| Lloyd van Epps ("Van") and Paul Holloway graciously hosted the PSST November
meeting in McAllen. Van is one of our more dedicated members, rarely missing a
meeting regardless of the distance required to attend. He is also interested in
cacti, succulents, and bromeliads. The potluck was delicious as always, with
spaghetti and meat sauce for the main dish. The Sommerfruchts brought an abundant
supply of starfruit fresh from the trees at their property in Bayview. November 18th was cold by south Texas standards. PSST members heated things up the during the auction. Gary Meiser donated a Rhapis excelsa 'Koban' which generated a lively competition. A diverse group of items were available, including Veitchia merrelli, Zamia furfuracea, bananas, Acoelorapphe wrightii, a variegated ficus, and a huge squash. The McLendons shared an ample supply of Sabal seeds which they collected in Corpus Christi. Seeds from the Montgomery Botanical Center in Florida were available for distribution as well. This month PSST received Bismarckia nobilis and Syagrus cearensis. The MBC has a new website at http://www.montgomerybotanical.org/ . They are a private, non-profit research organization. PSST has been receiving seeds from Montgomery over a year now. We'd love to hear some feedback from anyone who's planted their seeds. Email Richard at his new email address richtrav@yahoo.com. |
 Norm Sluis, Jack Keller, Lloyd van Epps ("Van"), Gary Meiser, first time visitor Mike, Charlie Vieh, Evelyn Sommerfrucht
|
|
|
|
 PSST members were in for a special treat this day when we toured Bill Madsen's
garden. This is a man who pushes his zonal limits!! South Texas has plenty of
great palms that will withstand a typical winter without protection. Add in a
willingness to protect palms from cold weather, and the list increases tremendously, as
Bill Madsen amply demonstrates. Bill's collection includes species rarely seen in this region. The first palm to capture our admiration is his coconut palm. It's mature and even has fruit! Bill wraps it every winter. Bill wraps a lot of his palms. With each year of success, his palms get bigger. Some of the palms are so big now that he rents "cherry picker" equipment to reach the crowns. The coconut requires heat in addition to wrapping. |
|
|
While still reeling from the mature coconut, we ventured to the back yard where we were again awestruck by the huge Roystonea regia. Thad seemed to suffer a tinge of royal envy when someone mentioned Bill's is bigger than Thad's. It's ok, Thad, your royal is big too. <grin> The dark streak running down the trunk is the result of drizzling rain. The smooth trunks facilitate the formation of a solid stream of water to the ground, serving as a natural "grounding device." Tall palms without smooth trunks, such as Washingtonia robusta, are more susceptible to lightening strikes (an interesting tidbit gleaned from Gary Meiser's many hours of bulletin board visitations). |
|
To the right is a palm tree rarely seen in south Texas. Archontophoenix cunninghamiana 'Mt. Lewis' is an extraordinarily attractive palm with purple on its smooth crownshaft. To the left is a handsome specimen of Dypsis decaryi, the triangle palm. These palms are slow growing and are damaged by frost easily.
|
|
 |
The palm to the left is yet another unusual palm for south Texas, Attalea. The
huge leaves tower far above the rooftop. It has no trunk to speak of, just an
enormous fountain of leaves emerging directly from the ground. Blake Volk collected
some of these seeds in Florida last summer, and Charlie Vieh also distributed some of
these seeds at the October meeting. Leaves will sustain winter damage, but the palm
can survive a freeze and send out new growth the following year. To the right is Bill with his Hyaphene indica, which is a sun-loving palm and "hardy" in comparison to many in his collection. |
 |
 Bismarckia nobilis |
Left is a Bismarckia nobilis, which Bill does
not wrap in the winter. Bismarckia typically have purplish leaves as
juveniles, and blue leaves as mature specimens. Bill's Bismarckia, however,
is green. Perhaps it wants to be wrapped in the winter too? Due to its size
and growth habit, wrapping a Bismarckia is too daunting a task even for Bill
Madsen. (He doesn't wrap his Acrocomias either! The winters
here usually don't make them candidates for wrapping, but they'll definitely fend for
themselves when a big freeze comes.) PSST gives many thanks to Van and Paul for hosting the potluck and to Bill Madsen for sharing his impression collection of palms with us. |
 Gastrococos crispa, center Acrocomia in background |
Webpage by Jana Meiser, Photos by Jana and Gary Meiser
Where's the next meeting? Click here to find out Join PSST or get a PSST t-shirt This page created and hosted by Have questions about palms and gardening? Check out these message boards:
|
