THE GARDEN BOOK OF CALIFORNIA 



Phoenix roebelenii are particularly dainty specimens of this 

 large family. 



In considering the planting of palms one should always 

 consult a competent landscape gardener, as too frequently 

 they outgrow their surroundings. The date-palm does not 

 reach maturity until it is seventy-five years or more of age, 

 but it takes at least ten years to get a plant large enough to 

 be a feature in the grounds. On the other hand, Phoenix 

 canadensis is so rapid a grower that in many cases in the 

 Southern cities, a few years has made it necessary to remove 

 from a fifty-foot lot a single Phoenix canadensis because it 

 overwhelms the entire space. 



Graceful palms which appeal to the keenest artistic sense 

 are found in the seaforthias and the cocos. The best-known 

 representatives are Cocos plumosa and Seaforthia elegans, 

 but other members of this branch of the family will come to 

 be equally valuable. In a private collection at Montecito, 

 near Santa Barbara, there are a very large number of rare 

 cocos, many of which have not yet fruited, but are known by 

 variety names more or less reliable. Occasionally one finds 

 these varieties in nursery stock, and any one of the list is 

 extremely valuable from a decorative point of view. Most 

 of the cocos are found in Southern Brazil and in the great 

 basin of the River Platte, and are bound to be introduced 

 to our gardens in time because of their exceeding beauty. 

 The Kentias are also feathery-leaved palms, as are the 

 chamaedoreas which, although they come to us from Mexico 

 and Central America and are easily available, are as yet 



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