Canary Palm

The Canary Palm makes a nice center piece in the fruit garden.

The Canary Palm is a wonderful addition for your landscape.  I enjoy the grace and balance it provides in our fruit garden here at El Presidio.  I don't enjoy pruning this beast as the thorns are long and deadly.  I've tripped and fallen into this thing and got a needle in my head or jabbed myself, leg, arm, crotch, and chest, drawing a dark blood from my body.  Between this palm and the Argentine Mesquite, I think I've lost several pints of blood.  This palm reminds me of a pineapple when trimmed up.  It's fast growing topwise but a slow growing palm trunkwise...if that makes sense.  If you want a fast and tall growing palm, this is not the one to plant as it will take years for it to gain any kind of height.  Below is a pic of our severe winter in Tucson. Unfortuneatly, a lot of these palms died around the Oro Valley, Catalina, and Oracle areas.  In Tucson, most of these palms are coming back.  This is a cold sensitive palm, but the extreme freeze really took a toll on many of these plants.

"The Canary Island Date Palm Tree (Phoenix canariensis) are native to the Canary Islands which are located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of northeast Africa. The Cold hardy Canary Island Date Palm Trees are popular landscape items in near warm climates around the world.

The Canary Island Date Palm can grow up to 60' and have:
A thick trunk covered with interesting diamond designs.
Crowns that can grow up to 50 huge arching pinnate leaves that may reach 18' long .
Leaves that are a deep green shading to a yellow stem where the leaflets are replaced by spines.

The Canary Island Date Palm tree is a suckering palm that is usually pruned to have only one trunk. Trimmed in this manner the tree will grow to heights of 100 feet(true but it will take awhile). Leaflets near the base are modified into 3-4 inch spines. The yellow-orange to red fruit, called 'dates', are oblong and about 1.5 inches in length. They consist of a large pointed seed surrounded by sweet sugary flesh. Dates are formed from flowers on 4 foot inflorescences that emerge from among the leaves in spring. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants. Only female plants produce dates and only if a male tree is nearby. Dates are not formed in climates that are too cool. Canary Island Date palm trees have been utilized as a theme generating focal point in landscapes worldwide for decades. Its majesty and substantial presence make the Canary Island Date Palm a powerful choice where you a looking to bring natural maturity to a site. Utilized in rows or as a freestanding centerpiece, there really aren't many locations on site where you cannot use Canary Island Date palm tree successfully. Probably the best adjective that one could use to describe Canariensis is Stunning." End of article.
Source: http://www.sunpalmtrees.com/Cold-Hardy-Palm-Trees-Canary-Island-Date-Palms.htm


Finally, people have asked me about putting in the weepy willowy Queen palm.  My suggestion...don't.  If you live in Phoenix, you'll have better success with this palm because your winters are shorter and not as cold.  Here, the Queen Palm, depending on the winter, will usually die if not properly placed in your landscape.  You need to find a spot where it will be protected from our freezes.  I see homeowners putting them into the ground only a couple years later having to remove them.  It's not worth the stress or worry during the winter.  My suggestion is to forget about this palm.  Until tomorrow....