Recommendations for Uncommon Palms in South Padre Island, Texas

[J.O.A.]

Hi - I recently purchased a vacation home in South Padre Island Texas and I'm about to have it landscaped.

I'm looking for suggestions for palms that would do well in the climate but are somewhat rare in the area.  In the few times that I have visited the island, Washingtonia Robusta is ubiquitous.  There is also the occasional Roystonea Regia, Syagrus Romanzoffiana, Sabals, and Phoenix Roebelenii.  Other than that, I didn't see too much variety, which was surprising considering the climate can support many other types of palms (I think). 

Will the following palms do well in the climate taking into account the occasional winter cold blast from Canada and the need for some salt tolerance since the home is near the ocean.  The top three feet or so of the soil is dirt that was brought in and underneath that is mostly sand.

Here are some palms that I'm considering.

• Beccariophoenix Alfredii
• Archontophoenix Alexandrae
• Archontophoenix Cunninghamiana
• Dypsis Decaryi
• Dypsis Lutescens
• Any other Dypsis that is easy to obtain
• Any Pritchardia
• Wodyetia Bifurcata

Will these palms do well here? I'm also open to other suggestions.

Thank you so much.

[Xenon]

7 minutes ago, J.O.A. said:

Hi - I recently purchased a vacation home in South Padre Island Texas and I'm about to have it landscaped

• Archontophoenix Alexandrae
• Dypsis lutescens
• Dypsis Decaryi
• Wodyetia Bifurcata

Will these palms do well here? I'm also open to other suggestions.

Thank you so much.

Very mature specimens of these already exist on the island. I'm surprised you don't find the foxtails to be common, they are about as common or just a bit less so than royals from my many trips down there. Dypsis decaryi in particular seems to love the island, handling all of the heat, salt spray, and very occassional cold. Hyophorbe also seems well adapted and is widely sold, a good number even survived the historic low 20s freeze in 2021. Archontophoenix cunninghamia generally doesn't do well (might be the heat or nighttime lows? The island does not drop below 80F from July-Septermber), but A. alexandrae and A. maxima do well so stick to the tropical types. Ptychosperma elegans is also commonly planted. I would avoid Beccariophoenix alfredii, most people in S. Texas have not had good experiences with it, seems to hate the water. 

There were also big coconuts (20+ years) before the 2021 freeze on the island that produce viable fruit many times. I encourage you to repopulate SPI with coconuts😛. Same goes for Adonidia and Veitchia spp. Carpentaria would probably do very well too. For other exotic pinnate palms you might consider: Satakentia, Carpoxylon, Kentiopsis oliviformis 

Some other things you might consider and already grow in S. Texas with success: Copernicia spp. (any), Thrinax spp., Pseudophoenix spp., basically anything from the coastal Caribbean. I would avoid any upland Dypsis spp. A good rule of thumb is to check if certain Dypsis sp. grows in Florida, if it grows there it'll most likely grow in S. Texas. 

 

[aztropic]

Might want to consider Pseudophoenix sargentii too. Salt and also cold tolerant, to upper 20's. Slow grower,so buy the largest available, or what you can afford.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[J.O.A.]

On 1/20/2024 at 11:22 AM, Xenon said:

Very mature specimens of these already exist on the island. I'm surprised you don't find the foxtails to be common, they are about as common or just a bit less so than royals from my many trips down there. Dypsis decaryi in particular seems to love the island, handling all of the heat, salt spray, and very occassional cold. Hyophorbe also seems well adapted and is widely sold, a good number even survived the historic low 20s freeze in 2021. Archontophoenix cunninghamia generally doesn't do well (might be the heat or nighttime lows? The island does not drop below 80F from July-Septermber), but A. alexandrae and A. maxima do well so stick to the tropical types. Ptychosperma elegans is also commonly planted. I would avoid Beccariophoenix alfredii, most people in S. Texas have not had good experiences with it, seems to hate the water. 

There were also big coconuts (20+ years) before the 2021 freeze on the island that produce viable fruit many times. I encourage you to repopulate SPI with coconuts😛. Same goes for Adonidia and Veitchia spp. Carpentaria would probably do very well too. For other exotic pinnate palms you might consider: Satakentia, Carpoxylon, Kentiopsis oliviformis 

Some other things you might consider and already grow in S. Texas with success: Copernicia spp. (any), Thrinax spp., Pseudophoenix spp., basically anything from the coastal Caribbean. I would avoid any upland Dypsis spp. A good rule of thumb is to check if certain Dypsis sp. grows in Florida, if it grows there it'll most likely grow in S. Texas. 

 

Thanks for your suggestions.

I do like the coconut lookalike of Beccariophoenix Alfredii and I'm surprised it doesn't do very well in South Texas.  I think I'm going to try at least one.  I will probably try at least one coconut.  I also like Ptychosperma Elegans.  I've also always liked Archontophoenix Alexandrae and Ravenea Rivularis, probably my Southern California bias.

[Xenon]

10 minutes ago, J.O.A. said:

Thanks for your suggestions.

I do like the coconut lookalike of Beccariophoenix Alfredii and I'm surprised it doesn't do very well in South Texas.  I think I'm going to try at least one.  I will probably try at least one coconut.  I also like Ptychosperma Elegans.  I've also always liked Archontophoenix Alexandrae and Ravenea Rivularis, probably my Southern California bias.

Yep you need to forget about California, there's zero similarity. Heat and humidity for most of the year. You really should look into the Caribbean stuff which is well adapted. Satakentia is coastal adapted and would be really nice too

Why grow fake coconut when you can just grow real coconut 😜

[Merlyn]

Personally I'd grow real coconuts too.  Though not cold hardy they are very well suited to hurricanes....B. Alfredii is not so much.  They have a habit of trying to flop over if they aren't planted deep enough, and have giant fronds that catch the wind.  That being said, I have not heard of problems with Alfredii in TX, so that's new to me.  People on the forum grow them in all kinds of coastal areas in Floriduh.  Meg's didn't survive a cat 5 hurricane, but I have 8 in the ground myself.  They all had some tilt from ~cat 1 winds, but I staked them back up and they are fine so far.  They've taken 24.6F with only minimal leaf tip spotting and burn.  Think of them as a coconut on steroids and plan for the size and they'll be awesome!

[Austinpalm]

On 1/20/2024 at 1:00 PM, J.O.A. said:

Hi - I recently purchased a vacation home in South Padre Island Texas and I'm about to have it landscaped.

I'm looking for suggestions for palms that would do well in the climate but are somewhat rare in the area.  In the few times that I have visited the island, Washingtonia Robusta is ubiquitous.  There is also the occasional Roystonea Regia, Syagrus Romanzoffiana, Sabals, and Phoenix Roebelenii.  Other than that, I didn't see too much variety, which was surprising considering the climate can support many other types of palms (I think). 

Will the following palms do well in the climate taking into account the occasional winter cold blast from Canada and the need for some salt tolerance since the home is near the ocean.  The top three feet or so of the soil is dirt that was brought in and underneath that is mostly sand.

Here are some palms that I'm considering.

• Beccariophoenix Alfredii
• Archontophoenix Alexandrae
• Archontophoenix Cunninghamiana
• Dypsis Decaryi
• Dypsis Lutescens
• Any other Dypsis that is easy to obtain
• Any Pritchardia
• Wodyetia Bifurcata

Will these palms do well here? I'm also open to other suggestions.

Thank you so much.

Hello J.O.A.,

Welcome to SPI. it is great to hear that another palm hobbyist is moving to the Island.  The last few winters have been colder than normal, but there are still some interesting palms hidden away in places. I would suggest trying everything you have listed and more.  I am.  B. alfredii does okay on the island. A little slow, but our cooler summers allow it survive while it may not do so well on the mainland beyond Port Isabel.  I am currently trialling Pr. vulkystekeana  and it seems to be doing well.  Am interested in trying some others but am running into space issues.  If you have a tall beach facing wall or just a location where plants can hide from the western sun,  you can get away from some things more common in San Diego.  I would suggest Kentia (both) and Rhopastylis cheesmanii.  Both are currently doing ok for me.  Shoot me a note the next time your are in the area.  I would be happy to show you what I am trying to grow.

Clay

[J.O.A.]

On 1/22/2024 at 11:09 AM, Xenon said:

Why grow fake coconut when you can just grow real coconut 😜

 

My contractor just told me that coconut palms are illegal in Texas... Is this true?

[J.O.A.]

On 1/22/2024 at 12:06 PM, Austinpalm said:

Hello J.O.A.,

Welcome to SPI. it is great to hear that another palm hobbyist is moving to the Island.  The last few winters have been colder than normal, but there are still some interesting palms hidden away in places. I would suggest trying everything you have listed and more.  I am.  B. alfredii does okay on the island. A little slow, but our cooler summers allow it survive while it may not do so well on the mainland beyond Port Isabel.  I am currently trialling Pr. vulkystekeana  and it seems to be doing well.  Am interested in trying some others but am running into space issues.  If you have a tall beach facing wall or just a location where plants can hide from the western sun,  you can get away from some things more common in San Diego.  I would suggest Kentia (both) and Rhopastylis cheesmanii.  Both are currently doing ok for me.  Shoot me a note the next time your are in the area.  I would be happy to show you what I am trying to grow.

Clay

Hi Clay

I'm not moving to SPI, only building a vacation home that I hope to rent out very frequently.

I'm surprised that Kentias and Rhopastylis can survive in Texas but unfortunately I don't have a good place for them that is shielded from the western sun.

Next time I'm in SPI, I'll let you know.  Would like to see what you have and would like to grow there.

[flplantguy]

11 minutes ago, J.O.A. said:

My contractor just told me that coconut palms are illegal in Texas... Is this true?

Always call the municipality you live in to check, a contractor will tend to tell you what they want you to hear for one reason or another. In south Florida they are a species at risk of escape, but are not invasive or banned so i doubt its that.  It may be that they can't be planted where the falling fruit can cause harm or some other thing.  Those same contractors can take a part of codes and ordinances and change the meaning through lack of attention to the wording or third word rephrasing, leading to a blanket statement like that when it's really that you can't plant in a certain way.  One design suggestion I would provide is try to shield the most cold sensitive ones with a building to the north for the big cold events.

[Xenon]

52 minutes ago, J.O.A. said:

My contractor just told me that coconut palms are illegal in Texas... Is this true?

Yes, they are technically illegal to import from Florida. It is fully legal to sprout the coconuts that wash up on the beaches. Doubt TDA is going to come knocking if you get one from a local seller/at the flea market 

[Cluster]

On 1/22/2024 at 7:23 PM, Merlyn said:

Personally I'd grow real coconuts too.  Though not cold hardy they are very well suited to hurricanes....B. Alfredii is not so much.  They have a habit of trying to flop over if they aren't planted deep enough, and have giant fronds that catch the wind.  That being said, I have not heard of problems with Alfredii in TX, so that's new to me.  People on the forum grow them in all kinds of coastal areas in Floriduh.  Meg's didn't survive a cat 5 hurricane, but I have 8 in the ground myself.  They all had some tilt from ~cat 1 winds, but I staked them back up and they are fine so far.  They've taken 24.6F with only minimal leaf tip spotting and burn.  Think of them as a coconut on steroids and plan for the size and they'll be awesome!

With all due respect I do not think Alfredi matches the best looking coconuts, but in Texas maybe:)

this is what i call a Coconut on Steroids:

[Austinpalm]

On 1/23/2024 at 5:11 PM, J.O.A. said:

Hi Clay

I'm not moving to SPI, only building a vacation home that I hope to rent out very frequently.

I'm surprised that Kentias and Rhopastylis can survive in Texas but unfortunately I don't have a good place for them that is shielded from the western sun.

Next time I'm in SPI, I'll let you know.  Would like to see what you have and would like to grow there.

Yaa, I kinda mistyped there.  Did not really think you would be here full time.  Just saw vacation home and thought not a rental property.  If you are hoping to rent it out frequently, I would suggest just sticking with the common 6 or so palms you see around here and avoid other species unless you have someone here to look after your palms while you are away.  Most renters in my experience cannot distinguish a coconut from a Washingtonia, nor do they care.  Also, there are many rental golf carts on the island and it is not uncommon for them to be driven through or parked in areas where they should not be.  Good luck with whatever you choose to grow.  Please do feel free to contact me the next time you are on the island if you would like to see what I am trialing.