Palms

People seem to hate palm trees these days. My friends complain about them and now disdain has reached public officials. I knew something was up when the Port's Commission President took time to rip into palms. He wouldn't have mentioned it unless this was also on the Mayor's mind. Everyone is piling on. From a column in last weekend's LA Times:

Two weeks ago, the City Council unanimously passed a motion to limit the planting of palms on city streets and medians. The city's Department of Public Works has declared that the palm that Bandini found so alluring is not a tree at all but a lowly species of grass. City Council President Eric Garcetti's office has proclaimed that the spindly yet exotic plants are "really bad for our city." Paula Daniels, who heads Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's initiative to plant a million trees over the next five years, thinks oaks — whose shade is better for water and air quality — should replace aging palms when they die.

I like em fine but it looks like my project will be planting less of them. That isn't so bad. They are a hassle to find. Palms were so in demand that we got into a bidding war with Vegas. Guess who won?