A great capture! It looks really good full size. I like the contrast of the dark palm leaves against the blue sky. the sun shining through makes a nice accent to the picture.
The effect with the sun through the tree is very nice. I feel that cropping out the ground detracts from the image, especially7 as you have the tops of some lower trees still in the image, which makes me feel like I want to step back and see the whole thing. Of course I appreciate that other building or unsightly objects may have been present to make you take the action you did, but it still leaves the image feeling incomplete.
Mind you, I wish I lived somewhere with palm trees in my back yard!