Coconut tree in Orange County

[Palmlover]

I was in Newport Beach this evening for dinner and I was near the famous Coconut Palm tree on Pacific Coast Highway. I went for a walk to visit the famous tree. Here are some picture! It is incredible how it can grow in Southern California. If you are growing one in Southern California or in an area where it is not suppose to grow, share your pictures and story!

[Hammer]

[pogobob]

Nice truck!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Yes it's famous for being there but really it's just hanging in there and doesn't look particularly healthy

[Hammer]

Tassy

I've been by it several times in the last several months and it does look a lot better in person. Last October it looked really good. Even in February this year it was pushing new growth.

Not like the tropics, granted.

[Palmlover]

Yes it's famous for being there but really it's just hanging in there and doesn't look particularly healthy

It struggles during winter but looks great in the Summer. We are approaching Summer here.

[Palmlover]

Nice truck!

Thanks!

[PalmatierMeg]

I think it's grown a lot since I last saw a photo.

[Palm crazy]

Slow but steady as she grows. Thanks for the updates!

[Walter John]

Nice truck!

Thanks!

I think Bob meant to say "trunk", nice trunk....you know...on the palm tree.

[Hammer]

Tassy

I've been by it several times in the last several months and it does look a lot better in person. Last October it looked really good. Even in February this year it was pushing new growth.

Not like the tropics, granted.

Apologies for the misspelling Tassie! It was late.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Hammer

[Walter John]

Yes it's famous for being there but really it's just hanging in there and doesn't look particularly healthy

I think Troy the afternoon light in these photos give it an unflattering yellow glow. Maybe. Perhaps. I think.

I think it's grown a lot since I last saw a photo.

Definitely grown more since I first saw this palm paraded on PT. In that time I've lost a Coconut here in the sub tropics so I have a healthy Queenslander respect for the Newport jewel.

[Gonzer]

I'd rather see huge Wedge!

[pogobob]

Nice truck!

Thanks!

I think Bob meant to say "trunk", nice trunk....you know...on the palm tree.

Nope Gonzo my friend, I indeed meant"NICE TRUCK". Coconut palms in California are like penguins in Sumatra

[Gonzer]

Nice truck!

Thanks!

I think Bob meant to say "trunk", nice trunk....you know...on the palm tree.

Nope Gonzo my friend, I indeed meant"NICE TRUCK". Coconut palms in California are like penguins in Sumatra

Bob, twasn't me said that amigo. Trunk, truck, whatever, if I'm in Newport I'd rather skim the Dirty ol' Wedge.

[Takil-Explorer]

Pinguins on Sumatra, no, but on the Galapagos Island you get one pinguin. And coconut palms offcourse as its on the equator. They are planted there near some towns.

And you get pinguins also in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Where they also grow some palms.

Alexander

[Zeeth]

Hard to believe it's been there since 1984. It looks like it's grown quite a bit recently though. I'm guessing winters aren't kind to it, as it looks pretty beat up

[pogobob]

Pinguins on Sumatra, no, but on the Galapagos Island you get one pinguin. And coconut palms offcourse as its on the equator. They are planted there near some towns.

And you get pinguins also in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Where they also grow some palms.

Alexander

Potfurrrdoma!

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

It has doubled in size since I visited and photographed it in 2004.

BTW ... it is located at... 2400 West Coast Hwy, Newport Beach, CA

Jeff

[kylecawazafla]

I think it's a trooper! I personally love the palm!

[sarasota alex]

Del Mar Coconut grown by Steve (Urban Rainforest). Picture was taken this February.

My understanding is that these two Coconut palms (Newport Beach and Del Mar) are the only two anywhere in California that have survived outside for over a decade.

[Jastin]

What about Mark in Oceanside? He has a good sized one. I personally wouldn't want one, so many others that will do better in Cali

[Palmlover]

What about Mark in Oceanside? He has a good sized one. I personally wouldn't want one, so many others that will do better in Cali

I don't think Mark's is that old compared to these ones. Mark's has been in the grown for only a few years.

[Mandrew968]

Why plant a coconut if that's the best it will look? Coconuts grow well here, but you won't find one, in the ground, at my place--they're just nothing special...

[paulgila]

washies & CIDPs are nothing special to us here in socal but some folks like FM kris (from india) go nuts over em,proving

the old addage that "the palm is always greener on the other side."

[Gonzer]

I was over at Mark's last week and his coocooforcoconut looks kinda thrashed from Winter's hand. We discussed the merits of trying to grow one and the only one we could think of was just the sheer novelty of trying.

[monkeyranch]

What other locations have they persisted for a few years and then maybe perished? Seems like they might find that no chill/accumulated heat situation in Chula Vista, Point Loma, Coronado, downtown, or I.B. Gotta be close to ocean/bay

with the right combination of architectural space, concrete walls, asphalt, large buildings, courtyard, etc. for accumulated heat. I think the urban heat island effect would be greater in the city than Newport Beach. Or maybe in

raised concrete planters (I thinks cool soil temp is a big factor), along southwest facing large wall of mall surrounded by a few acres of heat accruing asphalt?

[monkeyranch]

Of course avoid the worst flat, bottom lands and canyon routes where cool air pools such as the Tijuana, Sweetwater, and Otay rivers. I think I remember a palmtalk member from

Tijuana noting coconuts in the southern edge of his city towards Rosarito. Not all that far from south Diego.

[paulgila]

i have never heard that or seen any cocos there & ive been to rosarita many times.

[monkeyranch]

i have never heard that or seen any cocos there & ive been to rosarita many times.

I have not seen them myself but working with anecdote here. Cristóbal from Tijuana has much enthusiasm for the coconut attempt. Here are previous discussions: One Two Three Four Five I think his observations on cool, damp soil are important. Also noted was the lower amount of winter rain moving south from San Diego. Also mentioned planting with as close to trunking size as possible. I wonder if he ever obtained coconuts from cool highland Puebla? I know this topic has been tortured plenty already but, well.......

[paulgila]

i just dont think its possible that close to SD other than the odd "expiriment." farther down in baja california you see them,i have wondered where exactly they start to occur.

[Gonzer]

i have never heard that or seen any cocos there & ive been to rosarita many times.

They're there Paul, they hide Bigfoot's cave.

[sarasota alex]

I love Coconut palms. Have a young one in my backyard. If I lived in SoCal I would be trying to grow one no doubt about it. I can see how some may find it ordinary, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful. Especially the way they look deep in the tropics, like the coastal Costa Rica for example.

What I think is also important is the anthropological significance of this palm. Cocos nucifera is second only to Phoenix dactylifera in terms of historical contribution to human civilization.

[monkeyranch]

Being five more degrees north latitude, not only can I not grow a coconut but I can't even fool myself into believing I could try to grow one. ? ? I can only dream of watching one yellow and

slowly perish over a couple of years. Here dead-November. So I have to live the disaster vicariously through ya'll down theyr. Ranchers say for the warmest home site on your land, build where the cows sleep

at night in the winter. Does anyone have a few hundred cows we can set loose in San Diego to find this holy grail coconut patch??

[Cristóbal]

New fotos i taked of this palm in the last week in my trip to LA for 3 days.

What I see interesting about this cocos is the plants by the trunk covering the ground. The sun cant heat the ground with these plants. My cocos in Tijuana is in all sand and no plants, I think it is growing more faster than this cocos. May be if they take away the plants it can grow more faster.

Also the cement in the front is white. Not much heat from this.

Edited June 24, 2012 by Cristóbal