Other places have ridiculous palms too

Bent palms in Mojave, CA. LA Observed photo

In the fall I posted on Facebook this photo of two stooped palms out in Mojave. A desert landscape filled with perfectly adapted yuccas and Joshua trees, and you still need tropical palm trees? C'mon. Again, it's not like they are providing shade or much in the way of civic adornment. I have since encountered a couple of even more ridiculous examples of palm trees located north of Los Angeles.

First, the builders of the new Bay Bridge span in Oakland had to advertise to find palm tree specimens to buy, harvest and plant beside San Francisco Bay (eww). Then Brian Martin sent word from his vacation in St. George, Utah that the controversy du jour there was the fate of palm trees in this winter's record cold temperatures. Turns out that Mexican fan palms don't do real well in the frozen Great Basin. "The damage has been done and it is one of those things that only time will tell,” arborist Mark Hodges told the St. George News. He estimates that 20 to 30 percent of the local palms may have been lost.

(Horrible thought: I wonder if any palm trees have reached Yosemite?)

Not so bad: Christopher and Emma Dunn submit this pair in the In-n-Out Burger parking lot in Moorpark. Half a tribute to The Big W?

Emma Dunn

Utah palms by Joyce Kuzmanic, St. George News