Bigger IS Better

We haven't harvested any Mediterranean Fan Palms, Chamerops humilis, for a month or six weeks.  What a happy surprise we had, when we saw how they have grown during their period of neglect!   Each has a heavy main trunk with 3 feet or more of clear trunk.  Most have one or two other trunks with substantial size.  Overall height is somewhere between 5 and 6 feet.   Still just $75 each - well, at least until January.

We have 24 on the yard.  They'd make a great Christmas gift, don't you think?  Give us a call if you need some!

Time for Trimming

We've gotten some great rain the past few weeks - downside is that it limits what we can do in the fields.    One thing we can do is trim up some of the palms.

Here is a row of Date Palms that have never been trimmed.   They have long, sharp spines so trimming can be a bit treacherous.

   

The palm to the left has been trimmed to about 3 feet off the ground.   We left a large amount of petiole to protect the trunk through the winter.   At harvest, a little more will be removed and  the canopy will be tied up to protect the growing point. 


This is a Silver Date or Toddy Date, Phoenix sylvestris that has been in the field for three years.  I'll say it again - it's my favorite palm tree!  I mean, look at the number of leaves in that canopy!