The Darold Petty Garden...

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was the setting for the start of the first meeting of the year for the Northern California Palm Society. From left to right: Ceroxylon parvifrons, Trachycarpus wagnerianus and Parajubaea cocoides.

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...and don't buy all that baloney about the weather in San Francisco....today was 75 F and gorgeous! Coit Tower.

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Geonoma undata.

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Ceroxylon parvifrons.

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Dypsis baronii.

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Around to the back yard...these Rhopolostylus sapida are huge!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

More - More

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It is lush and green everywhere you look. This Cyathia medullaris, the black tree fern from to the lowland forest of the north island in New Zealand is framed in front and back by Howea's and Rhopolostylus.

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This Prichardia minor, native to the highlands of Hawaii's island of Kauai, thrives in San Francisco! It has opened two leaves since I last saw it this past summer.

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Prichardia minor.

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I need some help here Darold...

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...more help please...

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Our next stop was a few blocks away at the garden of Dave Childers. This is Leppidorachis mooreana.

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Behind it is a beautiful Chamaeadora woodsonianna.

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Brahea decumbens. This nice plant had been growing in a pot on his back porch for many years, and he has recently planted it out in his front yard.

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A perfectly grown Lydocaryium wedellianum.

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Our next stop was Flora Grubb Nursery. Member Jason Dewees led a tour which was followed by a meeting led by our NCPS President Richard Quiroz.

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This Nursery has an immaculate offering of finely grown rare plants from all corners of the world. Butyagrus in 24 inch box.

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The day ended with an auction led by Darold Petty.

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This was a great all around day of garden excellence. If you are anywhere near the area, don't miss our next meeting at the incredible garden of Richard Josephson in sunny Santa Cruz on June 13. See the announcement at the Northern California Palm Society's website.

http://www.palmsnc.org/pages/events.php

[peachy]

Our next stop was Flora Grubb Nursery. Member Jason Dewees led a tour which was followed by a meeting led by our NCPS President Richard Quiroz.

Gimme gimme gimme Remember I have experience from the boxing day sales ....step aside or lose a limb.

Peachy

[Darold Petty]

Thanks for posting these great photos, Glenn.

Post # 11 shows Prestoea acuminata, I collected the seed in Ecuador in 1996.

Post # 12 is the rare variant of Laccospadix, clustering with very narrow,long leaflets. If anyone in SoCal has a plant of this form for possible sale, please PM me, I am very keen to obtain a second plant of this form. I purchased this plant in the San Diego area in 1983, so there must be some siblings around. Thanks!

[BS Man about Palms]

Incredible Darold!!

Your place reminds me of Pogobob's place. Small lot size, but everything there is a specimen to be enjoyed!! Awesome!!

[daxin]

Here are some of my photos from this wonderful tour yesterday. As a garden designer who is quite new to palms, I probably took more non-palm photos than the rest of the people on tour. But palms are the stars of these gardens so they show up everywhere.

1. Close-up of everyone's favorite Geonoma undata

2. New fronds of Sadleria cyatheoides in front yard

3. Wall plaque just before entering the backyard garden. Got to stick a few bamboos & bananas in there.

4. Big Rhododendron for color. I think this is why Darold's garden is so good. It is not just palms.

5. What a jungle!

[daxin]

6. Inside Darold's large greenhouse, I spotted my feeble contributions (two plants in the middle) through trades with Darold

7. Fansy LED grow light reminded me of lobby entries in Vegas

8. Cozy sitting area in GH. The bifid palm in the middle is a Chamaedorea stolonifera

9. Red new leaf on a very special Laccospadix australasica inside the GH. Darold bought it from Jerry Andersen not long ago.

10. Beautiful variegated New Zealand Laurel (Corynocarpus laevigata 'Variegata') next to a beefy Ceroxylon. Darold said that he will carve a big Easter Island Head sculpture and feature that with the red Laccospadix here. I hope this New Zealand Laurel can still stay.

11. An unique compact Chamaerops humilis was demoted to the garage together with a bunch of other palms to make room for the tour.

12. Succulents corner for Darold's Wife

[daxin]

13. Mr. Dave Childer's Garden, which is very close to Darold's garden. They are good friends and they exchange plants frequently

14. But they also try different things. Dave's garden is sunnier and thus has more heat loving species. This is his favorite Lytocaryum weddelianum

15. Crownshaft and flower spikes of a Chamaedorea linearis in the backyard. Dave replaced his wood fence with chain link fence so that cold air can drain away downslope. He usually gets no frost at all.

16. Palm trunk sections at Flora Grubb Nursery

17. There is always something new at Flora Grubb. This one here is Retama monosperma (used to be Genista)

18. Jason (JasonD) gave a little introduction about Flora Grubb Nursery

19. Every city needs a nursery like Flora Grubb.

Edited April 19, 2010 by daxin

[PalmGuyWC]

As Glenn mentioned, yesterday was one of those picture perfect days, and it was warm in San Francisco. Perfect timing for a PS meeting as it was the warmest day of the year in N. Calif. It was in the 80's when I returned to Walnut Creek and it felt hot.

I rode over with Dennis in his big truck where we picked up a 10 year old Butia archeri from Dave Childers. I have 2 smaller B. archeri, so Dennis got the prize for his new palm garden in Concord. I bought the palm, but Dennis is about 2 degrees warmer in the winter than I am, although we only live about 10 minutes apart. It will be used in the future for pollen for new hybrids that Patrick Schafer will be doing. After dropping me off, Dennis drove straight home and planted the palm. He has lots of sunshine and plenty of room, so the palm should do well there. The palm is a little clorotic and needs some TLC, but we think it will take off with the summer heat in the East Bay. Patrick advised him to drench it with fish emulsion to give it kick start.

Thanks for the nice photos, Glenn.

Dick

[John Case]

Here are my poor photos, compared to the others.....Darrold's backyard/greenhouse

[John Case]

David's garden

[John Case]

Finally, Flora Grubb Garden/Nursery...a place I need to return to.

[Dan OKeeffe]

I missed the meeting for a river rafting trip. What items were included in the auction?

Thanks

[daxin]

I've only been to a few meetings, but this last one seems to have the best selection in its concluding auction. Patrick brought some of his hardy butia hybrids. Glenn had a few nice ones, and Dave Childers donated a bunch of his greenhouse palms. Some of the highlights are Ravenea xerophila, Licuala sarawakensis, Wallichia disticha, Dypsis lanceolata, and Licuala orbicularis. Not sure if it is typical, but Edith had the most number of winning bids. Once she was bidding against a friend of hers who came to the tour with her. Ted Kipping quipped that the ride home might be iffy for the friend, and Edith said something like her friend would have to manage her own transportation if she won against Edith. Fortunately, Edith got her plant and they all went back home safely.

[Dan OKeeffe]

Thanks for the info

[JasonD]

Darold's Sadleria is one of the two most extraordinary specimens of this species (heck, genus!) I've seen in cultivation. I'm not sure I've seen them look better even in their Hawaiian habitat. Along with Pritchardia minor, this is a Hawaiian native that loves San Francisco, and, naturally, Darold grows it best.

I'm not sure the travelogue captured two special palms at Dave Childers's place: Alloschmidia glabrata, from New Caledonia, and Ravenea glauca, from Madagascar. Both are thriving in the fog, the latter in full sun (which was blazing last weekend).

Here are some of my photos from this wonderful tour yesterday. As a garden designer who is quite new to palms, I probably took more non-palm photos than the rest of the people on tour. But palms are the stars of these gardens so they show up everywhere.

1. Close-up of everyone's favorite Geonoma undata

2. New fronds of Sadleria cyatheoides in front yard

3. Wall plaque just before entering the backyard garden. Got to stick a few bamboos & bananas in there.

4. Big Rhododendron for color. I think this is why Darold's garden is so good. It is not just palms.

5. What a jungle!

[daxin]

After rechecking my photos, I do have the following photos from Dave's garden:

1. Alloschmidia glabrata

2. Ravenea glauca to the right and Dypsis baronii on left

3. Pritchardia minor. Dave said that he gave a sibling of this to Darold and both are now doing great.

[BS Man about Palms]

Post all the pix you have, they're great.

[sarasota alex]

Darold was kind enough to give me a tour of his garden back in February. Here are some of the pictures.

Darold's front yard:

Parajubaea cocoides

Chamaerops humils

The crown of Geonoma undata

[sarasota alex]

Hedyscepe canterburyana

[sarasota alex]

I would need some ID help from Darold here

[sarasota alex]

If I remember correctly, Darold told me that he believes that these are Rhopalostylis hybrids