Butia capitata. Nice feather palm. Takes heat and cold. Inexpensive, widely available, moderate growing, medium sized palms. Green or blue green.

I wouldn't recommend a Butia. They don't grow very tall but they need room to spread.
I think a Sago would look nice there.

Thank you for you quick reply - I looked up the Butia and it seems like it has a tons of fruit which would make a mess on my deck if I am not diligent in removing them.

I do have one Sago over on the left side of the picture, so I might do one more up against the brick wall where it will have a least some shade. That's a great suggestion.

Is there a palm which may have similar attributes and grows just a little higher than the Sago? Any suggestions?

sago palm tree

Aren't sago's thorny? If thorns don't bother you what about a roebellini?

There are TONS of species you could grow there, being in a mild coastal climate. I can suggest manilla palms, christmas palms, and other small tropicalesque palms. You should check out the southern california palm society website, or palmtalk.org for more suggestions. There are many collectors that post regularly there and they will definately have lots of suggestions.

Okay I would definitely put some Christmas palms in there...maybe the back left corner. Or how bout a Bismarkia?

One thing you could do for a very quick "tropicalization" is add some banana plants. If you don't want big ones, there are lots of dwarf/superdwarf varieties (dwarf cavendish, dwarf orinoco, little prince, etc...) that don't grow very tall. They are also fairly inexpensive.

Also, with that zone 10 weather you could just decide to make an exception and look at ONE tree trunk!... maybe one of my top three palms:

Royal Palm
Coconut Palm
Bottle Palm

Excellent suggestions- also on the banana plants. I was not thinking of those at all but will try to incooperate them where it's not too windy.

I am printing the palm suggestions out and taking them with me on my next nursery trip, which will be as soon as it warms up in the spring. Again, thank you for you time!

Sandra

Try Jungle Music Nursery in Encinitas. Tito

King palms are perfect. You could even do the more tender Archontophoenix alexandrae. But King palms are 90% as nice and easy to get and grow. Also no matter where you might happen to brush up against a King palm,they dont scratch..no sharp edged fronds or thorns on trunks . People friendly.

If your thinking a banana, go with the Red Ensete, they are beautiful

I fear that some of the suggested spp. may be too tropical for a californian climate ie. Coconut & Christmas palms. I would suggest proven hardy palms live P. roebelini, C. hummilus, T. fortunei, Livistona chinensis, D. decaryi and D. lutescens when starting out in order to avoid disappointment.I have been very impressed with the growth rate and appearance of my Hyophorbe verschaffeltii in this Mediteranean climate and cant reccomend them highly enough. Kings &/or Alexadra palms are nice tall spp. for narrow spaces.

Cycas thouarsii and Zamia furfuracea are good choices for cycads (not too spikey).

The coconut is not suited for CA. Christmas palms are perfectly fine though. I would also like to second the Bottle Palm (Hyophorbe lagenicaulis)suggestion and add the Shaving brush palm (Rhopalostylis sapida), flame thrower palm (Chambeyronia macrocarpa) and the the kentia palm (Howea Forsteriana). I wouldn't go with bananas, they shred too easily in the wind and the tips get dried and whispy in the dry Santa Ana winds. If you like the look, i would go with Strelitzia Nicolai, or Strelitzia Reginae.

Okay I can see what you mean about the Coconut palm not doing well there. I was going by the "Zone 10" info displayed in the original post. I would think a zone 10 should be fine for cocos, but maybe not with the Cali weather...

Howabout C.humilis or C.cerifera?these are medium sized palms that form a small tropical looking clump and won't take over the area they are in,they are fairly clean and neat growing.You can always trim the flower stalks off of what ever palm you decide to grow before they open.

Joey Powell, zone ten does refer to the fact that it is relatively freeze/frost free with the exception of the once-in-a-decade freeze or so, in which case they might get a light frost. The problem with Cal is that the ground temperatures become too cold in the "winter". Air temperatures remain cool and allow the ground to cool as well, and that spells death for a coconut (and other tropicals that don't like cold roots).

Sandra Smith, I would also like to add another palm for you to consider (Howea Belmoriana) Sentry palm. And just be advised that C. Humilis and C. Cerifera are clumping palms and they are somewhat pokey - probably not a good idea near sidewalks, especially where one could rub up against the plant. For a really soft, tropical look, Howea Forsteriana and Archontophoenix Cunninghamia are probably the best options (and they are carried all of the time by the big box stores like the Home Depot and Lowes). Like Titodelaselva said, check out the local nurseries. There are many nurseries that specialize in palms in your area (SoCal). I've bought plants from some of the many nurseries around Santa Paula/Ventura/Oxnard.

Christmas palms )Adonidia are NOT hardy in California at all. There are more coconut palms here(one!) than Christmas palms-0.
The Med palm is a great idea-very low water use,tougher than nails. Just,very slow growing. Good or bad depending on your wants. But like most desert palms not good near traffic.
A palm to impress the neighborhood is the Royal. Not sure how much they run-not cheap. Also have I hear, a bad habit of dropping 40 pound fronds in a breeze. Known to dent car hoods.
Kings sound better all the time....

What about a nice Yucca rostrata? Or a tree Aloe, such as Aloe bainesii, or one of the hybrids, Aloe'Hercules' or Aloe 'Goliath'? They are spectacular, especially in your climate.

Wow! Thank you all for the quick responses. I found some king palms at my local nursery which tend to grow fast out here so I will probably start with a three trunk king and fill in with sago wherever there is space. So many palms out there-so little room!! I would grow them all if I had a bigger yard. I also like the bottle palm suggestions and will stay away from the Royal palm. That thing will get bigger than my pool sounds like. Thanks for all the input.

Paul James (Gardener Guy) did a great bit on cycads for Southern CA. There are many you can grow out there and not just the ubiquitous old Sago Palm (C. revoluta). Cycads make great understory plants for placing under the trunking palms. Look up various Encephalartos, Cycas, etc. Some can be a bit spiney on leaf tips though.