Palm Trees of Vancouver!

[Metro-One]

Why the heck not.

I have the same thread in the "your city photos" section, but I thought we should have one in the Vancouver section as well. (I don't think I have done this before here, if I have indeed started the exact same thread years ago in this section, I apologize!)

So it is no surprise that I love gardening and I especially love windmill palms and other exotics. I think that in the right locations in and around the South Coast they look great and add a nice flare to the city.

As some of you may already know I was in Vancouver this summer and had to take some pictures of the local palm trees in and around Vancouver

Enjoy!

First stop is the classic spot, English Bay.

Blue Sky Vancouver by Ian, on Flickr

English Bay Palm Trees by Ian, on Flickr

English Bay Summer by Ian, on Flickr

Davie Street Palms by Ian, on Flickr

My personal favorite of the set. I love this small pocket park.

Vancouver Palm Trees by Ian, on Flickr

Summer Palms, Vancouver by Ian, on Flickr

Denman Palms by Ian, on Flickr

A nice pair along Denman outside of a coffee shop.

Sitting Under Palms by Ian, on Flickr

A few in North Vancouver near the Sea Bus.

North Shore Palms by Ian, on Flickr

Walking Between Palms by Ian, on Flickr

Last but not least these two on King Edward Street are of decent size.

Vancouver Palm Trees by Ian, on Flickr

I also recently learned of a local Vancouverite who is selling palms locally (and who also plans on donating some to the city in the future for other parks). Here is the website if interested: http://www.paradisepalms.ca/

Would be great to add some palms to a few more local parks / along the seawall.

Please feel free to add your own pictures of palms and other exotics in and around Metro-Vancouver! (and discuss as well)

[giallo]

I used to not really like the windmill palms around Vancouver (but didn't mind them on the island for whatever reason), but now that many of them have matured, and grown to a decent height, I've warmed up to them. There are so many in the metro area now that they feel more natural to the environment than before.

Great pics, Metro.

[Metro-One]

Thanks!

Yeah, they have matured a lot in size over the last decade since I first really started taking note of them.

Also I feel that the landscaping around them has also matured helping them blend into the scenery better (and making them feel more natural to the city's aesthetics).

I also think it may be from your time in China, as I am guessing Shanghai is similar to where I am in Japan as in that they still get a "winter" (where I live the temps from Dec to April are near identical to the south coast of BC) and windmill palms are planted everywhere.

[giallo]

^ Yeah, that might have helped. Windmills are everywhere here.

Shanghai can grow 5 or 6 different palms, actually. I probably would have been impressed by the different flora here had I not moved from Southern Taiwan where you can grow pretty much anything.

[Metro-One]

There are 3 varieties of palms / palm-like plants I have seen around here. 2 of them I have seen on the south coast of BC, the third is a really neat fern-like tree. Windmill is by far the most common though and they usually grow to a similar size as we are now seeing in Vancouver.

[Vin]

There are also types of banana palms grown around here: some darker reddish and some just dark green, although they never really bear any fruit.

[Metro-One]

Yeah, I have always wondered about the red tinged banana plants. They don’t seem to grow as tall as the more common bright green variety. Maybe someone here knows more about the variatioans in ornantal banana species.

[trofirhen]

It would be nice to scout out Pindo Palms, Chilean Wine Palms, and other exotic year-round evergreens that will grow here, even fig trees.

[GeneralLeeTPHLS]

Wow I never heard about palm trees in Vancouver.....great photos in the OP and interesting to learn some botany in this thread!

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by GeneralLeeTPHLS

Wow I never heard about palm trees in Vancouver.....great photos in the OP and interesting to learn some botany in this thread!

Thanks! Yeah, planting windmill palms starting to become popular around 35 or so years ago in the Vancouver area (though I am sure some enthusiasts did so before that, especially in Victoria).

It is also mild enough for most of them to bear fruit (little blueberry looking seeds in grape like bunches) with yellow flowers. An old neighbor of mine grew many saplings from the seeds that his oldest palm produced (you have to pick them quick though because the birds like them).

As for other varieties, I know that a few Washingtonia Palms are grown in Victoria / Oak Bay.

As for figs, many people already grow them in their yards (my childhood house in Maple Ridge had fog trees producing delicious fruit in August) but I rarely see them on public lands (if ever).

Then there is the monkey tail tree, another favorite of mine. Some big ones in New Westminster. (Oddly enough I rarely see them planted here in Japan despite having the suitable climate).

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Thanks! Yeah, planting windmill palms starting to become popular around 35 or so years ago in the Vancouver area (though I am sure some enthusiasts did so before that, especially in Victoria).

Then there is the monkey tail tree, another favorite of mine. Some big ones in New Westminster. (Oddly enough I rarely see them planted here in Japan despite having the suitable climate).

New Westminster has a surprising number of mature palm trees. Along the older section of the Quay, Downtown residential areas and parking lots, throughout the Queens Park neighborhood, Uptown and in the yards of many nonchalant old apartment buildings.





https://palmtreesofnewwest.wordpress.com/

New West also has some of the largest Monkey Puzzle trees I have ever seen. They had one of the first in BC on the former St. Mary's hospital site that was brought up to New Westminster in 1887 before construction of the Panama canal. It was still alive until a long dry summer almost 10 years ago. Another interesting note, if you google where monkey puzzle trees are native in a tiny area of South America, they are threatened and grow quite scraggly but you can see they grow much better here. If we planted some closer together they might actually reproduce.

Dead Monkey puzzle tree RIP 1887-2010, that Brazilian just couldn't take the Canadian heat I guess...
https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.20747...2!8i6656?dcr=0

[SpongeG]

they have cool black walnut trees in duncan area, I don't think i've seen them over here

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

There are 3 varieties of palms / palm-like plants I have seen around here. 2 of them I have seen on the south coast of BC, the third is a really neat fern-like tree. Windmill is by far the most common though and they usually grow to a similar size as we are now seeing in Vancouver.

Maybe the fern-like trees are the ones in the first pic below?



1128 Alberni Street, Jan.1 '18, my pic



Dundarave Beach, West Vancouver, Jan.6 '18, my pic



Yukon Street at Broadway, Jan.4 '18, my pic

[SpongeG]

outside can tire on broadway, they have some potted ones



outside where escada is

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Maybe the fern-like trees are the ones in the first pic below?



1128 Alberni Street, Jan.1 '18, my pic

They look similar to that (especially the base) but the fronds are shorter. I will take a picture of a few sometime this week if I can find a decent example (most of them, similar to banana trees, have all of their foliage taken off when winter starts).

And just for fun, a couple more palm pics from this summer.

The palms along the appropriately named Beach Avenue.

Beach Avenue Ride by Ian, on Flickr

And Cactus Club. Will be nice when these palms mature a bit more in 5 or so years.

Summer at the Cactus Club by Ian, on Flickr

[mcminsen]

At the corner of Richards and Davie Streets. I wonder if these are baby Windmill Palms.



Jan.9 '18, my pic

[Metro-One]

They are indeed.

They also will need larger planters (or just be permanently planted in the ground) in a couple years...

Your pic of the Windmill Palm in the weather thread on the Seawall is a good one, loaded with seeds!

[trofirhen]

Our friend the Windmill palm has firmly established itself in Vancouver, and is no longer a rarity. Hooray. (if you like palm trees)
*
Another palm, the pindo palm, is only slightly less cold-tolerant than the windmill palm, and are altogether different in appearance with feathery pinnate leaves. Worth a try?

click and see the Pindo palms (they grow in Seattle, probably here, too)
http://www.florida-palm-trees.com/im...palm-tree6.jpg

https://www.google.fr/url?sa=i&rct=j...15776232289806

https://www.google.fr/url?sa=i&rct=j...15776232289806

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

They are indeed.

They also will need larger planters (or just be permanently planted in the ground) in a couple years...

Your pic of the Windmill Palm in the weather thread on the Seawall is a good one, loaded with seeds!

I've always wondered, do these trees get a trim once in a while or are they left to naturally shed their dead foliage?



False Creek Seawall near Yaletown, Jan.10 '18, my pic

[240glt]

Damn that’s nice.

As I sit here in my downtown Edmonton office overlooking the frozen tundra wasteland, I’m almost tempted to pick up a few tix and fly out this weekend