Growing Tropicals / Palm trees in Houston (Dallas, San Antonio: buy, maintenance, price)

[Svensk08]

Originally Posted by chicagomama

Oh how I wish I could bring you all to my house so you could identify my plants for me and tell me what I am supposed to be doing with them! I know nothing about this climate, we just moved here from Chicago. I don't know what I should be cutting back for winter, what I should be covering and when, what will grow back and what is annual.

You know how pool stores have "pool school"??? (we did that one!) I wish the nurseries would have "garden school." This zone is SO different, I recognize NOTHING in my yard.

Please don't despair! Gardening in Houston and vicinity is a year-round activity and many rules that apply elsewhere in the country don't work here. I've gardened for years and there's always something new to learn or different to plant.

You will want to visit a couple of the independent (not BigBox store or chain) plant nurseries where the employees or owners are more than willing to share their knowledge. Some nurseries actually do offer classes and workshops! Urban Harvest offers them as well.

You'll definitely need a couple of recently published gardening books written specifically for the Houston area and not those that claim to cover "the South" or "the State of Texas". Most independent nurseries have them - bookstores generally don't. Randy Lemmon is one of the authors who also has a website with weekly updates, plus a weekend morning gardening program on KTRH 740 AM.

Gardening writers Kathy Huber and Molly Glentzer have columns in Saturday's Chronicle as well as chron.com blogs.

Texas A&M University (tamu.com) has an extensive horticultural program and lots of gardening information online.

Good luck!

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by texas7

Pines - yes I love that yellow pollen all over vehicles and when we get a storm blow through those are the first to snap off and fall on homes, etc. Pines aren't natural to this area either - more like East Texas. I didn't move here to be in the Piney Woods so glad I'm not.

How wrong you are. Pine trees are indeed native to Houston, & the northern side of the city from 1960 on north extends into whats officially known as the Piney Woods of Southeast Texas.

There are even native pine trees as far south as Clear Lake, though a much shorter, broader branch variety.

Logging used to be a fairly big industry in Houston.

[texas7]

I probably worded that wrong .... as they are native in Texas. I think I should've said an over-abundance as in the Piney Woods. Thx.

[bmglab]

Originally Posted by Svensk08

Please don't despair! Gardening in Houston and vicinity is a year-round activity and many rules that apply elsewhere in the country don't work here. I've gardened for years and there's always something new to learn or different to plant.

You will want to visit a couple of the independent (not BigBox store or chain) plant nurseries where the employees or owners are more than willing to share their knowledge. Some nurseries actually do offer classes and workshops! Urban Harvest offers them as well.

You'll definitely need a couple of recently published gardening books written specifically for the Houston area and not those that claim to cover "the South" or "the State of Texas". Most independent nurseries have them - bookstores generally don't. Randy Lemmon is one of the authors who also has a website with weekly updates, plus a weekend morning gardening program on KTRH 740 AM.

Gardening writers Kathy Huber and Molly Glentzer have columns in Saturday's Chronicle as well as chron.com blogs.

Texas A&M University (tamu.com) has an extensive horticultural program and lots of gardening information online.

Good luck!

Sad to hear, Teas nursery in Bellaire closed (one of the last family nurseries in town).

[Zone13]

Palms that can last for 2-3 decades in Galveston: Roystonea regia (Cuban Royal Palm), Wodyetia bifurcata (Foxtail Palm), Bismarkia nobillis (Bismarck Palm), Dypsis lutescens (Areca Palm)...and many other palms hardy to about 30F.
GALVESTON IS A WHOLE WORLD AWAY FROM HOUSTON...from 1997-2009 Galveston didn't fall below 30F..while Houston (Bush INTL. Airport) never sees a winter above 30F. The fact is Galveston rarely freezes, this year it reached 25-27F in Galveston where as 17F(Bush) to 20F(D'town) in Houston. Royals and other zone 10 plants won't last more then 10 years, depending where you are in Houston.

[Zone13]

BTW there are 30 foot Royals at Moody Gardens.

[glorplaxy]

This last winter, many of my plants died. Houston certainly does have a winter although its severity is somewhat unpredictable. Most of the time it is mild, but sometimes it can get cold enough to kill all of your plants.

Houston is not tropical. Houston is sub-tropical. All year long.

You can't plant coconut trees in Houston. They won't live.

[houstonboi22]

Originally Posted by Zone13

Palms that can last for 2-3 decades in Galveston: Roystonea regia (Cuban Royal Palm), Wodyetia bifurcata (Foxtail Palm), Bismarkia nobillis (Bismarck Palm), Dypsis lutescens (Areca Palm)...and many other palms hardy to about 30F.
GALVESTON IS A WHOLE WORLD AWAY FROM HOUSTON...from 1997-2009 Galveston didn't fall below 30F..while Houston (Bush INTL. Airport) never sees a winter above 30F. The fact is Galveston rarely freezes, this year it reached 25-27F in Galveston where as 17F(Bush) to 20F(D'town) in Houston. Royals and other zone 10 plants won't last more then 10 years, depending where you are in Houston.

true...Galveston avg jan. temp low is 50-51F where houston is 45-46F....
however..this is central houston and northern houston...if your by the bay(clear lake, F-wood, Kemah, League city)...then youre good by about another 3F...and as a plus the coast acts as a buffer...so that keeps the temps from having dramatic temp. drops...so not ALL of houston is prominent for having those rare COLD freezes..

[Zone13]

Originally Posted by houstonboi22

true...Galveston avg jan. temp low is 50-51F where houston is 45-46F....
however..this is central houston and northern houston...if your by the bay(clear lake, F-wood, Kemah, League city)...then youre good by about another 3F...and as a plus the coast acts as a buffer...so that keeps the temps from having dramatic temp. drops...so not ALL of houston is prominent for having those rare COLD freezes..

Hobby Airport is actually about 2F warmer then Bush, so there is some variation, the South Houston queen palms look alot better then Western and Northern Houston. The Pasadena Royals are dead though .

[SouthernBoy205]

I don't like the palm trees in Houston.