El Paso jubaea

[Fukuoka Scott]

I'm back in my hometown of El Paso for the first time in 7 years and of course went over to check on "the El Paso jubaea", which has graced a westside front yard for many years. It may not be as happy as it would be in the Bay Area but considering it's El Paso, it's thriving. My brother's CIDP on the other hand seems to be struggling. I suggest he set up some bubblers and fertilize it in spring...

[Paul S]

El Paso, Tx? It has a desert climate, 220mm rainfall, so the Jubaea will feel at home as in some parts of its rage that is a similar rainfall. CIDP needs more than that to be happy, usually found in habitat growing scattered around barrancos and ravines, tapping into underground water as well as experiencing milder summer temperatures than El Paso.

[upperbaygardener]

Thanks Scott! I didn't know you had come from one of America's driest climates...Japan was a big change! Too bad that Jubaea doesn't have some company to pollinate.

I drove through El Paso a day or so after the big freeze of 2011, when the official low was 2F IIRC. Were you living there at the time? Someone, somewhere on the web - maybe one of the old, now defunct forums - had stolen* my pic of a Phoenix that was damaged in that freeze. He was oddly using it to justify saying the climate of El Paso was too cold for them! But it recovered, something that was easy to document with Google street view. It was next to a small medical office building on the edge of downtown El Paso. Are you familiar with that one? It definitely looked more like a dac, not a CIDP.

Still there as of April 2024. https://maps.app.goo.gl/2QTdepwHgAFk4duf7
I was lucky to be randomly driving on that road and to have spotted it. I didn't spend a lot of time in El Paso, my main destination around there was BBNP, from which I collected seed of Nolina erumpens – one of which is doing great in my garden, but hasn't bloomed yet, almost 15 years later!

* - without attribution, that's all I cared about really

[Fukuoka Scott]

Thanks Scott! I didn't know you had come from one of America's driest climates...Japan was a big change! Too bad that Jubaea doesn't have some company to pollinate.

I drove through El Paso a day or so after the big freeze of 2011, when the official low was 2F IIRC. Were you living there at the time? Someone, somewhere on the web - maybe one of the old, now defunct forums - had stolen* my pic of a Phoenix that was damaged in that freeze. He was oddly using it to justify saying the climate of El Paso was too cold for them! But it recovered, something that was easy to document with Google street view. It was next to a small medical office building on the edge of downtown El Paso. Are you familiar with that one? It definitely looked more like a dac, not a CIDP.

Still there as of April 2024. https://maps.app.goo.gl/2QTdepwHgAFk4duf7
I was lucky to be randomly driving on that road and to have spotted it. I didn't spend a lot of time in El Paso, my main destination around there was BBNP, from which I collected seed of Nolina erumpens – one of which is doing great in my garden, but hasn't bloomed yet, almost 15 years later!

* - without attribution, that's all I cared about really

Hi David. I haven’t lived there since 1989 but go back to visit family. Although true dates aren't impossible in El Paso, it's definitely a borderline climate for them, as well as Washingtonia Robusta and CIDPs. This one was very happy a few years before the 2011 freeze; all gone now.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/J8SXavpw5bWftrbH6

[Fukuoka Scott]

Thanks Scott! I didn't know you had come from one of America's driest climates...Japan was a big change! Too bad that Jubaea doesn't have some company to pollinate.

I drove through El Paso a day or so after the big freeze of 2011, when the official low was 2F IIRC. Were you living there at the time? Someone, somewhere on the web - maybe one of the old, now defunct forums - had stolen* my pic of a Phoenix that was damaged in that freeze. He was oddly using it to justify saying the climate of El Paso was too cold for them! But it recovered, something that was easy to document with Google street view. It was next to a small medical office building on the edge of downtown El Paso. Are you familiar with that one? It definitely looked more like a dac, not a CIDP.

Still there as of April 2024. https://maps.app.goo.gl/2QTdepwHgAFk4duf7
I was lucky to be randomly driving on that road and to have spotted it. I didn't spend a lot of time in El Paso, my main destination around there was BBNP, from which I collected seed of Nolina erumpens – one of which is doing great in my garden, but hasn't bloomed yet, almost 15 years later!

* - without attribution, that's all I cared about really

Another El Paso palm of interest: this is the only mature Sabal palmetto I've ever seen there:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/PgMQdBpD3skBQY4A8

[upperbaygardener]

The Sabal doesn't look too bad, but presumably requires supplemental water. You did notice the Phoenix just a bit down the street, right? https://maps.app.goo.gl/MKQ5f6SNwD8SkptAA

I wonder if there are any Nannorrhops ritchiana there. Seems like they would like the climate, but are probably hard to come by. Jungle Music in SoCal actually has gallon sized for $60.