The big difference is the weather...
I don't think many Virginians would anticipate orchids blooming year 'round in the front garden.
We rarely lose a coconut tree but when we do it's most often done in by an unseen killer that burrows into the heart of the tree from below. There's not much we can do to save the tree and this is what we find when we take it down. In our experience this has happened only to fairly young trees.