Eulogy for a coconut palm

TornadoTiki has a good column today about the passing of the coconut palm in our front yard:

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100624/COLUMNISTS0106/6240303/1047/LIFE/This+tree+hugger+misses+hula-dancing+palm+already

une 24, 2010

This tree hugger misses hula-dancing palm already

CHRIS KRIDLER
SPACE COASTING

I'm not sure why "tree hugger" has become such a disdainful term. Yes, it's weird if you're actually dating trees. But given how attached I get to them, in a nonromantic sense, I will happily call myself a tree hugger. Unless, of course, it has prickers.

As one who loves trees and the tropics, I was especially forlorn this week when we declared the coconut palm officially dead. My husband and I found it as a baby, back when we were dating. It was more coconut than tree, an orb lolling on the side of the road in the Florida Keys, with a couple of leaves sticking out of it.

I found a crib for it -- a modest pot on the back patio of my rental at the time -- and helped it grow. By the time we were wed, it had grown a few feet high, and there was only one thing to do: plant it in the ground.

I know we are at the northern extreme of where coconut palms can survive. Still, the local discount stores occasionally put out the toddler trees, poking out of their shells, and lovers of all things tropical find them hard to resist. I understand. When you find a coconut and raise it from a pup, you get kind of sentimental about it.

Ours grew fast, and in the winter of 2009, I worried and fretted about it. I wrapped it in blankets and lights and a roll of insulation. When it survived with minor damage, I was immensely relieved, and last summer, it was beautiful, flowing and waving its arms in every breeze, like a big, green hula dancer.

And then came the real winter. Multiple freezes, of many hours each, were too much for the blankets and lights. I have a snapshot of the palm, still looking lush and green, wrapped in its blanket. By the time we cut it down this week, it was sadly brown, the last frond had fallen, and it smelled of decomposition.

We couldn't quite get the stump out of the ground, despite my husband's valiant efforts, some yanking with the truck and a lot of sweating, so we hired a guy who finished it off. I had a feeling that the ghost of that pretty tree was digging in its feet. It wanted to stay and do one more hula. I wished I had hugged it goodbye.

It appears a few tenacious coconut palms linger on the Space Coast after the horrible winter, especially beachside. I don't see myself ever planting one again. Parting was too painful.

We're putting in a cold-hardy palm this time. It may not do the hula, but it should survive a winter like the one we just had.

Of course, there are always hurricanes.

Contact Kridler at 242-3633 or [email protected].

I can relate. When I first bought my house in 1997, we acquired a few coconuts from my sister-in-law. With many other home improvement projects in-progress, the coconuts sat quietly on a shelf in garage. As the projects were finished things started stacking up on top of the coconuts and eventually a couple were thrown away. When I finally reached a point where the garage needed to be cleaned (1999?) I found a lonely coconut still sitting in same place. To my surprise the coconut had sprouted and started to grow while sitting on the shelf. I placed the nut in pot with some dirt and it continued its growth. It grew like crazy and eventually outgrew the pot. I placed the small tree in the ground in my backyard. It exploded! Now its 10 years later and I am looking at a 40'+ tree. It produces 3 garbage cans FULL of coconuts each summer - each coconut is same size and weight as a bowling ball. The issue I have is that the tree is looming over my house and has become too large for me to trim safely. Every hurricane season I stand at the base of the tree and wonder what will happen if we get hit by a strong storm. Unfortunately its days are numbered, but I feel like the tree is part of the family. Am I euthanizing a family member? I have taken a few coconuts from the tree and placed them in the wood shed with the hopes that the cycle of life will be repeated.

If anyone is interested in coconuts I have tree full and welcome anyone that would like to come and trim some off!

PS. I also have the same dilemma with a Washintonia Palm in my front yard. Started as a seedling and is now almost 50'+. That one will become several tikis so I'm in no hurry to cut it.

Great story - funny and well written :) Sorry for your loss :(

Aw, sorry, but nice story. We lost 2 of our 4 coconut palms this winter, but we'd not had them long enough to form a bond so it was more a time of disappointment than mourning for us. The remaining two have rallied and look pretty good now. I suppose in a few more years I'll feel like they're family members, too. Now, if it had been my foxtail palm that croaked...

~~Diane

Good Story! I had this plant growing next to my carving area... it was just a weed but it had huge leaves that reminded me of a Jurassic tropical isle. The moment it sprouted, I would look at it as I was carving, wondering what it would become. As it got bigger and bigger, I was in love! The giant leaf just put me in the right mood to carve tikis. Then, after 2 years, it was dying, and I had to move anyway. I think the plant knew I was moving on, so it just gave up.

My baby is right behind my mallet.

Thanks for sharing your story!