Garden of Dr. Mardi Darian

[BS Man about Palms]

Carolo and Tyronne,

Yes, the Deckenia is outdoors. It's been there multiple years. I think Mardi told me 10 years outside, but I'd have to verify that. And, remember that I took these photos in early Spring, i.e. just after Winter.

And, now more photos:

Dypsis ceracea. There is controversy about the true name of this species. I won't get into that. Rather I will just show it as Mardi grew it and what he called it.

Another view

Closeup of the petiole

Phil

I believe I am lucky enough to have one of these in a 24" box from the same source? (whatever it proves to be)

[Gileno Machado]

Very nice palms.

The white decipiens is really impressive and first Dypsis shown is also amazing...it almost looks like a nikau.

Thanks for the info about the original name of those beautiful Syagrus pseudococos. Barbosa Rodrigues was actually the most famous brazilian naturalist and adventurer (engineer, botanist and taxonomist) who has travelled for 3 years in Amazonia, collecting and classifying mainly orchids and palms. He has later directed the Rio de Janeiro Jardim Botânico from 1890 till his death in 1909 and organized the main collections there. He was the author of the Sertum Palmarum Brasiliensis, an important palm book published in 1903.

Please keep the photos coming. I enjoyed especially the showy Ravenea...

[Phil]

Gileno,

Barbosa Rodriguez is very famous and those in South America know him well. Unfortunately, many others do not know of this remarkable man.

OK, some more photos. When Johannesteijsmannia altifrons first appeared on the commercial market about 20 years ago, it became the immediate heart stopping palm. What a remarkable palm this is. There are not too many palms with huge, simple leaves. This beauty is from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. I was fortunate enough to see it in the wild while I set up the 1998 IPS Biennial in Thailand. It can be grown outdoors in So Cal. Many have seen Louis Hooper's specimen. Mardi's is in his pool room. Here's a few shots.

Johannesteijsmannia altifrons

In the same pool room, Mardi has a Pelagodoxa henryana. He told me a few days ago that it appeared to be setting fruit.

A closer picture of the Pelagodoxa

Phil

[Phil]

Another Ravenea for those who asked.

Ravenea species "giant" is the name given to a Ravenea with extremely long leaves. Some of you may have picked one up at my nursery or another nursery recently. Of course, no one knows if this is same plant that we'll see in Mardi's garden below. It is situated in an area of his garden where it get's overhead light, but filtered light otherwise. I estimated the leaves to be 20 feet long. Someone else here said "thirty feet". Without having a leaf on the ground and actually measuring it, I can't say for sure. But, they are big! And, it has that typical appearance of a Ravenea that we have all seen before. It's very cool and needs lots of room to grow. Like any palm with huge leaves, it is difficult to photograph. So, here's what I have. Sorry, but I don't have any closeups.

Ravenea species "giant"

Phil

[Carlo Morici]

Phil it is a fabulous collection of interesting species. The giant Ravenea is a must!

I tried a Deckenia seedling last year outdoors in Tenerife. I was surprised about how cold hardy it is! It grew through the winter months like crazy, and now it is 1 m tall... in a place where Phoenicophorium or Verschaffeltia would have struggled or died. I did not know it was grown out in California.

Carlo

[quaman58]

Niether did I. Hmm...

[Peter]

That Ravenea is unbelievable. Let's hope species giant is the same or close to it.

[SubTropicRay]

Phil,

He's got to be protecting the Deckenia. There's no way that would survive 10 unprotected years in SoCal.

Ray

[Phil]

Some more photographs:

Howea belmoreana. For those of you who haven't grown this species, the most notable hallmark is that, when it matures, the curving leaves giving an overall umbrella appearance of the crown.

Hedyscepe canteburyana. I love this species and feel that perhaps it's the most attractive palm from Lord Howe Island. (oops...someone will disagree with me). Particular nice is the silver crown shaft and silver-green trunk. Mardi's plant in this picture is not particularly large or tall. But, it is nice. There are several specimens in the San Diego area that have about 15 feet of trunk and have been providing seeds for years.

A closer view Hedyscepe canteburyana showing the trunk and crown shaft color.

Phil

[Phil]

One of the intereting things you'll note when you talk to Mardi about his palms is that he has invented names for species he grows. You might ask "why did he do this?". The answer is simple: there were no names to these species when he visited Madagascar and collected seeds. For those older people among the group, the only thing we had twenty years ago was the Flora of Madagascar. As I recall, it was written in French but did have pictures with names that were in Latin. I got my copy by photocopying the volume from someone else. That was the only source for information back then and it was of limited value, missing many species. People nowadays are spoon fed and have the Palms of Madagascar and the Internet to learn the species. Back then, it was very, very different. And, the names were changing. Genera were lost. And species were being added all the time. During an IPS meeting in Florida, I remember John Dransfield saying that it was very painful for him to rename genera and lump so many "species" into Dypsis. But, his scientific research demanded that this be done. He was particularly troubled by the loss of the genus "Halmorea" named after the famous taxonomist and friend of his, Hal Moore. And, up to that point, it was sort of like the blind leading the blind; no real scientific basis for names.

So, this brings us back to Mardi and the interesting names he applied to plants he was growing. Agree or disagree with this approach, that's what he did. If you think he should have called it merely "Dypsis species 22", for example, you'd probably have been off because back then there were Chrysalidocarpus, Phloga, Neophloga, Vonitra, etc. etc. And, who was to say it was a Dypsis anyway? I hope this elucidates the reason why he calls things as he does. There were obviously correct scientific names for his species to be introduced later, but I shall present them as he named them at the time.

Now, the pictures:

Dypsis sp. "slick willy"

[Phil]

Dypsis species "Big Curley":

A comment about the rocks. It is true that Mardi's yard has a lot of boulders and rocks. But, don't think they just sit where they always were. He applied science to the rocks as a heat sink. His goal was to position the rocks to absorb heat and warm the soil at night. Now, I don't recall for sure that these boulders were positioned exactly like this for this species. But, over and over he told me stories about moving boulders to optimally create his garden. So, in my imagination, I see Mardi being the ancient Egyptian engineer, all by himself, levering and sliding boulders from side to side just to get things perfect..

Phil

[Gtlevine]

Phil, don't you just love that Big Curly? awesome palm!

Gary

[LJG]

Phil, a funny story he told us about the boulders and rocks. His place sits on rock. So almost everything you see had to be shaped with hard work..and dynamite. He said he would open blast when he first started 40 or so years ago. Apparently he was good friends with his neighbor, the mayor of Vista then and it was no big deal. But later the city said no more. He had to cover blast site with tires and dirt. Well, his guys blasted and shot a tire so high into the sky that it actually crashed through the mayors house. That was the end of using tires during his blasting.

[Phil]

Len,

That indeed is a great story.

Phil

Phil, a funny story he told us about the boulders and rocks. His place sits on rock. So almost everything you see had to be shaped with hard work..and dynamite. He said he would open blast when he first started 40 or so years ago. Apparently he was good friends with his neighbor, the mayor of Vista then and it was no big deal. But later the city said no more. He had to cover blast site with tires and dirt. Well, his guys blasted and shot a tire so high into the sky that it actually crashed through the mayors house. That was the end of using tires during his blasting.

[Tyrone]

Dypsis species "Big Curley":

A comment about the rocks. It is true that Mardi's yard has a lot of boulders and rocks. But, don't think they just sit where they always were. He applied science to the rocks as a heat sink. His goal was to position the rocks to absorb heat and warm the soil at night. Now, I don't recall for sure that these boulders were positioned exactly like this for this species. But, over and over he told me stories about moving boulders to optimally create his garden. So, in my imagination, I see Mardi being the ancient Egyptian engineer, all by himself, levering and sliding boulders from side to side just to get things perfect..

Phil

I love his use of rocks. In a palm garden, a rocky site is much more interesting IMO. I wish I had more rocks and geological interest here in my sandy yard. I often use rocks to act as heatsinks. Rocks got my golden dwarf malay coconut through winter.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Phil]

Below is a picture of the Dypsis sp. "OCWS", "orange crownshaft white stem" that Mardi is famous for. Probably many of you will have comments about this one. Sorry, but very busy today and I have time for just this post.

Phil

[deezpalms]

I never did understand the difference between 'big curly' and 'OCWS'. They have always looked very similar to me.

[Gtlevine]

Even Mardy agrees that "Big Curly" and "OCWS" are the same palm.

Gary

[Shon]

Keep them comin if got em Phil.

[deezpalms]

Even Mardy agrees that "Big Curly" and "OCWS" are the same palm.

Gary

Thanks Gary!!

[Salvades]

What a beautiful garden. So many palms that one could compliment on. The Areca vestiaria is striking with the orange crown shaft. Not to mention the Dypsis Dicipiens! The white crown shaft is amazing. I saw one at the Huntington this past year that was no where near as good looking as Mardi's.

[Ken]

nice photo skills phill, does Mardi still charge $ to see his masterpeice?

[Phil]

Ken,

I think Mardi does charge to see his garden. And, I actually think people get a lot of value for their payment. Remember, Mardi has as much experience with palms as anyone and has limited financial resources to support his huge garden. I think he's put his life's earnings into the garden. I've heard that his water bill each month is equivalent to a mortgage payment. And, he ends up giving you about five hours of his time, a meal with the tour, and all the information on palms that you can absorb. Consider this: If you hire a garden designer, landscape architect, or a palm "consultant', you'd probably spend more and get less information. People on this list are use to getting information for free because many of us don't mind spending the many hours needed in presenting data and pictures on the plants. But, out there in the real wordaday world, people charge for their experience, time and advice. And, Mardi's tour is really fun and enjoyable, and you see rare palms around nowhere else. So, with this in mind, one might understand why he would charge to visit the garden.

Now, some more pictures. We're nearing the end.

Dypsis lanceolata:

[Bags]

Even Mardy agrees that "Big Curly" and "OCWS" are the same palm.

Gary

If they are the same palm then I think a few people with both may have just doubled the amount of Big Curly or "OCWS" depending on what they want to call it. That being said anyone want to sell me one of their extras? Aaron

P.S. Thanks for the great tour Phil.

P.S.S. I am serious about buying a big curly

[tim_brissy_13]

Thanks for the pictures Phil, and thanks to Mardy for allowing the photos of his great garden to be posted on the forum.

That is amazing if that Dekenia is unprotected, I always got the impression they were among the most sensitive palms out there.

[Phil]

Although not as big as specimens of others on this discussion group, here's a Wodyetia X Veitchia. This shot, as you can see, was taken from above the plant.

Another specimen with a better view of the foliage. Note how Mardi adds smaller companion plants on the ground and then ground covers with bark or mulch for that finished look.

Phil

[paulgila]

great pix again,phil.i love the way those wide leaflets hang in those foxy lady shots!

[Tyrone]

Those Foxy Ladies would be fairly recent additions given there speed of growth compared to the slow growing Dypsis giants he has in there.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Phil]

Group,

At least 20 years ago Mardi did a unique and somewhat courageous thing. He put in a "catwalk" through his garden. This gave him a vantage point well above the ground in the canopy. The total length of the catwalk is an estimated 100 feet. When you are on the walkway, you can feel things slowly moving back and forth with the wind and hear the junctions of the walkway creeking and rubbing against the tree trunks. It's quite exciting. Obviously, this presented a liability issue for him as the walk has no protective railings or ropes. He attached beams to Eucalyptus trees and put planks over the beams. It's an estimated three feet wide and gives a unique view of the garden below. However, one wrong step and you could be toast.

As far as I know, Mardi never allows anyone on the catwalk. But, on this occasion he said "Come with me. I want to show you something". And, straight out onto the catwalk we went. For his age, Mardi pranced along in a fearless and familiar fashion as he negotiated his way down the walk. It showed that he had done it thousands of times. For me, I used caution with each step as the drop could hae been 30 feet straight down.

Here's a picture of Roosty and then some of the rest of us on this catwalk. In the second shot, I'm way in the back (or front as Jesse took this photo from behind us). You can see that even the award winning surfer Roosty is holding the Eucalyptus for balance. And, surfers are proud of their agility on their boards.

Phil

[BS Man about Palms]

Phil, we were lucky enough to "hit the catwalk" when we went. It is spectacular!

[paulgila]

thats amazing! viewing palms from above is worth the risk of fatalities!

[MattyB]

Whoah!!!!! I've heard about this but this is the first time I've seen it. Amazing! I've gotta do something like that over my canyon/gully when I have trees someday.

[Shon]

Phil or somebody I was wondering how does he water? Is everything on drip or does he use sprinklers?

[Tyrone]

With those white trunks along the catwalk, that looks so much like Oz. I bet they're lemon scented gums.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Phil]

Group,

Here's a few picture of the rare "Dypsis species White Stem". There's been previous discussions of this and very few photographs.

This concludes my photographic tour. I hope you liked it. If I get more pictures to share in the near future, I'll add them on for you to see. I wish to thank all of you for looking and for Mardi for sharing his garden with us. I had a great photo of him from the tour, but somehow I can't locate it. So, this previously posted and reletaviely recent photo (from this site by another) will have to do.

Best regards,

Phil

Mardi Darian

[BS Man about Palms]

Phil, will you post the "White Stem" pictures on that thread I started just so their all together? (Or allow me too?)

[Phil]

Bill,

I must have missed that thead. Feel free to post them but give Mardi credit as the grower.

Phil

[BS Man about Palms]

Thanks Phil, can't believe you missed it. (Maybe just got too big....)

Bill

[Moose]

What an amazing collection! A California Mecca for palm lovers.

[trioderob]

Moose -

great come back 6 years later on a thread.

but ya its a great garden