CALIFORNIA PALM TREES - The Best Palm Trees for Southern California

Kentia Palm, Howea forsteriana — Kentia Palm, *Howea forsteriana*

Shaving Brush Palm,
Rhopalostylis sapida — Shaving Brush Palm,
*Rhopalostylis sapida*

PHOTOGRAPHS OF PALMS WE RECOMMEND

by Phil Bergman

Description of Article

Palm trees in California are known the world over. Tourists return home, often thinking about the palm trees they’ve seen. This is a brief pictorial article where I present an array of palm tree species that we’ve found have done well for most of our customers here in California, especially Southern California. Some are for sun, others shade. Some are easier to grow than the rest, but all are possible to grow in the coastal parts of Southern California.

Introduction

Shown below is not all the palm tree species that can be grown in California. This list is far from complete. But, it gives the reader a quick look at about three dozen species that he might be able to grow. Some below will do best right along the coast. Others benefit from inland heat. There is a mixture of larger species and small. Some prefer shade conditions. I hope that you enjoy these photographs below and it gives you ideas for palms that you don’t see everywhere. I’m not going to comment about each species with text; rather just show a photo of a mature garden plant. To learn more about any given species, go to Palm Tree Care and Common Names at this site. It’ll give you more information on all species below.

Preparation of this list of palm trees for California took into consideration the following factors:

Successful performance in many areas of California
Cold tolerance such that plants won’t just die in winter.
Sun and shade tolerance
Overall appearance and beauty
Availability

HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT CALIFORNIA PALM TREES

All of California is not the same. You must consider where exactly you live. And, you must get some understanding of the exact weather you see at your particular location. These include things such as intensity of your sun, high summer temperatures and most importantly your winter low temperatures. Palm trees are affected by all of these things. A common mistake for someone to make is to select species that do well along the coast of Southern California but they live in a desert area like Palm Springs. Palm tree species selected must tolerate the inland sun and heat you’d see in Palm Springs.

And, areas like the San Joaquin Valley, the Sierra mountains, Sacramento and Northern California see a lot more cold weather. Thus attention must be paid to one’s winter cold weather. Don’t just guess at it. Get actual low temperatures from your local weather services. One severely cold night during the winter can ruin all your summer dreams of a tropical appearing palm tree in your yard.

This article only shows photos. You can look at the photographs of palm trees below and select the ones you find appealing. Then, try to decide if they’d live in your area. I’ve given a link below for a more comprehensive list of species with all the information you need on recommended species. If you are completely puzzled, feel free to send me an email and ask questions. By the way, I’ve not included the super common palms below such as the Queen Palm, Mexican Fan Palm and a few others.

QUICK PHOTOGRAPHS OF PALM TREES IN VARIOUS GARDENS THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA

Most or All of These Species Are Available At Our Palm Tree Nursery

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CULTURE, DESCRIPTION, RARITY, SUN REQUIREMENTS, AND COLD HARDINESS, CLICK OUR COMPREHENSIVE ARTICLE –
GREAT PALMS FOR CALIFORNIA

SUMMARY

On all the genera above there may be many more species within the same genus that also grow well for us here. I apologize if I haven’t
included your favorite palm species in this group, but this is meant to be a brief introduction and I wanted to keep it simple. The
comprehensive article linked above has all the information one would need to make choices. Common palm trees such as the
Queen Palm, Mexican Fan Palm, etc. have not been shown.

To read from our collections articles on palm trees, click here

To connect to our Palm & Cycad Blog with new arrivals and special sales, click here.

To see Palm Trees For Sale and Availability, click here

To see More Articles on Palm Trees, click here and review the articles on the right side
of the page.

Palm Trees in San Diego, a San Diego Palm Nursery, click here