In the case of potential clients who purchased a Craftsman-style house with a “tropical” landscape with dozens of palms, she suggested removing some. San Diego garden designer Nan Sterman, host of “A Growing Passion” on KPBS television, said she doesn’t use palms in new landscapes, unless homeowners insist, or where existing palms can be incorporated in her plans. Much as we love them, though, we did not include any new palms when our garden got a major makeover. They are stunning and although somewhat messy, we think their drought tolerance and low cost of maintenance make them keepers. Our 1970s house in Carlsbad came with three mature queens. (Courtesy of the La Jolla Historical Society)Īlmost every San Diegan has a story about palm trees. ‘Palms!,’ I exclaimed, thinking to drag her out the door to see this glorious sight, but she, inured to their presence, simply shrugged and said, ‘What’s the big deal?’” It was late at night when we arrived and as we waited for her father to pick us up I stepped outside and saw the palms there in all their alien glory. “I had never been west of the Hudson nor south of Long Island and I flew with my girlfriend to visit her parents in Arizona. “I was in my early 20s before I saw one and it was the immediate and apparent symbol for me of southern climes,” he told me via email. Boyle grew up in Peekskill, N.Y., and arrived in the Southwest as a young writer. Climate change and other forces at play in our state have shaped his apocalyptic fiction for decades. Boyle’s new novel “Blue Skies” has a cover that pictures a windswept palm surrounded by flames. His palm triptych was acquired by the Cheech Museum in Riverside, and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego owns a couple.Ĭalifornia writer T.C. They were showcased at an exhibit at Quint Gallery in La Jolla earlier this year. Vásquez’ palm paintings depict flaming palms against broody skies. “I think it’s a tragic story, them not being feasible for the future.” “The historical perspective pulled me in and I gradually went from someone who kind of despised palm trees to really being almost in love with them,” Vásquez said. He intertwines botany with history, Hollywood, politics, tourism and urban development. I had no idea about the history of palm trees or their role in urban planning.”Īs Vásquez began to consider palms as his subject matter, he read Jared Farmer’s book “Trees in Paradise,” an authoritative account of trees that define California, from palms, eucalyptus and citrus in Southern California, to redwoods and sequoias in Northern California. My first reaction was emotional and intuitive, not intellectual in any way. “They are so ubiquitous they become familiar. “You don’t really notice some things in the environment until something goes wrong and then they stand out,” said Vásquez, a Southern California native. News photos of flaming palms in Santa Barbara captured the imagination of San Diego artist Perry Vásquez. As climate change accelerates, temperatures rise, and droughts are frequent, wildfires have torched countless Southern California palms. David Hockney painted them next to swimming pools and stark modern houses.Īrtists seem drawn to the darker side of palms. You know them from films set in California or exotic, tropical foreign locales. While the future of palms in our region is up in the air, their ongoing resonance in art is undeniable. Tens of thousands more palms can be found in commercial and residential landscapes. Today, around 50,000 palms - dozens of species - are among San Diego’s 250,000-plus street trees. Serra may or may not have actually planted the tree, but the event launched a proliferation. Legend has it that Father Junipero Serra planted California’s first new palm, a date palm, in 1769, in what is now Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. California live oak and pines including Torrey, firs and cedars, are among the handful of original arboreal residents.Įxcept for the desert fan palm (not to be confused with Mexican fan palms that line our streets), no palm trees are San Diego natives. As anyone who has seen old photos of San Diego knows, our native landscape is generally low and scrubby.
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