Plant Finder

Other Names:  Blue Hesper Palm, Blue Fan Palm

Description:

A majestic palm that is native to Baja California, Mexico; attractive appearance especially when young; persistent leaves should be trimmed away; it can survive mild freezing temps; a wonderful addition to the tropical landscape

Ornamental Features

Mexican Blue Palm is draped in stunning clusters of chartreuse flowers with yellow overtones hanging below the branches from late winter to early spring. It has attractive grayish green foliage with hints of powder blue. The large fan-shaped palmate leaves are highly ornamental and remain grayish green throughout the winter. The gold fruits are held in abundance in spectacular clusters from early to mid summer. The fruit can be messy if allowed to drop on the lawn or walkways, and may require occasional clean-up. The rough dark brown bark is extremely showy and adds significant winter interest.

Landscape Attributes

Mexican Blue Palm is an open evergreen tree with a strong central leader and a towering form, with a high canopy of foliage concentrated at the top of the plant. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and usually looks its best without pruning, although it will tolerate pruning. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Mexican Blue Palm is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Shade
• Hedges/Screening

Planting & Growing

Mexican Blue Palm will grow to be about 50 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 feet. It has a high canopy with a typical clearance of 6 feet from the ground, and should not be planted underneath power lines. As it matures, the lower branches of this tree can be strategically removed to create a high enough canopy to support unobstructed human traffic underneath. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live to a ripe old age of 150 years or more; think of this as a heritage tree for future generations!

This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have rich, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America.