Ontario weather strikes

We had a downburst yesterday afternoon that took two major branches off the neighbour’s tree, blocking our lane. I was out but the pattern of destruction seemed suspiciously like a minor tornado. Branches ended up all over the place, including opposite to the direction of fall. (Of course they might have just bounced.) And the grass was flattened. A neighbour said that it sounded like a train going by.

Several nearby streets were also blocked. That happened about 4:00 p.m. and when the electricity crews got to it our power was cut for several hours. It came back on about 4:00 a.m.

Cleanup crews are busy. I can hear the wood-chippers out there now.

Sunday palm: Mediterranean Fan Palm

The Mediterranean Fan Palm, Chamaerops humilis, is resistant to wind and drought, and, for a palm tree, to cold. The leaves are arranged in a symmetrical crown up to 3 metres wide and the tree grows only 4 - 5 metres tall. The leaves range from blue-green to grey-green to grey-yellow or yellow-green. Older trees can have several smaller trunks around the main trunk.

Here’s a conversation about growing them as far north as Seattle or Vancouver.

I took this picture at the Fullerton Arboretum in California.

Previous palm: the Everglades Palm

Sunday palm: the Everglades Palm

The Everglades Palm, or Acoelorraphe wrightii, is a member of the Arecaceae family. It is a clump-forming palm that is found in southern Florida, the West Indies, and Central America.

(Photograph taken by me at Fullerton Arboretum)
Previous palm: Palm au naturel
Next palm: Mediterranean Fan Palm

Sunday palm: palm au naturel

During my trip to California in January-February, I visited the Fullerton Arboretum in Orange, CA. I was fascinated by the variety of palm trees in their collection and tried to take pictures of both trees and their identifying labels. I’ve been wondering when and how to publish them and if people would be interested. Today is Palm Sunday so it seems like a good time to start with a Sunday palm.

This is what at least some ordinary palm trees look like without teams of gardners to trim off the dead leaves every so often:

Next palm: Everglades palm