Re: Palms for California's Central coast
- To: B*@monterey.edu, m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Palms for California's Central coast
- From: J* D*
- Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 12:42:43 -0700 (PDT)
Brahea edulis is from our very own California coastal
fogbelt climate, albeit in Mexico (Guadalupe Island).
It's the happiest fan palm grown in Sunset zone 17.
Naturalizes in Berkeley (but not weedily like Phoenix
canariensis). Drought-tolerant. Sun, shade,
wind-tolerant. Grows among native Monterey Pines and
Island Oaks in habitat (what's left of it). Just don't
plant in a heavily watered lawn or where the sprinkler
will spray its trunk--not a fan of too much summer
water.
Yay Brahea!
Jason
--- Barry Garcia <Barry_Garcia@monterey.edu> wrote:
> 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
> goes
>
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