I Love Palms!

(Or "I HATE PALMS")

Usually people have a definite opinion about palms.  

In 1911 at the Pacific Coast Association of Nurserymen, E.J. Wickson talked about a special palm that he received from John Rock.

"John Rock gave me a palm in 1879, a little palm in a pot, and I planted it in my garden in Berkeley, and that palm is today the handsomest and largest palm in the City of Berkeley—it must be 40 feet high and 30 feet across its branches. I see it every day that I am at home and never pass it without thinking that that palm stands as a monument to the life and service of John Rock in its community. It is stalwart, symmetrical and beautiful and sheds its beauty among all its environments; so Rock stood among the pioneer fruit growers and the more we know of his life and deeds the better we will be able to understand the possibilities of a nurseryman in the community."

If you love palms

Here's how to learn more about them.

• Join the International Palm Society
• Join the Palm Society Northern-California Chapter. Under normal circumstances, they have auctions and field trips.
• Visit the Lakeside Palmetum at Lakeside Gardens in Oakland. Read about this Garden of Exceptional Palms by Jason Dewees.
• Take a tour of palms of some of our more historic areas of Fremont to see some very impressive palms.
• Visit the Gardens at Palmdale across from the Mission.

If you don't like palms

You still might want to learn a little bit about these unique plants. Maybe you can like them a little bit more.