Los Angeles "Gutter Palm"

[JohnAndSancho]

This is at the corner of Sunset and Mansfield in LA per the Twitter vid. I'm guessing it's a Washie, my palm ID skills are still terrible. The rest of the video shows piles of trash everywhere, but I kinda think this is cool. Because I'm a palm geek. 

Edit: this is apparently the same palm from March? Or there's another one? I'm confused. He says this one is at Sunset and La Brea. I know nothing about LA, but other people say it's the same one. Do Washies really put on this much growth in 3 months out there? 

I cropped the 2nd pic due to some NSFW language. 

 

[Harry’s Palms]

That is pretty cool , although I can’t imagine it will be there much longer . Harry

[JohnAndSancho]

If I had the means, I'd put this in my yard like RIGHT NOW right now. I'm 3 time zones away and dead broke, but in my warped mind I think it'd be cool to say I have a palm tree with legit street cred in my yard. That palm has seen some things. 

 

It's apparently right across the street from Hollywood High School, which from the video is surrounded by Washies. I'm just impressed it grew that much since March. 

[happypalms]

Good old Bertha!

[Harry’s Palms]

3 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

If I had the means, I'd put this in my yard like RIGHT NOW right now. I'm 3 time zones away and dead broke, but in my warped mind I think it'd be cool to say I have a palm tree with legit street cred in my yard. That palm has seen some things. 

 

It's apparently right across the street from Hollywood High School, which from the video is surrounded by Washies. I'm just impressed it grew that much since March. 

I went cycling yesterday to the beach . It’s about 20 miles from my house and there were so many growing on the shoulder of the road and in empty fields. You could have an instant jungle! Bring a shovel ….and a good size truck!! Harry

[JohnAndSancho]

25 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I went cycling yesterday to the beach . It’s about 20 miles from my house and there were so many growing on the shoulder of the road and in empty fields. You could have an instant jungle! Bring a shovel ….and a good size truck!! Harry

As much as I'd love to, if I came across enough money to do that Sancho is my priority. I'm still waiting on my vet (I think she had a death in her family) to get back with me, but he either needs a knee brace or surgery. 😑

 

It's crazy though, like I'd also like to get my hands on some of the wild Christmas palm seedlings that pop up in Florida. 

[Butch]

Yea, these things pop up all over So. Cal.. Any place they can get a root hold...

Butch

[Darold Petty]

Washingtonia is a weed in California.  Long ago, I met an English gardener who struggled to grow W. robusta as a houseplant.  He was really shocked to see it as a weed in concrete cracks along the 405 freeway !   

[Rivera]

I pulled a few Washingtonia seedlings out of a small drainage ditch in Redding. Normally I wouldn't have bothered, but they were beneath some tall and handsome Washingtonia that showed pure robusta traits: tall, narrow trunked, shiny green leaves, red boots. 

I know some people seek out the so called 'filibusta' hybrids for hardiness, but to me hybrids of the two species are highly undesirable, lacking the most attractive and defining qualities of either. 

The small ditch I pulled them out of is to the right.

It's always possible these are mixed with filifera, but there weren't any immediately nearby. They're a little hairy at this young stage, but the red color is a strong indication of robusta.

I'll never plant them on my property, but maybe if someone I know is looking to plant Mexican fans I can at least supply them with a few from good looking parents. 

Like any other Californian, I've seen these things sprouting out of every nook and cranny imaginable. CIDPs also. But not Chamaerops for some reason. 

[JohnAndSancho]

29 minutes ago, Rivera said:

I pulled a few Washingtonia seedlings out of a small drainage ditch in Redding. Normally I wouldn't have bothered, but they were beneath some tall and handsome Washingtonia that showed pure robusta traits: tall, narrow trunked, shiny green leaves, red boots. 

I know some people seek out the so called 'filibusta' hybrids for hardiness, but to me hybrids of the two species are highly undesirable, lacking the most attractive and defining qualities of either. 

The small ditch I pulled them out of is to the right.

It's always possible these are mixed with filifera, but there weren't any immediately nearby. They're a little hairy at this young stage, but the red color is a strong indication of robusta.

I'll never plant them on my property, but maybe if someone I know is looking to plant Mexican fans I can at least supply them with a few from good looking parents. 

Like any other Californian, I've seen these things sprouting out of every nook and cranny imaginable. CIDPs also. But not Chamaerops for some reason. 

👀👀👀

 

Lol I'm looking to plant out anything here that's not a pine, a magnolia, or a maple. Oaks are everywhere too, but the pine trees are the worst. Maybe in a few months I sell them as organically grown Christmas trees for dirt cheap. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

I have three 40 feet tall Washingtonia on my side yard now that started life in a concrete gutter in Campbell, CA back in the 1990s. They were small enough to fit into a plastic sandwich baggie with some water in it. I brought them home to Los Altos and put them directly in the ground and they “took off!” This was long before I started collecting more unusual palm species but I’m glad they are still here all these years later. 

[aztropic]

Here's mine in Arizona. Apparently dropped by a bird, that's where it landed,and that's where we just let it grow. It has never been moved. I really couldn't have done a better job siting it if I had planted it myself. 🤷‍♂️

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[ZPalms]

I love when younger washies hold so many leaves, that dude is bushy and healthy!

[Harry’s Palms]

Mine showed up in a neighbor’s yard in 1997 . I really didn’t want one but he had noticed me planting all these palms at our new house and took a lot of time to put it in a bucket . I figured I would plant it down at the bottom of my hill and just watch it grow . It grew much faster than I anticipated and decided to keep it. It is a Robusta , it had very red leaf bases and lots of fibers hanging off the young fronds . The palm is super tall now and I occasionally get folks asking why I have such a common palm in my collection . I have palms that are common but Washingtonia get a bad rap because they are everywhere . I do pull up and dispose of them when they pop up as one of these skyscrapers is enough for me. Harry

[JohnAndSancho]

47 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Mine showed up in a neighbor’s yard in 1997 . I really didn’t want one but he had noticed me planting all these palms at our new house and took a lot of time to put it in a bucket . I figured I would plant it down at the bottom of my hill and just watch it grow . It grew much faster than I anticipated and decided to keep it. It is a Robusta , it had very red leaf bases and lots of fibers hanging off the young fronds . The palm is super tall now and I occasionally get folks asking why I have such a common palm in my collection . I have palms that are common but Washingtonia get a bad rap because they are everywhere . I do pull up and dispose of them when they pop up as one of these skyscrapers is enough for me. Harry

Volunteers are welcome here! 

[Harry’s Palms]

@JohnAndSancho if any show up I can send them to you . I’ll keep a watchful eye out . I’ve never shipped a palm but it can’t be that hard . They are bulletproof and I am certain it would survive in a box for a few days. Harry

[Rivera]

3 hours ago, aztropic said:

Here's mine in Arizona. Apparently dropped by a bird, that's where it landed,and that's where we just let it grow. It has never been moved. I really couldn't have done a better job siting it if I had planted it myself. 🤷‍♂️

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

It really did land in the ideal spot!

[JohnAndSancho]

12 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

@JohnAndSancho if any show up I can send them to you . I’ll keep a watchful eye out . I’ve never shipped a palm but it can’t be that hard . They are bulletproof and I am certain it would survive in a box for a few days. Harry

Much appreciated. If they're small enough, they can fit in bubble mailers too. I've got plenty of land and sun and time. 

[fr8train]

Here's on I see on I-10 whenever I drive into San Antonio. It's probably 3x to 4x this size now. 

[DoomsDave]

Lawdy, Miss Clawdy, those things are all over out here. Birds and coyotes eat the seeds and poop them and up they pop.

[Rubberboots]

They grow like weeds here!

[Darold Petty]

21 minutes ago, Rubberboots said:

They grow like weeds here!

They ARE weeds !

[JohnAndSancho]

I miss Dirty Sanchez. 

[Rubberboots]

55 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

They ARE weeds !

😆🥴

[Jim in Los Altos]

They may be considered a weed palm here in CA but a very beautiful towering “weed” for sure. Virtually no maintenance either except collecting occasional fallen old fronds. These are all the same palm from different vantage points. 
 

[JohnAndSancho]

They get really pretty colors on the base before they take off, too. It's crazy that what y'all consider weeds out there sells for $60+ here

Maybe 2 Filibusta and a Filifera isn't enough for my yard 😂

[DoomsDave]

I've got one in a pot I'd love to give someone, but it's a bit big to ship.

 

[ZPalms]

I can't remember where I got some of these photos, but the one with the rainbow is my computer wallpaper. I know someone on PalmTalk took that one, so I appreciate the wallpaper. 😍

Absolutely love washies! such a great cinematic palm.

[SeanK]

2 hours ago, ZPalms said:

I can't remember where I got some of these photos, but the one with the rainbow is my computer wallpaper. I know someone on PalmTalk took that one, so I appreciate the wallpaper. 😍

Absolutely love washies! such a great cinematic palm.

2nd one reminds me of some I've seen of Palm Springs, CA.

[palmofmyhand]

I find it pretty funny that it grows in the same place where the street runoff ends up, unfazed by any other dirty liquid that enters that gutter. Impressive the resilience of those Washingtonias.

[Butch]

3 hours ago, palmofmyhand said:

I find it pretty funny that it grows in the same place where the street runoff ends up, unfazed by any other dirty liquid that enters that gutter. Impressive the resilience of those Washingtonias.

Yea. We fuss with perfect micro-climate, soil, water and fertilizer for our palms, and these things grow anywhere in any conditions...

Butch

[palmofmyhand]

34 minutes ago, Butch said:

Yea. We fuss with perfect micro-climate, soil, water and fertilizer for our palms, and these things grow anywhere in any conditions...

Butch

good to know I have 4 of them now in my zone 8b and my fingers crossed for long term survival.

[JohnAndSancho]

5 hours ago, palmofmyhand said:

I find it pretty funny that it grows in the same place where the street runoff ends up, unfazed by any other dirty liquid that enters that gutter. Impressive the resilience of those Washingtonias.

Lol we coddle and baby our palms and this one is fertilized with like old motor oil and hobo urine and it's a monster.

[BS Man about Palms]

Yep, considered a weed here.. easily spread by birds, etc. 

I have told new palm people if you can SEE a mature Washy from your property, if you look hard enough, you'll find a seedling on your property! 😆

 

Interesting thing though is I have noticed  poor transplant ability as soon as they start to get going. It seems up to a foot tall/seedling,  if you try to get that taproot, they transplant ok. As soon as they are much bigger, higher fatalities than you would think for how easy they grow.

Grow what you can, where you can and enjoy!!

[palmofmyhand]

6 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Lol we coddle and baby our palms and this one is fertilized with like old motor oil and hobo urine and it's a monster.

😂 that’s what I’m saying

[tinman10101]

On 7/28/2025 at 5:45 PM, Jim in Los Altos said:

They may be considered a weed palm here in CA but a very beautiful towering “weed” for sure. Virtually no maintenance either except collecting occasional fallen old fronds. These are all the same palm from different vantage points. 
 

i would say the most annoying maintenance on these are pulling up the volunteers everywhere.  i don't have any in my yard but yet they come up everywhere.  i suspect from bird poop since all the vegetation around my area gravitate towards my yard because its a jungle in the middle of a desert. LOL 

i have a friend that loves them so much, he has 4 towering seeding monsters and he gets the seeds and throws them out the window wherever he goes from his car.  ugh ... they land in people's yards and in open easements and open fields.  of course, i scolded him but he hasn't stopped.  😠

[Jim in Los Altos]

17 hours ago, tinman10101 said:

i would say the most annoying maintenance on these are pulling up the volunteers everywhere.  i don't have any in my yard but yet they come up everywhere.  i suspect from bird poop since all the vegetation around my area gravitate towards my yard because its a jungle in the middle of a desert. LOL 

i have a friend that loves them so much, he has 4 towering seeding monsters and he gets the seeds and throws them out the window wherever he goes from his car.  ugh ... they land in people's yards and in open easements and open fields.  of course, i scolded him but he hasn't stopped.  😠

I guess I’m lucky then. Squirrels chew off all the emerging inflorescences before they even open on the five mature Washingtonia in my landscape. I never get seedlings because of that. I do get thousands of seedlings from several other palm species like Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, various Chamaedorea, and even Rhopalostylis. 

[JohnAndSancho]

9 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

I guess I’m lucky then. Squirrels chew off all the emerging inflorescences before they even open on the five mature Washingtonia in my landscape. I never get seedlings because of that. I do get thousands of seedlings from several other palm species like Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, various Chamaedorea, and even Rhopalostylis. 

I uhhh I know a guy who's planting a bed full of unwanted seedlings. 

[DoomsDave]

Much as I take Washies for granted while I'm in So-Cal, when I leave for a bit and come back seeing them, if only (at first) from the plane coming in to land gladdens my heart. Home again!

[BS Man about Palms]

On 7/31/2025 at 8:05 PM, tinman10101 said:

i would say the most annoying maintenance on these are pulling up the volunteers everywhere.  i don't have any in my yard but yet they come up everywhere.  i suspect from bird poop since all the vegetation around my area gravitate towards my yard because its a jungle in the middle of a desert. LOL 

i have a friend that loves them so much, he has 4 towering seeding monsters and he gets the seeds and throws them out the window wherever he goes from his car.  ugh ... they land in people's yards and in open easements and open fields.  of course, i scolded him but he hasn't stopped.  😠

Flatten his tires?