Tell me what trinkets really say ‘Arizona’

Now here’s one for you to think about and then report back to me:

I’ve spent the summer playing host to visitors from Michigan, Wisconsin and Texas. Each brought little house gifts: little jugs of maple syrup from Michigan, a pound of cheese from Wisconsin, a package of smoked bratwursts from the folks in Milwaukee and a jar of salsa from Texas. My problem is that I will soon be visiting them and would like to bring them something in the $5 to $10 range that was made in Arizona. Little cactuses are just too touristy. I would like something useful that would be appreciated. Do you or your readers have any ideas?

What do you think? The useful part might make it tough.

I would blatantly and unashamedly suggest one of my books, but that’s more than $10.

I don’t know how much they cost, but a scorpion or tarantula entombed in plastic is certainly Arizona-ish and might be useful as a paperweight.

There’s always cactus jelly or cactus candy.

I’d suggest salsa, but that’s what this guy got from his Texas visitors. Maybe he could give everybody else salsa and give the Texas people the cactus jelly. Maybe some really good Arizona-made tamales. That’s not a bad idea. Bola ties?

I’m sure you people have some other ideas. You always do. Remember, it should cost around $10 or less and should say “Arizona” or maybe even “Arizona!!”

Meanwhile, we’ll move on to this.

Can you tell us how tall palm trees grow? How much they grow per year?

This sounds like a newcomer question to me.

Anyway, there are lots of different kinds of palms, but I’m guessing this guy is asking about the really tall ones.

Date palms can reach 100 feet.

Did you know the Arizona State University Arboretum has the largest date-palm collection of any public garden in the country?

Queen palms are pretty tall. They grow about 2 or 3 feet feet a year and can reach 50 to 60 feet or more.

It’s pretty much the same for fan palms, but I don’t think they grow quite as quickly as queen palms do.

The trouble with fan palms is that they drop those messy little black berries.

Native Americans used to use them in gourd rattles, but unless you need a gourd rattle I can’t see the berries are worth much.

Reach Thompson at clay.thompson@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8612.

*Clay Thompson writes for The Arizona Republic. You can read his columns by going to www.azcentral.com