Common Palms

[_Keith]

Your thoughts on other's thoughts about your cold hardy palms.

[sonoranfans]

My dad once told me that if you don't have anything good to say don't say anything at all. I think it especially rude to make one of these comments in some one elses thread on that "common" palm. If you are fortunate to have many choices and be able to grow palms that you prefer, count yourself lucky and resist the temptation to trash someone elses treasure. Its no better than telling somebody you don't like their car or house...

[Rafael]

My dad once told me that if you don't have anything good to say don't say anything at all. I think it especially rude to make one of these comments in some one elses thread on that "common" palm. If you are fortunate to have many choices and be able to grow palms that you prefer, count yourself lucky and resist the temptation to trash someone elses treasure. Its no better than telling somebody you don't like their car or house...

Agree

"When what you have in mind to tell is less important than silence, just choose to remain silent"

[jfrye01@live.com]

My own family is the worst when it comes to bashing my palm hobby...when I brought my Trachy home, my dad told me "That thing'll be dead in a year"...my mom commented on what a waste of money it was, and my brother called it ugly. Thanks for the encouragement, guys:/ haha

[Alicehunter2000]

I got the feeling your hobby will end up taking you to many warm places. Wouldn't surprise me if you don't end up moving at some point in your life.

[Ben in Norcal]

Chicago -> London -> SF Bay Area -> ???

[Funkthulhu]

Go far enough north and their tune changes to, "WOW! How did you get that to grow up here?!?"

[Xerarch]

I don't care how many people hate washy's, they're beautiful and we'd all be drooling over them if they were the new "recently discovered" hot item.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I don't care how many people hate washy's, they're beautiful and we'd all be drooling over them if they were the new "recently discovered" hot item.

I love nicely grown washies, they look beautiful. They're pretty common here, so I don't grow it because I can go into town and see them. But a washie that looks like crap in a marginal climate or if neglected in a perfect climate is horrible. There is no point in keeping a palm alive somewhere if it's gonna look horrible. With that being said, some of the nicest trachies I've ever seen grow in cold places like Seattle or Vancouver. The trachies in my home town look like crap, and we can grow hundreds of species of palms here.

[PalmatierMeg]

Most of the time I don't give a rat's patootie what anyone thinks of my palms. Life's too short to give clods and palm snobs the time of day. But I am well aware that I live in what many palm lovers believe is ideal palm habitat and I try not to disparage the palms other people grow because, surprise, often they grow stuff I can only dream of: Jubaea, Dictyocaryum, Ceroxylon, Trachycarpus, Lemurophoenix, Linospadix and on and on.

But it is distressing when you post about a problem like I did recently about losing a large queen that is one of the foundations of my shade jungle and I get self-styled comedians telling me I should be glad and that all my queens should meet the same fate. Not funny and not helpful. Palm snobbery and vindictiveness have no place here.

[Phoenikakias]

I don't care how many people hate washy's, they're beautiful and we'd all be drooling over them if they were the new "recently discovered" hot item.

I love nicely grown washies, they look beautiful. They're pretty common here, so I don't grow it because I can go into town and see them. But a washie that looks like crap in a marginal climate or if neglected in a perfect climate is horrible. There is no point in keeping a palm alive somewhere if it's gonna look horrible. With that being said, some of the nicest trachies I've ever seen grow in cold places like Seattle or Vancouver. The trachies in my home town look like crap, and we can grow hundreds of species of palms here.

Yeah, that's the point. I nice looking palm in a garden or public places.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Most of the time I don't give a rat's patootie what anyone thinks of my palms. Life's too short to give clods and palm snobs the time of day. But I am well aware that I live in what many palm lovers believe is ideal palm habitat and I try not to disparage the palms other people grow because, surprise, often they grow stuff I can only dream of: Jubaea, Dictyocaryum, Ceroxylon, Trachycarpus, Lemurophoenix, Linospadix and on and on.

But it is distressing when you post about a problem like I did recently about losing a large queen that is one of the foundations of my shade jungle and I get self-styled comedians telling me I should be glad and that all my queens should meet the same fate. Not funny and not helpful. Palm snobbery and vindictiveness have no place here.

I grow several queen palms even though I can grow most of the species you listed (except lemuirophoenix) and lots more exotic species but that's because I personally just like palms in general. Someone visited my garden once and suggested I remove a queen I have up there to plant something more interesting. This was a very nice person, they were just being honest and I don't mind. Some people value growing exotic and unusual palms over more common ones, so I would not take offense to that. I still struggle a bit to figure out if I should remove it or not, it would open up a space for something else more interesting.

[Phoenikakias]

Most of the time I don't give a rat's patootie what anyone thinks of my palms. Life's too short to give clods and palm snobs the time of day. But I am well aware that I live in what many palm lovers believe is ideal palm habitat and I try not to disparage the palms other people grow because, surprise, often they grow stuff I can only dream of: Jubaea, Dictyocaryum, Ceroxylon, Trachycarpus, Lemurophoenix, Linospadix and on and on.

But it is distressing when you post about a problem like I did recently about losing a large queen that is one of the foundations of my shade jungle and I get self-styled comedians telling me I should be glad and that all my queens should meet the same fate. Not funny and not helpful. Palm snobbery and vindictiveness have no place here.

I grow several queen palms even though I can grow most of the species you listed (except lemuirophoenix) and lots more exotic species but that's because I personally just like palms in general. Someone visited my garden once and suggested I remove a queen I have up there to plant something more interesting. This was a very nice person, they were just being honest and I don't mind. Some people value growing exotic and unusual palms over more common ones, so I would not take offense to that. I still struggle a bit to figure out if I should remove it or not, it would open up a space for something else more interesting.

The humble and common Phoenix spss in my garden, beside their ornamental value have started creating a nicer microclimate blocking northern wind, without presenting also a harsh competition for more tender palms. Recent plagues like rpw are a different story.

[Jonathan]

Strangely enough, I've been struggling to grow a good queen palm here - they just dont like my dry sandy soil - and I actually like the look of them, when well grown.

I know they grow well in Tasmania, just not at my place, so for me they are a good challenge.

I recently planted out a few of the Abre Ojos variety from Pogobob in my little rainforest area, so hopefully with the extra water and attention, they will thrive.

Palm snobs should maybe have their own sub-forum called "Ego Boosting Palms" where they can rub each others noses in the latest unpronounceable Dypsis species!

Cheers,

Jonathan

[JLeVert]

I have a lot of various Sabals: minor, palmetto, mexicana, uresana, rosei, bermudana, 'Tamaulipas', 'Riverside', x texensis, etc. They actually are pretty weedy, meaning they will reseed like rye grass and eat your yard. I still love them.

The problem I have here in Augusta, GA, is with the number of people who insist that palms only belong at the beach and that we should only grow native plants here. They then go to their yard full of azaleas, camellias, various hollies and crepe myrtles which are all non-native and delight in their support of the natural environment. Sabal minor and palmetto, Serenoa repens and Rhapidophyllum are all native of Georgia and all of them naturalize in Augusta. Only S. palmetto is the real 'beach palm'. The 'palm' aesthetic is so powerful, that it evokes strong feelings in the palm lover and hater equally. I suppose when you see a million Washingtonias or Cabbage Palms, you just stop seeing them altogether and they no longer fill the need for the exotic.

Picture: Edisto Island, SC - S. repens and S. palmetto

Augusta, GA: S. minor 'Tamaulipas' with Lagerstroemia indica

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Strangely enough, I've been struggling to grow a good queen palm here - they just dont like my dry sandy soil - and I actually like the look of them, when well grown.

I know they grow well in Tasmania, just not at my place, so for me they are a good challenge.

I recently planted out a few of the Abre Ojos variety from Pogobob in my little rainforest area, so hopefully with the extra water and attention, they will thrive.

Palm snobs should maybe have their own sub-forum called "Ego Boosting Palms" where they can rub each others noses in the latest unpronounceable Dypsis species!

Cheers,

Jonathan

Ah, good, I am not the only one. I thought something is wrong with me. I can't grow a queen either, I've tried, and they look like crap, barely growing in my sandy soil. I finally cracked the secret, which is just a ton of fertilizer.

I have a lot of various Sabals: minor, palmetto, mexicana, uresana, rosei, bermudana, 'Tamaulipas', 'Riverside', x texensis, etc. They actually are pretty weedy, meaning they will reseed like rye grass and eat your yard. I still love them.

The problem I have here in Augusta, GA, is with the number of people who insist that palms only belong at the beach and that we should only grow native plants here. They then go to their yard full of azaleas, camellias, various hollies and crepe myrtles which are all non-native and delight in their support of the natural environment. Sabal minor and palmetto, Serenoa repens and Rhapidophyllum are all native of Georgia and all of them naturalize in Augusta. Only S. palmetto is the real 'beach palm'. The 'palm' aesthetic is so powerful, that it evokes strong feelings in the palm lover and hater equally. I suppose when you see a million Washingtonias or Cabbage Palms, you just stop seeing them altogether and they no longer fill the need for the exotic.

Picture: Edisto Island, SC - S. repens and S. palmetto

Augusta, GA: S. minor 'Tamaulipas' with Lagerstroemia indica

Funny, "Y'all" in GA have the same problem as us folks in Norcal do. Lots of palm haters going for so called "natives", except when it's a palm. Palms, even though native here are not ok, but planting an exotic temperate non-native is more than acceptable. This irritates me.

[_Keith]

Axel, what surprised me about California when I learned it, was that like Louisiana, California has only one single native palm.

[Phoenikakias]

Axel, what surprised me about California when I learned it, was that like Louisiana, California has only one single native palm.

Oh, this is nothing compared to our own 'taliban' with the natives. Wish they knew that olive tree and citrus trees had not been native of Greece.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Axel, what surprised me about California when I learned it, was that like Louisiana, California has only one single native palm.

That's not quite true. Natives are classified by floristic provinces. There are two provinces in California that have several native palms. The California Floristic Province which spans most of the state and extends down into Baja and includes the Guadeloupe Islands contains three native palms, brahea armata, brahea clara and brahea edulis. The map below shows the outline of the province.

Southwestern California is part of a different floral province, the Sonora province, which includes all of washingtonia, almost all of the remaining brahea, chamadorea radicalis, and sabal uresana. I've not been able to find a map for the Sonora province, because Google is incapable of making a distinction between "Sonora Desert" and "Sonora Province".

So for us in Santa Cruz, there are three truly native palms, brahea armata, clara and edulis, and for Southeastern California, there are quite a few more. I do not consider Washingtonia to be a native palm in Northern California. It's not a surprise that all of the palms together from both the Sonora and the California province are bullet proof all over sea level California and can sustain themselves and readily reproduce on their own quite well there.

[sonoranfans]

Axel, what surprised me about California when I learned it, was that like Louisiana, California has only one single native palm.

with 8-11" rain a year socal is a desert that has been converted to an oasis by irrigation that is mainly from the Colorado river. I'm not surprised that there is only one native palm. Its amazing how many irrigation lines sit on the hillsides near the coast(under the brush that they feed). Laguna coast wilderness park near the Laguna canyon highway(133) and within 1-2 miles of the pacific coast highway has lots of vegetation like prickly pear cactus that looks very much like the upper sonoran desert in Arizona. If I took a pic and stuffed it in my az photos, most any native Arizonan would think it was Arizona near the superstition mountains.

[sonoranfans]

Axel, what surprised me about California when I learned it, was that like Louisiana, California has only one single native palm.

with 8-11" rain a year socal is a desert that has been converted to an oasis by irrigation that is mainly from the Colorado river. I'm not surprised that there is only one native palm. Its amazing how many irrigation lines sit on the hillsides near the coast(under the brush that they feed). Laguna coast wilderness park near the Laguna canyon highway(133) and within 1-2 miles of the pacific coast highway has lots of vegetation like prickly pear cactus that looks very much like the upper sonoran desert in Arizona. If I took a pic and stuffed it in my az photos, most any native Arizonan would think it was Arizona near the superstition mountains. Brahea armata is native to the Baja peninsula, not the state of California. And brahea edulis is native to an island off the coast.

[WestCoastGal]

My own family is the worst when it comes to bashing my palm hobby...when I brought my Trachy home, my dad told me "That thing'll be dead in a year"...my mom commented on what a waste of money it was, and my brother called it ugly. Thanks for the encouragement, guys:/ haha

I loved the photo of your little trachy (saw it in another post)! I also find the wooly trunk on trachys rather jurassic looking and interesting. And find the inflourescence on these interesting as well. Guess it will be a few years before you know the sex of yours...part of the fun of growing something. I see a palmy yard as part of your future when you have your own place.

My spouse was onboard when I wanted to go tropical landscaping in our backyard and Mediterranean in our front. However initially he was totally into pinnate palms...ie. mules and butias...kind of a palm snob of a different sort....but we now have a few fan palms growing--Trachycarpus fortunei, Sabal minor and Chamaerops humilis. Growing a few Chamaedorea microspadix from seedlings now. All what could be called common. But hey, we just came out of 23 degrees and all these evergreen palms looked fantasic with no effort on our part. My yard still looks tropical. Today my next door neighbor commented that he needed to replace his dead red maple and wondered if I'd mind if he planted a C humilis in his front yard too. He said everytime he drives up to his house and looks over to ours he just loves the look. So not a bad comment to hear about a "common" palm.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Axel, what surprised me about California when I learned it, was that like Louisiana, California has only one single native palm.

with 8-11" rain a year socal is a desert that has been converted to an oasis by irrigation that is mainly from the Colorado river. I'm not surprised that there is only one native palm. Its amazing how many irrigation lines sit on the hillsides near the coast(under the brush that they feed). Laguna coast wilderness park near the Laguna canyon highway(133) and within 1-2 miles of the pacific coast highway has lots of vegetation like prickly pear cactus that looks very much like the upper sonoran desert in Arizona. If I took a pic and stuffed it in my az photos, most any native Arizonan would think it was Arizona near the superstition mountains. Brahea armata is native to the Baja peninsula, not the state of California. And brahea edulis is native to an island off the coast.

I guess not everyone can grasp the concepts behind botanical provinces. We'll stick to the basics then and ignore the stuff the botanists come up with.

[Alicehunter2000]

I have a lot of various Sabals: minor, palmetto, mexicana, uresana, rosei, bermudana, 'Tamaulipas', 'Riverside', x texensis, etc. They actually are pretty weedy, meaning they will reseed like rye grass and eat your yard. I still love them.

The problem I have here in Augusta, GA, is with the number of people who insist that palms only belong at the beach and that we should only grow native plants here. They then go to their yard full of azaleas, camellias, various hollies and crepe myrtles which are all non-native and delight in their support of the natural environment. Sabal minor and palmetto, Serenoa repens and Rhapidophyllum are all native of Georgia and all of them naturalize in Augusta. Only S. palmetto is the real 'beach palm'. The 'palm' aesthetic is so powerful, that it evokes strong feelings in the palm lover and hater equally. I suppose when you see a million Washingtonias or Cabbage Palms, you just stop seeing them altogether and they no longer fill the need for the exotic.

Picture: Edisto Island, SC - S. repens and S. palmetto

Augusta, GA: S. minor 'Tamaulipas' with Lagerstroemia indica

curious as to what the smooth trunked tree is in this photo.....huge crape myrtle? Whatever it is, it looks very nice.

[_Keith]

Looks like Crepe Myrtles to me.