I have always appreciated palm trees growing up in LA county. I remember driving around neighborhoods and seeing giant robustas and canary dates row the skyline. Most people never thought twice about them, but they signified something. These palms are now over 100 years old.

Sherman Way ay Haskell 1928

Same street today

Palm trees are part of the aesthetic and skyline. But curious how some of you guys got into them? Particularly people who grew up in colder climates where palm trees were/are rare.

I have been into palms since I was like 3 years old. I would always ask my grandma if she could take me to the neighbors house to collect queen palm fruit, I liked collecting it and inspecting it. Little did I know the Zetas were entering northeastern Mexico at that time and leaving your house at certain hours and places was dangerous. At 4 years old I saw coconut palms for the first time and that made me like palms even more, my favorite coconut palms have always been the varieties with orange petioles. I remember planting a green immature coconut that I brought from Guerrero hoping something would come out, obviously nothing came out. Now I have around 16 species and 40+ palms. Including the coconut palm which is a must have in my collection.

What got me into palms, I was 16 years old fixing my mates Yamaha YZ 125 motor cross bike, jumped on to test her out. Took of down the road in nothing but a pair of shorts and a t shirt. Tapping her out down the tar bitumen road hitting about 65ks. I fixed her I thought, turn around tapping back down the bitumen road, and yes you guessed it right the neighbours dogs thought let’s chase this young victim for the hospital down the bitumen road. Yes sir two dogs either side trying to eat rubber tyres, ok let’s accelerate we can out run these flea bags, so I gunned it with the two dogs,who at that moment decided to meet each other in the front wheel. Yep straight over the handlebars at about 70ks an hour. No helmet, T-shirt and shorts hurtling for that bitumen road. So now iam breaking my collar bone, skin off every part of my body, hit my head millimetres away from my temple and dam lucky only to get 10 stitches. I lived but my mother was not impressed with her so son’s behaviour, so I had to apologise to the lady up the road who’s dogs I run over. Through her saying she had to pay vet bills and her job was working in a palm nursery, I asked her to see if there was a job there to help pay the vet bills. And that was it I started working in a palm nursery at 16. Found the love of palms and they joy they bring me in my life to this very day, some 40 years ago!

And yes the dogs lived and iam glad the hippie lady Diane came into my life, and showed me the world of palms!

Hard to pinpoint, but from memory it was a few family holidays when I was 10-12 or so to Sydney, Cairns and Darwin that really started the obsession. I still remember the first time I saw Arenga pinnata and Attalea cohune and thinking they looked too huge to be real. I had some level of interest when younger than that, but the interest grew into a different beast around then 🤣

Growing up in Southern California , i always liked seeing palms everywhere. I wasn’t really into them like I am now but I liked them. In 1990 , after more than a dozen years of living on a sailboat , we bough a house with a swimming pool . My wife wanted a palm or three for around the yard to give us a “tropical paradise”. We went to a nursery in Ventura that had a decent selection and great reputation. The manager was a Palm Society member . I am a bit OCD about collecting things and after buying a few palms , became obsessed . I would buy rare seedlings in bands that were in the greenhouse and raise them in a spare bedroom with a south facing window . Then I built a greenhouse and a lath house so I could have several species of palms , orchids , and Tillandsia. That was my beginning. Harry

For me it started when I set up a landscape design and construction business nearly 30 years ago. Never got to deal with palms or many tropical looking plants at horticultural college, but Tracycarpus started to be a popular plant for gardens we built, and from there I started using a local nursery selling more unusual plants that were suitable for a south east England climate. Got more interested in palms from there, growing my own collection and experimenting with growing from seed. But didnt really have the time and dedication needed. Fast forward to 2019 and the decision to move to the Mediterranean, and now had the time and climate to grow and care for the paims I could never have living in northern Europe. Trying not to make it an obsession, but certainly loving learning new ideas and practises living in a different climate. Has been like going back to college.

1 hour ago, RichardHemsley said:

For me it started when I set up a landscape design and construction business nearly 30 years ago. Never got to deal with palms or many tropical looking plants at horticultural college, but Tracycarpus started to be a popular plant for gardens we built, and from there I started using a local nursery selling more unusual plants that were suitable for a south east England climate. Got more interested in palms from there, growing my own collection and experimenting with growing from seed. But didnt really have the time and dedication needed. Fast forward to 2019 and the decision to move to the Mediterranean, and now had the time and climate to grow and care for the paims I could never have living in northern Europe. Trying not to make it an obsession, but certainly loving learning new ideas and practises living in a different climate. Has been like going back to college.

So Trachycarpus was your first palm? It’s the number 1 cold climate palm. You can grow some nice palms in a Mediterranean climate, except the illusive cocos nucifera.

11 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Growing up in Southern California , i always liked seeing palms everywhere. I wasn’t really into them like I am now but I liked them. In 1990 , after more than a dozen years of living on a sailboat , we bough a house with a swimming pool . My wife wanted a palm or three for around the yard to give us a “tropical paradise”. We went to a nursery in Ventura that had a decent selection and great reputation. The manager was a Palm Society member . I am a bit OCD about collecting things and after buying a few palms , became obsessed . I would buy rare seedlings in bands that were in the greenhouse and raise them in a spare bedroom with a south facing window . Then I built a greenhouse and a lath house so I could have several species of palms , orchids , and Tillandsia. That was my beginning. Harry

Interesting do you still keep in contact with that nursery? Or is it long gone

Nursery is still going strong . Karl has retired and things have changed but they still have some interesting palms and cycads . No more seedlings , that disappeared after the local growers moved on . Karl used to let them sell in the greenhouse . I recently bought a Syagrus Schizophylla there . The nursery , in general , has quality plants , flowers , shrubs , as well as hardware . Soil and fertilizer , mulch , etc. Harry

19 hours ago, SCVpalmenthusiast said:

So Trachycarpus was your first palm? It’s the number 1 cold climate palm. You can grow some nice palms in a Mediterranean climate, except the illusive cocos nucifera.

Yep, but i keep trying with C.nucifera. No luck yet!

I was trying to increase my house's curb appeal by adding some nice landscaping. After ripping out the first tacky design using home depot plants, I did research on landscaping design and plants in general. I loved learning about the plants and specifically the palms and all their uniqueness and presence they give in the garden. Websites like RarePalmSeeds.com also made it feel like it was shopping and the way the site is designed just made palms so cool for me.

Took a trip to Ft Lauderdale when I was 4 and enjoyed all the coconut palms on the beach. Had an appreciation for them ever since.

On 6/16/2026 at 6:11 PM, Harry’s Palms said:

Nursery is still going strong . Karl has retired and things have changed but they still have some interesting palms and cycads . No more seedlings , that disappeared after the local growers moved on . Karl used to let them sell in the greenhouse . I recently bought a Syagrus Schizophylla there . The nursery , in general , has quality plants , flowers , shrubs , as well as hardware . Soil and fertilizer , mulch , etc. Harry

What's the name of the nursery ?

Seeing the yards of others got me into palms, and the best of those yards I have found through palmtalk.

13 hours ago, Tropical Toni said:

What's the name of the nursery ?

Green Thumb -Ventura . I think there are a few in SoCal. Harry