Anyway, as with last year, used my Spring Break to drive to the Texas Gulf Coast. Rented a Ford Focus as rental + gas was less than diesel for the big truck.
Got to San Antonio the first day (barely; was 11 pm when W and I checked in). Spent two days in Corpus Christi. From there, *tried* to find Brazoria palms and failed.
Then, Galveston. From there north Texas (=place where Tracycarpus thrive) and then home. I'll share a few snapshots. But, mostly I wanted to talk about the palms that ordinary Texans grow.
In brief: Sabal palmetto. They were all over. Some Sabal mexicana, and I admit to having trouble telling them apart through the windshield.
Washy: Many W. robusta, which are VERY tall in corpus! (27 oN latitude). A few W. filifera which looked super with their thick trunks.
Phoenix: very popular, mostly CIDP. They look great.
Exotics: no Bismarckia, which surprised me, as I saw them as street plantings in McAllen, Texas. A few queen palms, which all looked healthy in late winter.
I had a humorous discussion with a fishing guide there. He said they had had a very cold winter and so the fishing wasn't so good. I asked about how cold it was. He said that one morning there was frost on his truck windshield!
As we drove along the coast towards Galveston, palms were less often planted. In Brazoria county, there were a few Sabal. Was so mad couldn't find the Brazoria refuge. Google maps with GPS failed us, as did driving around. Grrrr.
Out on Galveston, palms were again abundant. Mostly Sabal and CIDP. A few queen palms that looked good.
Bottom line: I want to move to Corpus! I'd plant all my potted palms, and do winter protection for bottle palms and the foxtail. Bizzie would be on her own. Now, wouldn't that be sweet?
