Play with your plants (a love note to my palms)

This year, while he was feeling plant murderous, he was able to channel some of that energy towards one of our palm trees, the Trachycarpus fortunei. It had an extremely bountiful fruiting year and the weight of the fruit clusters was weighing down several of the fronds, the whole thing needed a trim. A few Magnolia laevifolia branches and passiflora vines came out as well. The resulting pile of plant parts on the patio was massive. This is just a portion of it.
The poor tree looks naked now, at least to my eye. 
Of course by next spring some of the other fronds will have relaxed and not be so upright in form.
We left a little fruit in place. I'm not sure if any critters eat it, but I like the way it looks.
Stepping back a bit you can see another of my palms on the left, a Trachycarpus wagnerianus that has not yet matured to a blooming size. To the right of my Trachycarpus fortunei you can see the neighbor's trachycarpus peeking up in the distance. It's because of the proximity of this plant that I've got all the fruit on my tree. Trachycarpus fortunei are dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate trees. 

A close-up shot of the Trachycarpus wagnerianus. I like the smaller fronds this plant has.
And here's my third palm, another wagnerianus.

I do have a fourth palm, a different species, Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Needle Palm). It's a slow grower and is still hidden at the base of the first tree, the Trachycarpus fortunei.
Or as I'm calling her now, momma. 
Because boy has she got babies at her feet...
I stopped counting at a dozen.
I've seen one or two random seedlings before, but they usually die off from lack of sun and/or water.
Not this year! I think it's because last spring I redid the area in front of the palm (here), digging around in the soil, giving it all more light and of course being sure to water in the new plants well. So, we have babies!
Now I'm getting off subject but since I was back against the neighbor's garage I snapped this shot of my Rhododendron sinogrande, this is her best side.
I have a couple baby rhododendron in there too, and they've put on a lot of growth this year. These are plants I purchased in small 4" pots, not babies of my larger plant.
Okay, circling back around to the pile of cuttings on the patio and the reason for this post in the first place!
I've been working things into the weekly yard waste bin as space allows, and was left with a few palm fronds and fruiting branches that are still to heavy for the bin, they need to dry up a bit first. 
So I figured, why not play with my palms and get a little artistic?
This is a variation on my usual mantra to not toss prunings in the bin or compost, but rather to work them into a vase and enjoy them indoors.
In this case, it's patio art! To be enjoyed outdoors. The patio is empty this time of year anyway, it needed a little beautification project...
Play with your plants!

Weather Diary, Dec 27: Hi 50, Low 40/ Precip 0