Many years ago and before I started writing my gardening column in response to all the horticultural misinformation that I had been observing in the San Jose Mercury News, I heard some of the most idiotic commentary I have ever heard about palms on the radio. I do not remember what radio station it was broadcast from, but it was likely in San Jose. The commentator was expressing his disapproval of the many mature palms that were being incorporated into public landscapes there at the time. He started by stating that, “There are two kinds of palms . . . ” Well, that certainly got my attention. He continued to say, ” . . . the tall skinny kind and the short fat kind.” Wow, I can not forget a comment like that. I knew that he was referring to Mexican fan palm and Canary Island date palm, which were and probably still are the most common palms in San Jose. Also, they were the two species that were so commonly installed into public landscapes at the time. There was no mention of queen palm, windmill palm, Mediterranean fan palm or California fan palm, all of which also inhabit San Jose. Since then, queen palm and the formerly rare pygmy date palm have become more common than they had been. Hesper palm remains rare. I brought three distinct species of bamboo palm from Los Angeles, and would like to bring a few more of the palms that perform well there, even if they do not perform so well here. I happen to be fond of the few types of king palm. I very much want to procure Bismarck palm like this one. Although still uncommon in Los Angeles, it is not completely rare. No one knows how well it performs here because no one has tried it yet.