The plant corral.

Very nice display. I see the King Palm and Howea fronds. :>)

Thanks Andy. The Howea was planted in '92. The King palms around 7 or 8 years ago..and they have just about caught up.
Hard to beat a Howea though. Not many around here either!

How many feet of trunk does the Howea have?

About..8?..The trunk is in shade..so very green with widely spaced rings. Then about 5 ' of fiberous stem..then the fronds of 8'?..overall pushing 25'. The peak of my house is 20'

Very impressive. What was the size when you planted the Howea?

I know of some in San Jose that lived through the freeze of 1990 (with no damage)...they were planted in very protected spots I haven't seen them lately, though.

It was the usual 3 in a pot from HD. One died after separating,the other I kept potted too long on the porch..its now healthy but a little stunted planted in the front yard.
The big one was in a good spot for years...but as it grew over the roof..that super cold roof air in winter has frazzled a few fronds- fronds away from the roof (that you cant see here) are fine. The one in the front yard has a perfect set of fronds..and more of them!

That's great! Howea can grow fast if given lots of water and fertilizer. My tallest one is around 16' tall it only has a few feet of trunk. It's been in the ground for 8 or 9 years from a small two gallon plant. It grow so fast because it's located by a downspout.

lol,yeah I've read palmbob say Howea in ten years can make a great canopy for slow palms in soucal. Well,here you can double that time span. It seems like most large Howea's in the bay area were planted as boxed from soucal. Exceptions would be those ancient ones you see outside San Francisco Victorian homes towering far over the local neighborhood..and mine!..not so towering yet.

It's amazing how quickly Howea can grow if the soil is continually wet.

There's a beautiful tree off the 101 freeway south of San Francisco. It's on a hill and had been there for at least 40 years. It wasn't even fazed by the 1990 freeze. Last time I saw that tree was probably about 5 years ago. The last time I went to the house and saw the tree was probably about 20 years ago. There used to be a giant 30' tall Howea belmoreana around Golden Gate Park; however, it sadly died during the 1990 Freeze. There's many H. fosteriana in San Francisco, though.

Have you seen the large Howeas by the old veteran's building (close to the Oakland Palmetum) ? Those trees are protected and are estimated to be more than 55 years old. They weren't even slightly touched by the 1990 Freeze.

Never heard of the Vets Howeas. Thanks..I will remember next visit to the palmetum. One in San Francisco-it might be one the ones you mention...is near Flora Grub nursery. On a hill,Victorian...as picturesque and appropriate as can be.

I just remembered the Howea trees at the Vet Building were estimated to be 55 year old way back in the 1990's. So they must be around 75 or older now. If they fixed that old, decrepit building and cleaned the area up a bit. The palms would look spectacular. The trees are kind of hidden as there's many large trees around the building. This is probably why they were not fazed by the 1990 Freeze. I'm guessing they were not damaged by the 1972 Freeze, either.