San Antonio Botanical Gardens |
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At twelve noon, some 25 members and guests of the Palm Society of South
Texas met at the M. K. Davis restaurant in San Antonio for what turned out to be almost
two hours of palm “catching up”, and excellent Mexican food. We were pleased to
have member Randy Davis and his two sons at our meeting for the first time, and new member
Paul Elmer of Seguin, also for the first time. The Seguin contingent is growing steadily;
maybe a new chapter there is in the works. The main topics of conversation among the
members were water (of which there is very little currently in south Texas), and
chewing/boring insects (of which there seems an abundance). Thad Magyar is reporting major
damage to his plants from rhinoceros beetles, and Gunter Schmidt of Ingleside has also
encountered them in a number of recently transplanted trees. Caterpillars seems to be more
numerous than they have been in many years, and for some of us, trying to keep new leaves
on juvenile palms has become a twice-a-day fight against these critters. The asps are not
yet out, but a variety of colorful (if destructive) caterpillars are, and they seem to be
eating their ways through all of our gardens. Biological countermeasures have thus far
been limited, and many people are resorting, if reluctantly, to chemical controls.
After lunch, we toured some of the older sections of west San Antonio, following the excellent computer-maps provide by Bill Baker and his wife Norma. Our route lead us eventually to Woodlawn Park, and then east through what was once a very pricey neighborhood to the Botanical Gardens. The streets and front yards in this entire area of San Antonio are dotted with palms, primarily Sabal texanas and Washingtonia robustas/filiferas, many of them very old and obviously predating the freezes of 1983-1989. Much of this area is no longer “over-tended”, and perhaps the lack of severe trimming and stripping has contributed to the survival of some of the palms which are widely regarded as “iffy” in the San Antonio area.
The Botanical Gardens are much as they were last year, with relatively few additions. The Lodoicea maldivica which is just inside the entry of the main pyramid is now huge, with three leaves, each probably four feet long. All of the other plants have also put on substantial growth. The day was very hot...San Antonio hit 101° in the early afternoon, and there was very little breeze. But with enough to drink, occasional stops under the many trees and shrubs, and the insatiable drive to “look at palms”, most members of the group survived the afternoon. Our next meeting will be at Jana and Gary Meisers where it will be hot....but there is at least an air-conditioned house within running distance if the need for “cool” arises.
Meeting summary by Bill Bittle, photos by Ed Ladd, Gary Meiser and Jana Meiser.
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