What to look for in Phoenix

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

Hi all! I am heading to Phoenix for 5 months for a school program.  I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips of places to visit and where to find less common palms.    I would like to try to find some Sabals, Bismarkia, mature Brahea, pretty much anything thats not super common like Phoenix, Washingtonia, or European fan palms.    Ive heard of some royal palms scattered around town but only know of the one at the Capitol building.  Does anyone know where any other royals or any other crownshaft palms might be? maybe dypsis too?  basically any palm not super common in the region even if it is common in other areas.  thanks in advance! 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Mr.SamuraiSword said:

Hi all! I am heading to Phoenix for 5 months for a school program.  I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips of places to visit and where to find less common palms.    I would like to try to find some Sabals, Bismarkia, mature Brahea, pretty much anything thats not super common like Phoenix, Washingtonia, or European fan palms.    Ive heard of some royal palms scattered around town but only know of the one at the Capitol building.  Does anyone know where any other royals or any other crownshaft palms might be? maybe dypsis too?  basically any palm not super common in the region even if it is common in other areas.  thanks in advance! 

Congrats and welcome to the desert.. Hopefully you'll be done and outta here before the worst of summer arrives..  unless you can handle 110+F heat day after day..

Aside from the Capitol building, there's the Xeric Demo Garden at the Public Library in Glendale ( N.W. of Phoenix ) Many Sabal specimens mixed in plantings around the parking lot there.. Only readily viewable Royal i know of ( besides downtown ) is located in a nursery's display on my side of town.. Have heard of a few others but can't remember where.  Forget Desert Botanical, at least for palms.. Only a couple small Brahea armata there.  Haven't visited the Zoo but haven't heard of anything exciting palm-wise there..

Other than that,  when you have a chance to..  head south to Tucson. Tohono Chul Park has some nice Sabal uresana / Brahea in a section of the Garden that re-creates Nacapule Canyon flora ( Nacapule Canyon itself is near San Carlos, roughly 6 hours south of the border )..  University of Arizona's Campus Arboretum ( Tucson ) is well worth visiting also.

Then, of course, there are a few local, veteran members' collections you might be able to visit..  Other than that, mostly the usual Dates, plentiful sun-tortured Queens, and some Brahea, Euro. Fans, and Bismarckia scattered around town.

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

26 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Congrats and welcome to the desert.. Hopefully you'll be done and outta here before the worst of summer arrives..  unless you can handle 110+F heat day after day..

Aside from the Capitol building, there's the Xeric Demo Garden at the Public Library in Glendale ( N.W. of Phoenix ) Many Sabal specimens mixed in plantings around the parking lot there.. Only readily viewable Royal i know of ( besides downtown ) is located in a nursery's display on my side of town.. Have heard of a few others but can't remember where.  Forget Desert Botanical, at least for palms.. Only a couple small Brahea armata there.  Haven't visited the Zoo but haven't heard of anything exciting palm-wise there..

Other than that,  when you have a chance to..  head south to Tucson. Tohono Chul Park has some nice Sabal uresana / Brahea in a section of the Garden that re-creates Nacapule Canyon flora ( Nacapule Canyon itself is near San Carlos, roughly 6 hours south of the border )..  University of Arizona's Campus Arboretum ( Tucson ) is well worth visiting also.

Then, of course, there are a few local, veteran members' collections you might be able to visit..  Other than that, mostly the usual Dates, plentiful sun-tortured Queens, and some Brahea, Euro. Fans, and Bismarckia scattered around town.

thanks! which nursery has the royals you mentioned?

[RedRabbit]

Phoenix is only about 5 hours from LA. You should plan on making a few trips to SoCal while you’re there.

Edited January 19, 2020 by RedRabbit

[Mr.SamuraiSword]

Just now, RedRabbit said:

Since you have 5 months there you should make a few trips to SoCal since you’ll only be 5 hours from LA.

only 5 hours?  I never thought about that to be honest..... thanks for the idea!

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, Mr.SamuraiSword said:

thanks! which nursery has the royals you mentioned?

Treeland Nursery, Chandler/ Mesa area..   Customer i'd talked to at another nursery i had worked for mentioned the other Royals..  Been awhile but remember he'd said they were on the smaller side and possibly plant in the interior court yard of a hotel? or shopping center?? though. Wouldn't be too surprised if some exist around South Phoenix, but that side of town can be a bit colorful..

[Silas_Sancona]

Just now, Mr.SamuraiSword said:

only 5 hours?  I never thought about that to be honest..... thanks for the idea!

Good call @RedRabbit Yes,  completely forgot that, lol.. definitely a great opportunity ( and means of escaping the heat, if you'll be enduring it while here ) to do some exploration in/around San Diego / the L.A. area ( minus the traffic ) if you have some time  for a trip or two..  MUCH more palmy-ness out there.. You might not want to come back, lol..

[AZPalms]

15 hours ago, Mr.SamuraiSword said:

Hi all! I am heading to Phoenix for 5 months for a school program.  I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips of places to visit and where to find less common palms.    I would like to try to find some Sabals, Bismarkia, mature Brahea, pretty much anything thats not super common like Phoenix, Washingtonia, or European fan palms.    Ive heard of some royal palms scattered around town but only know of the one at the Capitol building.  Does anyone know where any other royals or any other crownshaft palms might be? maybe dypsis too?  basically any palm not super common in the region even if it is common in other areas.  thanks in advance! 

Coming in at the best time of year. As far as unusual palms, well... your best best bet is Treeland as mentioned by Nathan does have a large Royal, some Sabals, the Dypsis they had died. They have a couple large Phoenix Rupicola/Reclinata hybrids? Or maybe it’s Canary/Reclinata? Idk. Some mules. They had some Livistona I picked up a couple years back. Pretty good selection for Phoenix. Whitfills isn’t too bad either. 

State capitol has the Royals and few other exotics for AZ. Besides that honestly, (I’m sure there are) but there isn’t much variety you’ll see on the streets unless you’re in someone’s backyard and even then, most don’t grow exotics. 

You’re welcome to stop out and check out my small collection if you wish, I’m sure others are open as well. Definitely see if Scott (AZtropic) is available. Incredible collection in his yard. There’s probably a dozen of us or so that are active seekers of the exotic or elusive palm varieties in the valley. Most of us don’t bite hard.  

Max

[sonoranfans]

In arizona the  public plantings pale in comparison to private gardens since the government is not an attentive gardener.  Even brahea armata is relatively rare but I think they have one at the phoenix zoo.  I would try to get an invite to a ;private garden.  Find the Arizona thread and see ask if you can visit.  the best public plantings of palms(most impressive) IMO, are the washingtonia filifera on E palm lane near 7th street downtown check out the trunk widths vs the cars.  The image is limited, since its a wide angle it distorts the view.  These are the biggest collection of filiferas I have ever seen most with trunks between 3' 4' thick and up to 35' clear trunk.   https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4693318,-112.065273,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNpqx_yhTdaJz2FUqcn6i8Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Move up and down E palm lane.  the sad thing is they overtrimmed them recently, a standard practice now trying to reduce upkeep cost by overtrimming.  the phoenix zoo also has a few surprise species of palms, but the private gardens are WAY better than any public planting.

 

 

 

[AZPalms]

3 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

In arizona the  public plantings pale in comparison to private gardens since the government is not an attentive gardener.  Even brahea armata is relatively rare but I think they have one at the phoenix zoo.  I would try to get an invite to a ;private garden.  Find the Arizona thread and see ask if you can visit.  the best public plantings of palms(most impressive) IMO, are the washingtonia filifera on E palm lane near 7th street downtown check out the trunk widths vs the cars.  The image is limited, since its a wide angle it distorts the view.  These are the biggest collection of filiferas I have ever seen most with trunks between 3' 4' thick and up to 35' clear trunk.   https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4693318,-112.065273,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNpqx_yhTdaJz2FUqcn6i8Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Move up and down E palm lane.  the sad thing is they overtrimmed them recently, a standard practice now trying to reduce upkeep cost by overtrimming.  the phoenix zoo also has a few surprise species of palms, but the private gardens are WAY better than any public planting.

 

 

 

Yep! I drive down Palm lane a few times a week. I’m always taken back by the hundreds of Filifera. Make the drive early around 7:30am this time of year with the sunrise. It’s stunning. 

[DoomsDave]

On 1/18/2020 at 7:35 PM, Mr.SamuraiSword said:

only 5 hours?  I never thought about that to be honest..... thanks for the idea!

I’m about an hour east of LA, so if you’re wanting to visit the welcome mat is out!

Shoot a PM if you want more details 

[Silas_Sancona]

5 hours ago, AZPalms said:

Yep! I drive down Palm lane a few times a week. I’m always taken back by the hundreds of Filifera. Make the drive early around 7:30am this time of year with the sunrise. It’s stunning. 

Have to find pics i took but the W. filifera that line one of the entrances to Saguaro Ranch Park from the parking lot of the Library in Glendale were looking quite nice last time i was up at the Demo Garden. Others located on the Library's property were looking great as well.. There's also several impressive specimens lining an area on the left side ( if you're headed north ) of 59th Ave on your way to the Library/ Demo Garden.