Palms for California's Central coast
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Palms for California's Central coast
- From: B*@monterey.edu (Barry Garcia)
- Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 22:10:04 -0700
I was searching for a source of Parajubaea cocoides plants on the web, and
was directed to this page:
http://www.cloudforest.com/palms/
On that page, i found out that there are quite a few interesting palms
that can be grown on the central coast, that arent your typical
Washingtonias (which i agree with the page, they tend to look ratty here
in the Monterey area. often), or Canary Island Date Palms. It's a nice
page, tells about some more tropical looking palms that can be grown here.
My faves are:
Archontophoenix - I had a seedling of this (A. cunninghamiana), but It
didnt seem to do too well. I think maybe I could re-try this with a larger
plant (i know the local nursery often has a few), The pic on that page
shows it does well in SF, even if it is in a fairly protected spot. The
seedling I had didnt die when it got frosted, it just didnt grow well in
that spot (looked like it got trampled by something one night, and didnt
recover).
Parajubaea cocoides- i've read about this one, and it actually seems to
prefer cooler nights and days. Most pages say it should probably do well
in California. I hear it can even take some degrees of frost, and a palm
cold hardiness page says it can take temps down to 25 degrees F without
too much damage. It's also looks most like a coconut palm that i've seen,
and also i hear the endosperm of the nuts tastes like coconut (the fleshy
part of the fruit is sweet and edible).
Ceroxylon - I saw an image of this palm where the trees were HUGE. The
leaves can get to 20 feet long, and even in the pre-trunk stage, they are
impressive plants. It's also used for obtaining wax that is on the trunk.
I hear they can grow to 200 feet high.
Caryota urens - i've actually seen this in a narrow hallway between two
buildings in Monterey. It was about 20 feet tall and doing well. I've
heard this one can take colder temps than the other caryotas can. Also,
the leaves are unusual.
If we ever get the backyard cleaned up, i'd probably go with the
Parajubaea, because it's probably the most cold hardy and also would be
quite a specimen tree to have. Also, since it likes cooler year round
temps, it may actually do well here on the foggy central coast
_________________________________________________________
This ain't a yes, this ain't a no, just do your thang, we'll see how it
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