Where in the Houston-Metro Area has the most palm trees? (Sugar Land: fit in, 2013)

[TropicalOperator]

I really love palm trees, and I really dig subdivisions that have the pseudo-tropical vibe. Just curious about what area/place/neighborhood has the highest saturation of palms in the Houston Area. (Outside of Galveston, and Surfside..)

The places that I find notable would be:
First Colony Mall in Sugar Land
Rodeo Palms Parkway in Manvel
The Village Plaza at Bunker Hill
River Oaks Shopping Center
Sydney Harbor in Cypress
Along TX-105 and Lake Conroe
Kemah Boardwalk
Tiki Island (Basically Galvy, so doesn’t really count.)

Hang loose

[ParaguaneroSwag]

As a Caribbean native (was born within just miles of the coast), the palm trees of Texas and California aren't impressive to me at all. When Californians brag about their palm trees, I laugh at them because their "lollipop palm" is a joke. Texas is the same (but at least there's not the same level of bragging here.

However, there's one street that caught my eye and I was impressed for non-Florida standards. This was NASA Parkway on the drive from NASA to Seabrook. By far the highest quality of palm trees I've seen West of the Mississippi was there.

Highland Village and River Oaks Shopping Center are well lined up with palms, but there the unnappealing California style "lollipop" palms.

Edit: Erased the second half, I saw you put outside of Galveston.

[Dopo]

Wouldn’t surprise me if I was born in the same town than ParaguaneroSwag

Every now and then you see palm trees in Houston
But I haven’t seen anything that impressed me
Even in Galveston, you don’t see many palm trees

As hot as it gets here, I rather have live oaks than palm trees.

[Texas Ag 93]

I live in Galveston County and have several palms in my yard. 3 large ones in front and a couple of Mexican palms in the back my husband planted 4 years ago that are now about 10 ft tall (they grow very quickly).

We like them, but you really have to maintain palms if you have them, which we do. There are a lot of property owners who don't keep theirs trimmed and in good condition. I know there's supposed to be some growth, but I'm talking about old fronds and debris everywhere anytime there is wind or heavy rain. This seems to be a problem particularly when the trees are on commercial or public property. The place I always notice is a big area of palms lining 45 near Hobby Airport. It looks very overgrown and crummy, IMO, unfortunately not unlike a lot of land near freeways.

[TropicalOperator]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

As a Caribbean native (was born within just miles of the coast), the palm trees of Texas and California aren't impressive to me at all. When Californians brag about their palm trees, I laugh at them because their "lollipop palm" is a joke. Texas is the same (but at least there's not the same level of bragging here.

However, there's one street that caught my eye and I was impressed for non-Florida standards. This was NASA Parkway on the drive from NASA to Seabrook. By far the highest quality of palm trees I've seen West of the Mississippi was there.

Highland Village and River Oaks Shopping Center are well lined up with palms, but there the unnappealing California style "lollipop" palms.

Edit: Erased the second half, I saw you put outside of Galveston.

I honestly don’t mind the fan palms at all. They don’t seem to struggle through cold weather like other species. I see people planting Queen Palms all over, and while I understand the allure; just find it to be a bad investment. It’s just not warm enough to have certain palms.

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by TropicalOperator

I really love palm trees, and I really dig subdivisions that have the pseudo-tropical vibe. Just curious about what area/place/neighborhood has the highest saturation of palms in the Houston Area. (Outside of Galveston, and Surfside..)

The places that I find notable would be:
First Colony Mall in Sugar Land
Rodeo Palms Parkway in Manvel
The Village Plaza at Bunker Hill
River Oaks Shopping Center
Sydney Harbor in Cypress
Along TX-105 and Lake Conroe
Kemah Boardwalk
Tiki Island (Basically Galvy, so doesn’t really count.)

Hang loose

How did the palms in the above places fare in the freeze? Were the palms undamaged, damaged but recovering in some form, or dead?

I've seen some palms and sagos thought dead just starting to come back in late May.

[gwarnecke]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

How did the palms in the above places fare in the freeze? Were the palms undamaged, damaged but recovering in some form, or dead?

I've seen some palms and sagos thought dead just starting to come back in late May.

Most palms I've seen around town seem to have survived the freeze. A lot of them had all of the leaves cut off, every last one of them, but new ones are growing back.

Our new house in Memorial Villages has several queen and sago palms in the backyard. To me they look out of step with both the oak/pine trees in the area and with the traditional style of the house, but I'm warming up to them. They all survived the freeze.

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

Our new house in Memorial Villages has several queen and sago palms in the backyard. To me they look out of step with both the oak/pine trees in the area and with the traditional style of the house, but I'm warming up to them. They all survived the freeze.

I lost 2 mid sized palms (Ii think Queens) in the backyard and a small sago. The 2 Mexican palms in the backyard, which we planted about 4 years ago, are now growing again like gangbusters after the landscapers trimmed them to almost nothing.

All my large palms in the front (which I think may be Royal palms) made it through completely unscathed. Never even turned brown.

[mojo101]

They are not PALM TREE,they are SAga Palm,which is CYCAD Trees.
A very old,ancient tree,its seeds are eaten by flying fox and bats and natives on Guam will soak them in water overnight to remove the toxin,ground them into power to thicken soup or fry them as chips.
Sometimes they are the only food available and have been blamed for a neuro degenerative disease in Guam called Latigo Bodig disease.
after 1940,when Guam became part of USA,living standard has improved and it does not exist anymore.
Houston is neither tropical or semi tropical,these trees do not really fit in

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by mojo101

They are not PALM TREE,they are SAga Palm,which is CYCAD Trees.
A very old,ancient tree,its seeds are eaten by flying fox and bats and natives on Guam will soak them in water overnight to remove the toxin,ground them into power to thicken soup or fry them as chips.
Sometimes they are the only food available and have been blamed for a neuro degenerative disease in Guam called Latigo Bodig disease.
after 1940,when Guam became part of USA,living standard has improved and it does not exist anymore.
Houston is neither tropical or semi tropical,these trees do not really fit in

Houston is certainly not tropical, but it very much is Subtropical and Deep South. So is the majority of the Gulf Coast.

Palms and cycads are planted much further north in this zone. Houston is actually well within the subtropics, which extends across Louisiana all the way to places like Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC.