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There’s definitely an argument to be made that much of Southern California, is desert adjacent. I remember there was an article claiming LA is a desert and the journalist even did a thorough follow up defending her stance with university professors on biome and habitats. Most said technically it was not a desert, but shares many characteristics. My inlaws live on Edwards Air Force base in the real desert. Im fascinated by the flora. The desert has it own beauty that may not fall into the norms of what is considered a beautiful landscape. But when you experience a desert sunset, or see the beautiful poppy’s swaying in the wind. Its a rough, tough, yet beautiful landscape. Joshua tree national park would be equivalent to Hawaii for a cacti nut. So many varieties SCV is ever expanding as hoards of people move north for suburban life. It’s safe, clean and has good schools. LA after the pandemic got real bad. SCV feels secluded and still close enough. There’s a huge housing tract right behind magic mountain that spans all the way to the 126. Back to the palms. Im purchasing a small teddy bear palm. Anyone familiar? I plan on planting it on a north west facing wall. This area is always shaded by the house and retains moisture. I want an entryway palm.

If this is the palm I'm thinking of I believe that it's Livistona decora. L. chinensis and australis typically have white to cream colored flowers. If you can check out the fruits when they ripen this fall I'd expect them to be spherical in shape and shiny black. If it is chinensis the fruits will be somewhat oblong and bluish colored. I recently collected some decora fruits that ripened a couple of months ago.

Very nice palms! It's too bad that they're so hard to find in your area @bubba! 😆

If folks here growing them can get away w/ growing Royals, surviving there should be pretty easy, as long as you provide enough water ( ..which should be a touch easier there since your summers aren't as brutal as ours can be. ) Definitely a nice complement to an alfredii.. Passing through S.C. numerous times, i myself would classify the area ..and anywhere south of -roughly- Ventura, as an " intermediate " mix between really dry / overall warm Mediterranean and desert, leaning " definitely more desert " as you head further inland and further south. Getting out on trails and taking a deep dive into the Flora / animals encountered, you can see obvious connections between both eco- regions in what you'll observe, esp as you move inland from the immediate coast.. While lumped in with " general " Chaparral, the Sage -dominated section of that habitat type that dominates the landscape in S. Cal is considered semi arid / subtropical, rather than a " true " med - dominant Chaparral type. ..Arid in the sense that it gets less winter rainfall compared to Chaparral habitat located further north, subtropical in the sense that many of the dominant plants found in that plant community are frost sensitive and arose in Baja / AZ and mainland Mexico before diversifying as they spread out from places of origin. Look around enough and you'll find various Cacti and " desert -y " plant genus things like Nolina / Agave and Yucca ..Not Just Y. brevifolia ( Joshua trees ) either tucked within all the sage / Sumac, etc " typical " plants you'd expect to see in that habitat type there. When slightly wetter, Ocotillo was another desert -associated plant that could be found in w/ that area's chaparral sub- type, up to about your area, closer to the coast, than they do presently as well. Creosote can be encountered in everything from the hyper -arid deserts near palm springs / areas right next to the north end of the Gulf of CA, to much wetter areas in Mexico, and TX, and has recently shown up near Bakersfield, and east of Reno, NV. All areas it occurs could be considered arid, but not all are considered " desert " We even have remnant chaparral habitat in mid elevation parts of the state w/ numerous plant sps / near relative species that occur both in S.Cal and here. At one time, before the region dried out and the deserts expanded in coverage / acted like a wedge shoved between the " cooler " climate -type habitats across the region, , most of AZ looked like many areas of S.Cal do presently.. ..What you might see growing up in Sedona or Oak Flat now, would have been the dominant vegetation type(s) seen around Phoenix and Tucson when the climate was cooler and more winter precip. dominated. Assemblage of plants you see covering the low desert areas of AZ now have only occupied territory in this area for a few thousand years, with most of the iconic things we're known for originating in N.W.' rn Mexico. Evolutionarily speaking, the genus Saguaro arose somewhere down near the present day Sonora / Sinaloa state line, before rapidly expanding north as the climate up this way became more hospitable for their survival. Same thing w/ our native Parkinsonia, Palo Verde species. In recent years, a few Sags. have been found growing inside / near Joshua tree N.P. ..and in a few other areas further north than their " assumed " current range. Under a warmer climate scenario that includes x or y deg. westward expansion / general intensification of the Monsoon region, their range may expand over a much greater area of the Mojave desert ..essentially replacing Joshua trees ...which will be in retreat as the " more moderate " conditions they prefer retreat from the region in many areas. ..Anyway, lots of interesting things to ingest / digest when it comes to this stuff.. Back to the palms, ....As long as you have the space and can provide what they need, why not give a royal a try.. Lastly, ..I will say one thing about Santa Clarita ..specifically the Valencia area / area near Magic Mtn and the 5. Your streets are NARROW as heck, lol.. ...Pulling in /out of a couple places in a rental car when passing through this past December made me sweat a little. Kept thinking to myself ..." Did they build these streets for dwarfs " 😂 ..Can't believe they're is still major construction going on along the 5, just south of Valencia.. I remember seeing them tearing things up in that same area back in ...2013.

I saw this unique specimen wandering around today. The groundskeeper says that it goes off like this every year. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Adonidia merrilli is ubiquitous in this area, notwithstanding cold events