A beautiful medium-sized palm tree that grows well in Phoenix, Arizona - Indian Date Palm

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One of the reasons I love living in Phoenix is that there are palm trees. I grew up in Minnesota and pictures and movies that showed palm trees just seemed unreal to me, as if it was a fantasy place. When I turned 18 I left Minnesota and moved to Phoenix. There, and Southern California, is where I've been ever since, and hope to be until they carry me away. With palm trees.

The main problem with palm trees is that they're very big. I have a small suburban lot, and full-sized palm trees here would just look like telephone poles in no time. So I haven't planted any full-sized palm trees, just miniatures. And I have one medium-sized palm tree, which is kind of a big miniature. You know, like a jumbo shrimp. It's called an Indian Date Palm (from India) or more specfically a Phoenix rupicola. Sorry 'bout that, but if you want to be sure to get the exact right plant, you gotta speak a little Latin. By the way, the miniature palm trees back there are Phoenix roebellenii.

Most nurseries don't carry Phoenix rupicolas, and you can expect blank looks when you ask for it. The more common palm (and much larger) is a Phoenix dacylifera - a common Date Palm. You see them all over town, and if I had planted that ten years ago, instead of this rupicola, it would be a telephone pole by now. Instead, my rupicola is shorter, and I get to see those beautiful fronds. Don't they look great? This is in my front yard, and the fronds sway in the breeze as if I were in Tahiti.

So ask around. When you find the right place, you won't get a blank look when you say "Phoenix rupicola", you'll get a wise smile. It's a beautiful palm.

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