid), removal probably won't be as daunting.

[_nevi]

On 3/31/2024 at 10:40 AM, Cade said:

Yes there’s a very large one in bellaire 

Do you have a photo or streetview? Similar to @Xenon's from Sugar Land area?

[Robert Cade Ross]

2 minutes ago, _nevi said:

Do you have a photo or streetview? Similar to @Xenon's from Sugar Land area?

I can upload a picture from 22 soon it should still be alive the trunk is very fat . 

[Xenon]

2 hours ago, _nevi said:

Then it's time to bring back the queens!

How expensive are they? Depending on the cost, they might be better to plant than washingtonia species — even with death (god forbid), removal probably won't be as daunting.

Queens aren't that tropical...I was thinking more along the lines of royals and foxtails 😆. Queens are one of the cheapest and most available palms, they'll be back. 

No but seriously a lot of non-palm zone 9b/10 stuff make for great dieback perennials. I don't care if guava, star fruit, or June plum die to the ground occasionally...I'll still get a ton of fruit in the years that they don't die. Just put an atemoya in the ground to test. Tons of tropical foliage/"houseplants" you can grow this way too like many Ficus and Schefflera. 

[Robert Cade Ross]

League city queens somewhat damaged 

 

[Robert Cade Ross]

The bellaire queen is alive and kicking lots of new growth. No pic sadly 🥲

[Xenon]

I'm seeing new queens here and there. One day we'll start hating on them again for being over planted 😆 

Today in west Houston 

[Robert Cade Ross]

38 minutes ago, Xenon said:

I'm seeing new queens here and there. One day we'll start hating on them again for being over planted 😆 

Today in west Houston 

lol