The Rare and Lovely Brahea clara Palm

The spectacular palm crowning this corner of Flora’s Berkeley garden is a rarity called Brahea clara—the clara palm. It’s a great palm for the Bay Area, from the SF fogbelt to the heat of the East Bay.

This blue-silvery palm tree’s native habitat is Sonora state in Mexico, south of Arizona and hugging the eastern side of the Gulf of California. It’s very similar to its sibling palm from Baja, the Mexican blue palm (Brahea armata), but it grows much faster, doesn’t mind moisture in the air (like fog), and brings a soft rustling signature sound to the garden whenever a breeze kicks up. Even better, it doesn’t grow too tall, staying under 25 feet for decades, especially in cooler locations. It is also cold-hardy, down to about 17 degrees.

Here’s what Flora has to say about planting this signature tree in her home garden:

“My son and I had been shopping for houses in Berkeley for a few months when we first laid eyes on a tiny, one story house with a giant picture window facing the front yard, which was all concrete with a small scruffy lawn. As soon as we moved in, we set to work on the front yard, removing all of the concrete. We soon had a blank slate—and a big picture window gazing right onto the street. Then came the big splurge. We installed a large Brahea clara between the house and the street. The addition of the large palm was a splurge not only because of the cost of the tree, but also because of the cost of the installation which required heavy equipment and half a day of work. When it was done, and before we did any additional work, we had a garden! The tree provided a “ceiling” and immediately created privacy from the street and the neighbor’s windows. It turned the small front yard into a real place. We adore the blue-silvery foliage that rustles in the wind. It is growing quickly, but will be the perfect scale for the small garden as everything grows up around it.”