Los Angeles PRA with the PRA team(TM).

[elHoagie]

Here's a photo of one of my Mauritia, with a beer bottle for scale. I just potted it up into a 5 gallon container a few weeks ago and it already has roots popping out the drain holes. These are definitely among the fastest and most robust seedlings I've ever grown...

I should add, it was Phil Arrowsmith who braved the long grass and swamp to grab the seeds.

[elHoagie]

Here's a shot of the scene where we collected the seeds from

[bgl]

I think the Los Angeles PRA team must have gotten really lost somewhere along the line! Who's reading the map? MattyB?

[Kim]

Enjoying the photos of your angelino adventure, guys! Thanks for the Topanga pix, I hope to see it someday too. That pool area is so tropical and attractive, nice place to lounge around on a sunny morning. The Huntington is always fun, no matter how many times I've seen it. Please post more photos! We need an update on the Hoagies' high elevation cloudforest.

[DoomsDave]

Oh, there's more.

Lots more.

[MattyB]

Just waiting for Paul to catch up. You know how he likes to take his time posting.

[Gileno Machado]

Here's a photo of one of my Mauritia, with a beer bottle for scale. I just potted it up into a 5 gallon container a few weeks ago and it already has roots popping out the drain holes. These are definitely among the fastest and most robust seedlings I've ever grown...

I should add, it was Phil Arrowsmith who braved the long grass and swamp to grab the seeds.

Thanks for the picture Jack, your seedling is looking great. Did you donate the other one at Huntington's? They both look the same age...

I just can't remember that place with this Mauritia grove during our post tour to Minas Gerais...was is close to the place we stopped for lunch, by the Attalea geraensis in habitat? I guess I went in the opposite direction, with Mike Merrit and Toby Spanner, in search of the Attalea...I do remember you with your pocket knife though, cleaning up lots of Syagrus glaucescens seeds in the morning at Diamantina...from the ones you gave me I had several sprouts too...

[paulgila]

this post is all about leaves.

[paulgila]

the joey was hard to stop looking at. i think i strained an eyeball.

matt re-lives our last honeymoon in hawaii.

cryosophila naughty bits.

something amazing.

jack has never seen a licuala before.

heres what they look like,dewd.

[paulgila]

licuala leaves overhead like stars.

linds trying so hard to stay awake. what a trooper.

this mauritia almost looks as good as the one at jack's place.

balaka(or bactris if you ask linds).

filler. there,i admitted it.

salacca magnifica "magnificating" all over the place.

you heard me.

[paulgila]

joey from a different angle. damn,it still looks awesome.

its making the hair on my arms stand up.

something with those cool caryotoid leaflets.

another shot of the mauritia. we were wondering what was planted in that spot before--maybe a c.renda?

flower.

and something on the way to becoming a flower.

[Kim]

Like that new verb.

[paulgila]

see.told ya.

nice vistas.

jack wondering if there are any d.decipiens around.

i kinda liked acrocomia until i felt the scorn of the group.

jack with his favorite palm,washingtonia.

don't ever trust a hyphaene.

[paulgila]

"i smell cookies!"

i call this one "trying to push over an elephant but not realizing its already been done &

its legs are sticking up & stuff."

mmmm acupuncture.

various shots to follow.

see above.

heres what things look like when yer only 6" tall.

[paulgila]

jack & linds are in some kind of young republican watch group,if you touch any plants it turns into

the black & white version of "invasion of the body snatchers."

we were suitably chagrined.

after being kicked out of the huntington we ended up back at the hoagies & you know what that means---

yep. more palms.

pseudophoenix rockin' in the front yard. jack is growing some stuff that i could'nt believe--

and still don't.

man of mystery --& trucker hats.

[paulgila]

Like that new verb.

please elaborate.

[bgl]

Like that new verb.

please elaborate.

I like it too! Maybe a PalmTalk Dictionary is next! We could harvest at least half of the words just from Paul's and Matt's threads. No, those would not be paying positions!

[elHoagie]

Nice shots Paul - you captured the moment with me and the Washingtonia.

Gileno - The Mauritias were one of our first stops in Minas, they were just growing beside the road. For all my work on the Syagrus glaucescens seeds, I only ended up with 3 seedlings. I think a lot of the ones I grabbed weren't quite ripe...

[Jeff Searle]

Great pictures guys! I almost didn't recognize some of you without the usual jackets, jeans and sweaters. But BS Man did recently tell me it's in the high 70's out there now. Please continue....

[Kim]

mag-nif/i-cate (mag nif' ǝ kāt') vt. -cat'/ed, -cat'ing [[ < L magnus, great + facere, do ]] 1 to express greatness of size, extent, etc. 2 the state of being splendid, stately, or sumptuous, as in form

[MattyB]

Nice work with the the formal wordology Kim!

Let's move on, to our tour down the Hoagie's slope of dooooommmmmmmm!!!!! (is there an echo in here?)

Crazy growth on those Caryotas and look what we found........Areca vestiaria, growing in the ground for several years!!!! That's the first one I've ever seen grown successfully in SoCal! Jack's microclimate is amazing and he threw in a bottle palm in the front yard just to rub it in!

[MattyB]

Dave showed up and now it was time to make our way to the back.

The side yard was bursting with Archontophoenix and beautiful Clinostigma savoryanum!

[MattyB]

Highlight on Chamaedorea geonomaformis!

[MattyB]

"Why do you have such a good microclimate here Jack?"

"Oh, I don't know, science is too hard for me".

[MattyB]

A massive amount of work went into consructing a series of retaining walls so that you could navigate and use the steep slope below the house. My L7 buldging disc is sore just looking at this.

[MattyB]

Some cool blue Braheas

[MattyB]

And then it happened. Jack discovered another casualty to the dreaded gophers! In case you didn't know, Trachycarpus don't normally float in the air. He said he had to hire an exterminator to get the gophers under control because they were devestating his garden.

[MattyB]

No use crying over spilt gopher blood, so we continue on down the hill.

The native black walnut trees provide a very nice dappled light canopy for an absolutely massive amount of palms that Jack has planted down there. I couldn't believe the amount of plant material he's got in the ground. He said something like over 600 individuals. This is going to be a dense rainforest for sure.

[MattyB]

It was Palmazon/Danny's birthday so when he finally got there late because he had to ride his donkey to Jack's we went down to the local Mexican food restaurant and pigged out on delicious chimichanga burritos, margaritas, and beer!

We staggered back to Jack's for more beer, some liquor that Danny found under a bum's arm, and birthday cake!

Thanks Jack and Lindsey for having us over! And thanks to Leland and Shirley for allowing us to tour their garden!

[sur4z]

_{Who dat in the Indians hat?}

[MattyB]

That's DoomsDave or Dave La Habra, I don't know what he calls himself nowadays!

[Walter John]

Jack and Lyndsey, your garden is fabulous, "Jack's Jungle" for sure, loved it and finally waiting all this time to see it was worth it. The views in post # 104 show a very green neighbourhood, excellent.

Thanks for the tour boys..

[Jeff Searle]

hi paul!

[elHoagie]

MattyB and Paul - thanks for posting all the photos, and for dropping by!

Just to clarify a couple things:

- I've been growing the Areca vestiaria for several years, but most of those have been in my cold frame. It's only been outside in the ground for one winter, but hopefully it will make it...

- The dead palm eaten by gophers was a Coccothrinax, not a Trachycarpus.

[NApalm]

Great thread guys. Thanks for the pics

[paulgila]

hi jeff!

[Gileno Machado]

Very Nice pictures of the Hoagie's garden, folks...Is it a Caryota gigas hedge at the entrance? wow...

[Nate DeWees]

Great pics...So Cal love. Palms up, dicots down.

[Bill Austin]

Great thread those were some outstanding gardens thanks