One of the best things about practicing landscape architecture is the daily mandate it gives to observe nature. Today the welcome pattern of a fan palm’s shadow invoked consideration. There’s an implicit reference to tropical afternoons, almost always a wonderful thought capable of transporting the mind to breezy tranquility, past or future.
Unlike amorphous patterns cast by other trees, the fan palm offers a solid, patterned shade imprint, clear in its form. In fact, it’s enough to be used as a component in garden design: the idea, for example, of a tiled patio doubling as a canvas for this fleeting form could be central to a landscape. Or perhaps even better, the pattern is deliberately cast over a deep blue swimming pool, giving an extra layer of visual serenity.
The date palm offers another distinct pattern. In this case it’s more a tropical embrace than welcome mat, with the heavy, down-trending fronds stretching outward to cast a fabric of concentric shade. Have you ever sat under one? It’s as if Robinson Caruso has built you a personal shelter from where you can survey the low latitudes in proper comfort. Never mind the conflicted world outside its realm that offers a mish-mash of shadow and light. In here, beneath the fronds, it’s simple.
There are others. The dragon palms with their tight, spiky edges; the windmill palm with an array of trunks and soft blades; or the queen palm with its dynamic, feathery reach. If you’re like me, you’ll find their shadowy silhouettes as compelling and transcendent as the trees themselves - mai tais optional.
DJ