Washingtonia robusta

One of the most dramatic palms you can plant. Its tall, slender trunk draws the eye skyward to a dense crown of fan-like fronds, instantly creating that tropical, seaside feeling we love in our gardens. A single row along a driveway is all it takes to transform an entry.

Washingtonia robusta, the Mexican fan palm, is a fast-growing slender palm with a single tall slim trunk topped by a relatively small crown of fan-shaped leaves on long thin petioles. It is the most common boulevard palm of Mediterranean cities — Barcelona, Marseille, Athens, Tel Aviv — providing the iconic 'palm tree skyline' silhouette. Growth is rapid, 30–60 cm of trunk per year, with mature trees reaching 25–30 m. Cream flower clusters appear in spring, followed by small black dates that birds disperse readily. Hardy to -6°C, drought-tolerant once established, salt-tolerant, the palm thrives in poor soils and reflected heat from paving.

Mexican fan palm is a landscape-scale plant best suited to large gardens, civic spaces, and Mediterranean coastal compositions. Plant in regular rows along driveways and boulevards for a strong rhythmic effect, in pairs flanking grand entrances, in groups of 3 or 5 on lawns to break the horizontal of the sky, or as solitary skyline punctuation. The slim trunk takes up minimal ground space, making it suitable even for narrow planting strips. Pair with the cascading green of Schinus molle, the silver-grey of Olea europaea, the magenta of Bougainvillea climbing the trunk, and underplant with Lantana, Bulbine, Plumbago, and dwarf Bougainvillea. Like Phoenix, susceptible to red palm weevil — monitor and treat preventatively.