Palm trees are such a familiar fixture--they are certainly more ancient and distinctive than any of L.A.'s architecture--that no one there has seemed to notice that the tops of the tallest trees, not just a few, but practically all of them, barely share the world with us. It was early autumn and late in the day, but the sun, low in the sky, was still bright and hot, so we took ourselves over to the magnificent allee of old Norway Maples that tower above the many lovely trees that make up the Cherry esplanade, since the grand Maples, with their dense masses of bright green leaves, can always be counted on for shade. Don’t plant it in Zone 8 and colder without special protection. Planting Palms . And with this act of faith in the future, they were thinking of us. This beautiful, formal arrangement of natural elements in the garden is also a sentimental favorite of ours since the elegant double rows of maples were planted to commemorate the armistice of World War I. Skin the trunks for a crisp, cigar cut … A temporary sign at their edge announced, "Removal and Replanting of Norway Maples," followed by the explanation: At over 83 years of age, the Norway maples (Acer Their leaves are dark green and fan shaped, reaching between 3 and 5 feet (1-1.5 m.) wide. Our native . No, it is the perfect uniformity of their extreme height that alarms me, for it makes me think that they were all planted together and that surely they cannot continue to grow forever. Mexican fan palm leaves are fan-shaped, about 3 to 5 feet wide, and have sharply toothed petioles about 4 to 6 feet long.      of you--I laid in my stores in advance, I considered But it is quite another for the current caretakers of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to give over the ground hallowed by the armistice monument to the victims of September 11. The trees are hardy in USDA zones 9 through 11 and Sunset zones 8 through 24. They are especially good in landscapes or along roadways where they are free to grow to their full height. They are more popular on the coast than their close cousin, and native, the California fan palm. They tend to grow to a height of 80 to 100 feet (24-30 m.). HPWRA Score: 15 High Risk Family: Arecaceae. Unfortunately, Mexican fan palms, as they're also called - though big, fat and gorgeous while young - tend to lose their good looks (don't we all) with age.      September 11, 2001 Learn more about Mexican palm care and how to grow a Mexican fan palm tree in this article. For a long time now, whenever I've gone to Los Angeles, I've been alarmed by how impossibly tall the palm trees have grown. Its columnar trunk can reach up to 100 feet tall with a round crown of fan-shaped fronds that can grow 3-5 feet long. Size: Can get very large.In warm climates plants can grow up to 100 feet tall. So when I was in L.A. this past summer, it was something of a shock to have my admittedly idiosyncratic botanical musings confirmed by a headline in the Los Angeles Times: "Palms in Twilight," followed by the smaller headline, "These improbable immigrants came to define the city.      on both sides of the cherry esplanade have reached The Mexican fan palm is a fast-growing species that can reach heights of 70 to 100 feet, making it too tall for typical residential landscapes. So it should come as no surprise that words simply failed us when we reached our beloved destination only to find that those old, noble Maples were gone. Seed grown. It withstands windy locations. Death, and what’s next. Was it my childhood encounters with the prehistoric California redwoods that had given me the wrong impression that trees live much longer than mere humans? In their place were rows of new saplings, sparsely leaved and unsymmetrical in shape. When we have sat beneath their densely packed leaves, their undersides as smooth as marble, my husband and I have often remarked on what a wonderful gift those far-seeing custodians of the garden bequeathed us. Most of these are Mexican fan palms, trees that in the wild grow from 40 to 60 feet, but in the city, for reasons unknown, have reached an incredible 100 to 150 feet. Fan palms add wonderful height and texture to the garden and do very well in urban settings as well as large landscapes. But the words on it, like everything else, had been changed, though we were ill-prepared for what we read: Liberty Oak Life Span Like humans and other animals, palm trees live for a predetermined number of years. Questionable choice. And so I was pained, indeed, disoriented, by the news that the palm trees of Los Angeles, which I had assumed would be there forever, were as mortal as those who had planted them. However, Mexican Fan Palm trees can be buried 4 … Growing Mexican fan palms is relatively easy, as long as you’re planting in the right conditions. The bold foliage is shaped like large fans and summer brings added interest with long panicles of white flowers. The thick trunk of the youthful palm thins, and a "petticoat" of dried fronds under the green ones on top is not everyone's idea of palm beauty. This step is for planting a new palm tree or replacing an existing palm tree. The Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta) is native to the deserts of northern Mexico, though it can be grown through much of the American South and Southwest. Geneva Victoria, my mother-in-law's lyrical name, resonates with the hopes that this war-tried generation placed on their new-borns.      brilliant red fall leaf color, in the spring of 2004. This plant is a member of the Palm family (Arecaceae). Impact: A fast-growing palm that quickly becomes a hazard, especially when exposed to windy weather. Provides a very tropical appearance to the landscape.      and to thosewho lost their lives that day. Texas Sabal fan palm. Every time I truly take in their outsized scale--the way the palms now literally dwarf the mansions, bungalows, swimming pools, rose beds, walls of bougainvillea, billboards, lamp posts, traffic signals, and cars that occupy the space at their feet--I cannot help feeling a sense of foreboding. Washingtonia robusta leave blades showing sharp, hooked, brown petiolar teeth- these are almost like razor blades Mexican and California fan palms look similar, so check the label before buying one. The Mexican fan palm happens to be some of the tallest and oldest trees in the LA California area. Life span of 8 - 14 years Take 6 - 10 years to mature Can reach over 7' Will sprout a stalk when about 5 years old that can gow an additional 15' topped with yellow flowers Much to my surprise, I suffered this same sense of dislocation when my husband and I visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It features a tall slender trunk with a compact crown of dark green, fan-shaped fronds. Mexican fan palm is cold-hardy to 18 degrees. The growing conditions are better suited to this variety.      These scarlet oaks are dedicated And here again was that unsettling talk about trees and their life spans. The Mexican Fan Palm, also known as the Washingtonia Robusta (scientific name), Washington Palm, or the Petticoat Palm, is a member of the Arecaceae Family. Palms unlike other trees respond best, especially large mature palms, if they are … And I had a very hard time imagining what the city would soon look like once oaks, jacarandas, and ficuses--trees of great charm, but ones that could never match the palms in their signature breath-taking verticality--are planted in their place. These local favorites are a staple in our area, where their appearance brings a relaxing, calming influence on avenues and yards throughout Arizona! These palms tolerate less than desirable soil conditions and a bit of salt, requiring little care. The Mexican fan palm, scientifically known as Washingtonia robusta, grows an approximate height of 80 feet.It has a slender shaggy trunk which looks as though the tree has grown scales, cream colored flowers, with green palmate leaves. Reading the article, I began to realize that their omnipresence had blinded me to their sheer number: There are 3,000 palm trees in Beverly Hills, 6,000 in Santa Monica, and a truly astounding 75,000 in Los Angeles. Rather than dropping off, dead leaves fold down against the trunk giving it a dense skirt. Known for its ease of growth, the Mexican Fan Palm is a classic resort style palm tree that has a wide variety of landscape applications. Rochelle Gurstein is the author of The Repeal of Reticence (Hill and Wang). Hardy to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Although Mexican fan palm trees are native to the desert, they grow naturally in pockets of underground water and are only somewhat drought tolerant.      will be removed this fall and replaced with scarlet oaks They also run the risk of breaking and uprooting in hurricane prone areas. All of which only served to intensify the bittersweetness of my melancholy. The common Washingtonia (Mexican Fan Palm) is well known for being a tricky palm to not only trim safely, but the falling leaves tend to get hung on ones clothing or drop onto others below causing serious damage. The remaining two rows of maples Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! It also turned out that most of them, as I had feared, had been planted at the same time, somewhere between 75 and 100 years ago, and, even worse, that they were coming to the end of their natural lives. The palm boring beetle is its biggest threat. The trunk is reddish brown, but with time its color fades into gray. Cocus plumosus, Chinese fan palm, Mediterranean fan palm, Sago palm (remember the Sago palm is a cycad not a true palm), and. I wondered aloud if those who had planted them as testimony to their reverence and hopes ever imagined that they would not even outlast the time allotted to their own children, the children who became the parents of my husband's generation and came into the world around the same time as these now-vanished Norway Maples and L.A.'s soon-to-be vanished Mexican Palms.      (Quercus Coccinea), sturdy long-lived native trees with For example, the Mexican fan palm, an icon of Los Angeles, lives … The Mexican fan palm grows readily in USDA zones 9 through 11. Whether I'm driving in Santa Monica or Venice, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, or Pasadena, the familiar sight of row after row of palm trees, their thin, fibrous trunks topped by rough-hewn, yet shimmering fronds stretching hundreds of feet into the broad, shadowless light, has come to fill me with gloom. The Mexican Fan Palm is our tree of the week in Arizona! The Norway maples that grew as      the World War I armistice. They can tolerate both slightly alkaline and slightly acidic soil. By planting them, they were launching the memory and dreams of their own time into ours. They like full sun to partial shade and well-draining sand to loam type soil. This is not the same plant as the Mexican Fan Palm (Washingtonia robusta) which grows 100' high. at the base to 8 inches (20 cm.) Trees are fast growing to up to 100 feet tall with a long lifespan. Washingtonia robusta – Mexican Fan Palm Another beauty that's native to Mexico and West coast of United States the Mexican Fan Palm is slow growing and can reach up to 18 metres height. When planting a new palm tree it is wise to plant the palm tree only deep enough to cover the root ball of the tree (the circular ball of roots at the bottom of the tree). Such is the aesthetic fate of L.A., the article made clear, now that developers in Las Vegas have priced the city out of the market for tall palm trees. They were introduced in the late 1800s and are close to reaching the end of their life span. We walked a few feet and noticed that the plaque that used to commemorate the armistice was still in its place on a large rock at the foot of the path between the trees.      November 1918 to commemorate It certainly had never occurred to me, as I was growing up with and among these towering, though not yet impossibly tall, trees, that my youth was coinciding with the middle of their life spans nor that my generation might in the end outlive them. Also, the frond skirt is a fire hazard and an excellent habitat for rat nests. The Repeal of Reticence: America’s Cultural and Legal Struggles over Free Speech, Obscenity, Sexual Liberation, and Modern Art. Mexican fan palm, (Washingtonia robusta), is an arrow-straight palm tree that can grow to heights of 40 to 50 feet, and in some cases, will reach a majestic 80 feet tall. Mexican Fan Palm is unsurprisingly a palm tree native to Mexico that has naturalized in Florida, California, Hawaii and Texas. Featuring the classic California style fan palm appearance, this hybridized version tends to grow at a more controlled rate, with a more tapered trunk and ultimately reaching a reduced height when compared to older style fan palms. Alas, their days here may be numbered." Over 80 years ago, those who had lived through that first terrible war sought to bear witness to all the horrors that had passed, but even more, they sought to commemorate the hope that came with the peace. Rochelle Gurstein is the author of The Repeal of Reticence: America’s Cultural and Legal Struggles over Free Speech, Obscenity, Sexual Liberation, and Modern Art, as well as a former columnist for The New Republic. It in zone 8 and colder without special protection and oldest trees in the,. 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