Pauleen Sullivan's Gardens in Ventura California

[daxin]

I visited Huntington for a seminar on Tuesday and on my way back home I had myself lost in the palm wonderlands of Pauleen Sullivan's home garden plus three of her apartments. Here are some of my photos:

First is her home garden and I think everyone here on PalmTalk has seen this Ceroxylon multiple times, but it is always worth a re-visit IMO.

White ringed trunk. Someone plant an avenue of this please!

Now is this the recently discussed Chambeyronia Houailou?

[daxin]

The world's most famous Dypsis decipiens

[daxin]

Garden View #1

Garden View #2

Full Street View

[daxin]

Tonga Apartment on Sheldon Drive

Northern Half View #1

Northern Half View #2

Chamaedorea fragrans

Edited March 8, 2011 by PALM MOD

[daxin]

Southern Part #1

Big Ficus dammaropsis way back behind the apartments

Never heard of this one: Synechanthus fiberosus

Close up of Synechanthus

[daxin]

Apartment #2 on Baylor Drive. Royal palms and Ceroxylons can grow close together!

This garden is not just a collection of palms, but a well designed space utilizing palms to their full potential

That Pauleen lady is a master of courtyard design

What seeds are these? answer in next post

[daxin]

Mature Jubaeopsis caffra is the answer!

Obviously this rare and hard-to-grow Chamaedorea fragrans is neither for Pauleen

Hedyscepe canterburyana!

[daxin]

Rhopalostylis, Arenga engleri, and an Attalea wannabe Cycas

Another Royal in the back. You really have to explore all corners of Pauleen's gardens. Many surprises await.

Big Royal in front

[daxin]

Apartment #3 on Luna Drive. This one has a "dry land" look

Back courtyard

Coccothrinax

Dypsis baronii

[daxin]

Licuala ramseyi

Guihaia argyrata

Another backyard view

Hedyscepe and FAT Macrozamia with 2' diameter trunk

[daxin]

Palm art. There are several more scattered around the backyard

Finally the crown jewel of this garden. Again you have to explore the very back side to find it.

Looking up the trunk

[floridasun]

WOW AMAZING!!!! the rings on the last pic. i love it.

[daxin]

Now how can one tell C. quindiuense from C. ventricosum?

So clean and elegant!

Ceroxylon quindiuense in back light

That's all folks. I hope you enjoy these gardens as much as I did. For all Californians who live near the coast, let's plant as many Ceroxylons as possible and make those Hawaiians and Floridians envy.

[Chuck B]

That Ceroxolyn is too cool.I imagine that would have to be one of the largest in the US.Love the landscaping on those apartments too!

[realarch]

Thanks for taking the time to post photos of those great gardens. I've seen a few snaps here and there, but nothing as complete.

Those Ceroxylons are beyond belief and yes, they should be planted everywhere in SoCal.

Tim

[GreenIslandPalms]

Daxin,

Very nice photos of your garden visit, thanks for sharing those.

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Very nice photos! I never get tired of seeing her Ceroxylon.

[Zeeth]

It's been said to death, but WOW at that Ceroxylon! What a beauty!

[Shon]

Great photos Daxin. I never tire of Pauleen's. My brother lives in Ventura and every visit I go there. Never been to the apartments though. After seeing your photos gonna do it next month when I go up. Thanks for sharing. Oh yeah I think that is a hookeri not a houilou.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Shon

[Gonzer]

Yowza! Wonder what the 'wait list' is for an apartment. Great shots, thanks.

[freakypalmguy]

Really nice shots Daxin, thank you for taking the time to post them. I wish I could grow Ceroxylon.

[Darold Petty]

Hi Daxin; Thanks so much for posting these excellent photos of Pauleen's palms. I would like to mention two points. Post # 7 of the Jubaeopsis shows 3 mature stems. This may stagger one's imagination, but Pauleen actually cut out several stems just to improve the aesthetic appeal of this plant!

In posts about the Ceroxylon at the Luna apartment, the identification as C. quindiuense is somewhat controversial, (although in a senior moment, I can't remember the issue!)

[LJG]

Always a pleasure to see new pictures of her gardens. Thanks.

[Mark_NoVA]

Wow, I'd seen photos of her place before, but not the apartments as well. I gotta go see all 4 places some trip!

[BS Man about Palms]

Daxin, been to all but the Luna apartments a couple of times. Thanks!!

I think you mentioned the controversy. Some say they are C. ventricosum.

[Really full garden]

It is incredible how some creative landscaping with well cared for palms can transform some rather drab architecture into such magical environments.

[paulgila]

best shots of pauleens palms ever! great job!

[Tyrone]

What unique gardens Pauleen has. Wow. I love the Ceroxylons and the decipy and everything else too.

Best regards

Tyrone

[palmcurry]

daxin,

There are never enough pics of Pauleen's place in Ventura. Do you know what the story is with the Luna apartments? Did Pauleen own them?

[bubba]

Daxin, Knock your socks off shots. Ceroxylon,J. caffra, D.decipiens, Hedy's.Dam right Florida is envious. Why do not you grow more Ceroxylon out there!

[sick1166]

wow nice pics thanks

[Jeff Searle]

Pauleen's garden is just plain...beautiful! A superb collection of some very old specimens. I hope I can one day make a visit there to see it in person.

In post #9, the D. baronii looks too yellow, and looks more like a D. lutescens. Any other opinions from those that have been there?

Great pictures, thanks!

Jeff

[BS Man about Palms]

I suspect you are right Jeff.

[sick1166]

yep

[Walter John]

That white trunk is perfect, so nice. That baronii is most definitely lutescens.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Greenleaf

[peachy]

Ssh don't tell a soul, but for once the Peach is speechless.

[JasonD]

Ceroxylons are difficult to grow even in California. In the right climate they do thrive, no question, but they're difficult as nursery plants for a number of reasons. Put another way, it's difficult to get these plants into gardens.

Commercial viability is limited by climate, speed of growth, and style. The climate where they're viable is coastal, where real-estate is most expensive and least-likely to support nurseries. Howeas are expensive for similar reasons, but at least plentiful. Water (cost of irrigation, mineral content, long-term availability after planting) is always an issue in our Mediterranean climate, too.

The optimal climate for growing many of the Ceroxylon species is the coast from Ventura north to the SF Bay Area, or perhaps to Brookings, Oregon, in the case of highest-altitude species like Ceroxylon parvifrons. Gardeners in the few population centers in that strip north of Santa Barbara are less likely to use palms in their gardens than are folks farther south. Perito (Perry Glenn, SLO Palms) is one of the premier growers in this zone north of SB, with a wealth of thriving Parajubaeas in stock, for example. Population-wise, it's mostly wild or agricultural coastline, with the exception of the Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo-Cambria strip, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco and Bay Area cities.

Ceroxylons are very slow as juveniles, whether in containers or in the ground. They tend to freak out when transplanted, too, so even if specimens were requested by the public, they can't really be field-grown. They stay in rosette phase for at least 10-15 years (e.g., Ceroxylon parvum, the smallest species) and for as long as 25-30 years (e.g., Ceroxylon alpinum at the Oakland Palmetum, still not showing exposed trunk). With palms being viewed often as instant landscaping, waiting 20 years for your $50 5-gallon plant to become a "palm tree" can't compete with a $50, 15-gallon, 8ft queen palm. Seedlings are glacially slow, and thus a lot of rent/water/fertilizer is paid/bought before plants are saleable.

The genus is exceptionally beautiful and well-suited to our coastal climates. The good news is that once they get a trunk, they skyrocket upward, unlike any other palms easily grown in San Francisco. We're doing what we can to get them into people's gardens.

I would love folks to weigh in to the contrary, if only to give me more hope about getting this palm into the mainstream garden palette on the central and northern California coast. Maybe people in Auckland, Bogota & Quito do move specimens, know how to talk up small plants, etc. Goodness knows, if you'd told me in 1987 that Phoenix roebelenii and Syagrus romanzoffiana would, in 2010, be available in every garden center in the Bay Area, I'd have said you're dreaming. I have higher hopes for Parajubaeas.

Daxin, Knock your socks off shots. Ceroxylon,J. caffra, D.decipiens, Hedy's.Dam right Florida is envious. Why do not you grow more Ceroxylon out there!

[daxin]

Hi Jason,

Thank you for your detailed explanation about why Ceroxylons are so rare here in CA. It is too bad that Ms. Ganna Walska was not aware of this amazing genus, otherwise we would for sure have an avenue of them in Lotusland. I bought a packet of C. ventricosum seeds from RPS last December, and I potted up the first germinated seed in March. Nothing has been happening since then but today I found a tiny new leaf that's almost ready to poke out of the soil surface. Hopefully in 20 years I can report on the trunking status of these babies. Not long ago, someone (Palmazon?) was asking about sources of good-sized Ceroxylons for his project in Hayward(!). I am very curious about how that went.