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Don't answer, this is a rhetorical question, I cruised a few nurseries in the Fallbrook area, and saw massive brahea claras for sale everywhere, 24" to 36" boxes. Then I went home to Riverside and found yet a bunch more of these guys planted around town. I knew about brahea clara, but I never realized how large the fans are on this palm, and they recurve a little like a sabal too. This has to be one of the most magnificent braheas around. I usually dismiss people's claims that brahea armata is a good replacement for a bismarck in those areas where bismarcks can't grow, simply because the fronds on an armata are just so small. But brahea claras really do serve as a decent substitute. I am working on splurging on a nice 24" box for our Santa Cruz Mountains garden so I still have a nice silver left over if my bismarck bet fails. I am fascinated how a palm that I didn't know about much would spring to the foreground so suddenly. This is a photo of a real blue one in Riverside, although I think this could be armata, but the fronds look more like clara with the deep middle division: Adjusting the exposure a little makes it come out almost white on the screen: Some of the specimens for sale at the various nurseries I went to: These things are ginormous!

A few of the larger ones we saw... Hope you liked this little mini drive-by! Daryl