Brahea 'Clara'

[bahia]

Brahea 'Clara' with blooming Aeonium canariense v. subplanum by David Feix Landscape Design, on Flickr

A photo of one of my favorite blue foliaged palms, in a garden I designed in the Berkeley hills, SF East Bay Area. This form/hybrid of Brahea armata x brandegeei is so much faster growing in our cool summer conditions, and combines/contrasts so well with almost anything. I've used it here as an accent palm at the large shrub scale, for framing the view while in the adjacent jacuzzi, but also for looking down upon from the cantilevered terrace off the kitchen 3 stories above. The second photo is the view from above:

Lower garden at jacuzzi by David Feix Landscape Design, on Flickr

This photo shows a glimpse of some other palms in this same garden; a stripped Trachycarpus fortunei and a bit of the foliage of Arenga engleri peaking over the wall at the stairs.

28 Vallejo St, View upon entering rear garden from the street by David Feix Landscape Design, on Flickr

And a last photo of the same garden but at the front of the house, with some of the palms within the enclosed garden walls

Elegance with foliage by David Feix Landscape Design, on Flickr

Edited February 7, 2012 by bahia

[Kim]

Excellent display with the silver blue, beautiful garden! Where did the hybrid come from?

[paulgila]

nice garden design! the palm is a stunner,also! is that a word?

[bahia]

Kim,

My undertanding of this hybrid is that it may be a naturally occurring cross between Brahea armata and B. brandegeei, found growing near the coast around San Carlos Bay in Sonora, Mexico along the gulf. Others seem to think that it is just a form of Brahea armata. Not being so botanically inclined, I prefer to think of it as something distinctly different from Brahea armata. Mostly because it grows so much faster here than B. armata, and the longer petioles and dangling leaf tips just don't seem a good fit with other B. armata's. I had purchased this palm as a 36 inch boxed specimen from Gary Gragg of Golden Gate Palms nursery here in nearby Richmond, so it went in at this size. In the 1.5 years after planting when this photo was taken, it had probably pushed out 4 new fronds. I also tend to think of this Brahea as being the closest we can easily come to having the look of a silver Bismarckia nobilis here in Berkeley, although Jim Denz in Los Altos Hills on the deep south SF peninsula has proven that a Bismarckia can be successfully grown here, I don't think it would work with Berkeley's too cool summers. Here's a contrasting view of that same area in the rear garden, with one of the Arenga engleri's in the garden; after observing its distinct lack of vigorous new growth in our climate, I've decided it is just too warmth loving to really be a useful landscape palm locally. Although I do love it for its small size and distinctive foliage color.

Balinese stone lantern and plantings by David Feix Landscape Design, on Flickr

[tank]

Very nice design. Always been a fan of the monolithic concrete look.

Is the silver palm a B. clara or a hybrid? I believe I have a few plants of the hybrid you described but they are definitely not blue. There are some large ones at a local botanical garden that are very green. Hopefully Merrill Wilcox will chime in because I believe he was the source of my hybrids and those at the botanical garden.

[Patricia-CR]

Gorgeous design

[Stevetoad]

very nice! seems very zen and modern. i like it a lot!!!

[sonoranfans]

I think brahea clara is not recognized as a species, its still classified as armata. But some think it a hybrid of armata and brandegeei. I am inclined to agree, though I am no botanist. The claras are way too moisture tolerant for me to believe that its just an armata... I have had half a dozen armatas when living in AZ. They are one of a few palms that will grow to a spectacular specimen in AZ. Armatas are not very moisture tolerant and appear to have shorter petioles(brandegeei have longer petioles so I suppose it could be a hint). I have found claras to be tolerant of gulf coast florida humidity, while armatas die quickly at a young age.

Love the powder blue!

Edited February 9, 2012 by sonoranfans

[Mandrew968]

I have armata seedlings and there is a HUGE Brahia Armata at Fairchild...

[trachyman]

Your clara is beautiful. I have a youngster coming in the mail any day now. Curious so see how it does in my moist winter climate.

[tank]

Very nice design. Always been a fan of the monolithic concrete look.

Is the silver palm a B. clara or a hybrid? I believe I have a few plants of the hybrid you described but they are definitely not blue. There are some large ones at a local botanical garden that are very green. Hopefully Merrill Wilcox will chime in because I believe he was the source of my hybrids and those at the botanical garden.

Actually, I checked on my hybrids and they are B. edulis x brandegeei.

[JasonD]

David,

So glad to see you sharing your amazing designs and plantsmanship on Palmtalk.

Arenga micrantha is a preferable alternative for A. engleri in our cool-summer, mild-winter parts of the Bay Area. There are a number of them thriving in the Temperate Asia collection at the SF Botanical Garden and I find that our five-gallons hold up well here at Flora Grubb Gardens -- by contrast with our engleris, which become pale over time in the cool summer.

The problem with micrantha is that it seems to tolerate less cold than engleri. However, I think it's a prettier species than engleri.

[bahia]

Glad to hear that people on the forum are enjoying the photos and the gardens. And thanks Jason for the tip about Arenga micrantha being a better choice locally, as I wasn't familiar with the species. I wasn't really sure of the reception these gardens would get, because they don't have any rare palms in them. I'm sure that the list of palms being grown might seem both a bit small and ordinary by southern California standards. I just like the way a few well placed palms change the feel of a garden. I hope one day to get some opportunities to do similar styled gardens in more tropical situations, but so far almost all my design work has remained in the SF bay area. Working on projects in south Florida, the Caribbean islands or Hawaii and/or subtropical deserts like Cabo San Lucas or Phoenix/Tucson would be a dream come true