Friday 30 November 2012

The Warm Glow of Evening SoCal Style

I'm obsessed with that warm glow of evening. I love how it makes plants glow. I love how it warms your cheeks and gives you that happy fuzzy feeling.  Yes, fuzzy.  And when that warm glow is extended to the reaching fronds of an epic Canary Island Date Palm, I find that I truly am taken to my happy place.

I love how stately the CIDP's presence is.

And then there's that pineapple like crown.  Palm trees resembling a pineapple, does it get any happier?

Well It does get better! Because in the SoCal sunshine, CIDPs are combined with the classic washingtonia that evoke the happy feelings of summertime and California road trips.

For a while, I actually didn't care for washingtonia robusta. I know that sounds blasphemous. And I have since changed my tune.  It's actually quite beautiful how the ends of the fronds drape down gracefully. And then there is the way they reflect the sunshine with a golden shimmer.


And it's not just palm trees that shine in the golden glow of evening. I was so happy to see so many aloes when I was in California.  I think aloes are one of those plants that I could have a serious problem with. Problem being that I LOVE them so much! And another problem being that I can grow so very few of them in my garden.

So when I get the chance, I have to admire them all that I can.

Can't you just imagine the perfect spot for this in your garden!? I know I can.

And while you might be thinking, really, another washingtonia? This is not just any washingtonia. It's my favourite, the washingtonia filifera or California fan palm.  Distinctively different from most of the plantings of washingtonia you see in SoCal, the filifera is native to California, has a much fatter trunk and is actually slightly hardier than its close relative washingtonia robusta.

Not that hardiness is an issue in SoCal.  *sigh* Imagine picking up plants at the garden centre without worrying about the hardiness zone.

But back to the "glow" and one of my all time favourites ... Olives!

I love these sweeping branches of foliar heaven.  The undersides of each leaf literally glows gold in the evening sun.  If we ever get some sunshine this winter, maybe I'll snap a few pictures of my olives showing off in the same fashion.


It's raining rosemary in the California sunshine!

Well I hope that this warm glow warms your heart on this dreary PNW day.  For it to be dreary by November in the PNW standards, you know it has to be bad.

14 comments:

  1. I'm enjoying your trip to SoCal. The Washingtonia Robusta seems boring until a record cold snap kills the less hardy palms.

    That olive tree is beautifully trimmed, so many here are shrubby.

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    1. Thanks!! I just love SoCal. So true about the washingtonia. I think when you look closely at them, they have some really beautiful qualities that are often overlooked by their commonness. Similar things have happened to trachycarpus up here. While I absolutely loove them, I fear they are becoming common in a way that people don't appreciate how beautiful they are. The emphasis then moves to brahea, chamaerops, butia etc that are less hardy and more "exotic." But then after december 2008 it was back to loving trachycarpus. Funny how that works.

      I agree about the olives! I love when they are pruned all just so. I think winter will do it's own pruning on mine, but I know that the groves in the gulf islands were recently hacked back and pruned to allow more light to filter into the trees. At first it's almost shocking, but then it reveals that gnarly wild growth habit of olives that I love so dearly.

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  2. You'd love the Canary Islands. I'm from Southern California originally and I can honestly say it is one of the few foreign places that feels like home to me when I visit. I've been in Sweden for almost 7 years and it's never ever truly felt like home, though I like our friends a lot.

    Still, I hate cold, darkness and constant wet.

    In the Canaries, you can see wild interspersed trees on steep mountain sides in the wild. It's truly beautiful in a subtropical sort of way.

    -

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    1. I have often dreamed of visiting the Canary Islands. Many of the cruises from Miami into Europe stop in the Canary Islands and I've thought that could be a phenomenal vacation. Do you often come back and visit California? I can see how that would be a hard transition to make. I hope you guys don't get too socked in with the cold wet this winter.

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    2. Actually we generally go to the Canaries every winter, but not this season. We are going to California in April thru July. I need the heat.

      The Canary Islands to me are a mystery to most Americans. Which may be a good thing. Otherwise it may be too Touristy. I have never ever met another American over there on any of my trips. Mostly German, Finnish and British in that order. Surprising cheap as well.

      You can find a lot of what I've written and photographed on my Timeless Environments blog. I've got several posts, many of which deal with the nature of things like plants which So-Cal is so fond of growing which originate there.

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    3. April to July in California sounds wonderful!

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    4. Yeah, I definitely need the heat. We are getting our first of the season snowfall now after a week of temps in the teens.

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  3. Beautiful golden sunshine! Love the palms and especially that huge aloe! My garden could stand a few of those! Let's move!

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    1. I LOVE the aloe! I am considering experimenting with more aloes in the years to come. Hopefully we have a mild winter to convince me to do silly things like that!

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  4. You captured that warm golden light very nicely Louis!

    I bought a houseplant at IKEA the other day and looking it up to learn a bit more about it I realized that if I lived in SoCal I could easily plant it outside. What a life that would be! BTW I've watched Aloe striatula successfully overwinter here in Portland. I lost one in the winter of 2009/10 but I'm trying it again this year. We shall see...

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    1. Thanks!!!! I love dusky sunshiny goodness.

      Let me know how your aloe striatula does. I saw them for sale this year and almost got one. Have you tried aloe aristata yet?

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  5. Great lessons learned from this post Mister Palm! Great information! Thank you Louis :)

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    1. Oh that's happy! I like mr palm. There is still a ton for me to learn. But being a total palm geek has certainly helped over the years. At the nursery I try to answer palm questions informatively. But I'm no expert .... Yet ;)

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  6. Mr.Palm! I saw a grouping of washingtonia filifera today in San Antone - I was driving though and could not snap a pic for you. If it wasn't for your post I would not have even noticed the smooth trunk indicative of this cultivar. You'd be proud of me. :) Cheers!

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