Washingtonia robusta, Mexican fan palm

Washingtonia robusta (about 10 years old) with enflorecence/in bloom. This tree grows to 100' here under ideal conditions, and is the tallest of palms grown in U.S./south Louisiana I am aware of. There are specimens 50 years old growing here, although typically folks replace them often after becoming too tall to maintain easily. The tree grows fast in our rainy climate and wet ground. So if your ground doesn't drain we'll, it is the only palm I know of seldom affected (spot,fungus,rot) by our high humidity and long wet spells.

They require 2 frond removals a year to look best, although once would do, so if you don't like to trim trees it's not a tree for you. Hard freezes have defoliated them a couple times here, but plants fully recover in 1 to 2 years.

I fertilize them only while becoming acclimated to change in location during planting, preferably from a 5 gallon or larger bucket. After rooting to the new location in full sun, they don't need fertilizer here. I feed every tree I have its previous years shedding/leaves/fronds/trimmings. If you take this away, the subsistence/food/exact elements the tree has learned over millenniums to make for itself to survive the coming year, evolution insists it will suffer, as well as the man who wont listen/pay attention to his most natural/humble teacher.

Washingtonia seeds are easily germinated in a Ziploc bag of damp sphagnum moss placed along with a thermometer in a folded up electric blanket set to 98 degrees in winter, and have a high germination/seedling survival rate. They look good planted in 3's.

It is warming up here in the Southern U.S. and the ideal time to plant palm trees, most of which require heat to grow their best.