Manambe Lavaka 2013

[MattyB]

Tom brings up a good point about the topography. I knew I had a good microclimate but over the years walking around with a temerature sensor I know exactly why.

Here's that canyon shot again. Not only is my property on a slope, but it's actually a gradual knoll, with two gullies flanking it on either side.

So matty, did you know that you had at least 1/2 zone change due to topology/air mass movements when you were planning it? what is the elevation(did I miss it) difference between the high and low spots? I have read previous threads where you talk of 7(?) degree differences in the lows. Planning out the wet/dry irrigation and and colder warmer zones must have been a lot of fun. I would love to see your place sometime.

I knew that there would be a difference between the top of the property and down in the bottom of the gully, but I don't think I knew to what extent. The first winter I planted bananas at the top and bottom just to see and while my low up top was 39f, my low down in the canyon was 30f and the banana melted. So that's almost an entire zone within a 1 acre plot. Talk about microclimates. That topography and especially due to our dry extreme cold spells is why SoCal is so variable.

The elevation is about 650 ft. elev. at the top by the house and about 520 ft. elev. at the bottom of my property and then it continues to go downhill from there all the way to the ocean.

I did plan extensively regarding keeping the more cold sensitive stuff up higher on the hill and grouping plants with similar irrigation requirements together.

[bgl]

Matt,

You have done an absolutely amazing job in a fairly short amount of time. When I began looking at the photos it was my intention to comment on how great some of them look, but then as I kept going down the thread I realized that wasn't a viable option since just about ALL your palms look incredible! Hope to visit you again next year on one of my San Diego trips. Would love to see the progress!

Bo-Göran

[DoomsDave]

That is fascinating, but I can't imagine the plants making enough heat to do more than disperse their perfumes.

That said, other plants nearby can help a tender plant. I managed to get a Dictyosperma to survive by letting it get engulfed by flowering gingers.

[Mantis sp.]

Wow, those heat producing flowers are interesting, thanks!.

Warm blooded plants: http://www.phschool.com/science/science_news/articles/warm_blooded_plants.html

Cycads do the same: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0269-8463.2004.00918.x/pdf , http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/112/5/891.abstract , http://www.amjbot.org/content/100/10/1981.abstract , http://www-04.all-portland.net/bsr/021/0223/0210223.pdf

[Jim in Los Altos]

Matty, It's so great to see how your landscape is maturing. I hope your plan is to stay there indefinitely. Years ago, I had 21 acres in San Martin, CA that had a series of hills, creeks, springs, and flatlands and the shear number of different microclimates was crazy. The creeks always were channels for cold air. Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to continuing progress pictures.

[OverGrown]

That's more like a botanic dream come true! Looks great!

[Harry]

Congratulations on a wonderfull garden.

I bet that keeping the surrounding weeds from invading is a full time job.

[MattyB]

I took some more pics during this morning's walk. Some things I might have missed.

Arenga pinnata flashing its silvery underside

Dypsis baronii 'compacta'

Dypsis carlsmithii getting tall

[MattyB]

Bamboo Gully with Livistona chinensis thrown in for good measure.

[MattyB]

Some Phoenix out in the brush. Someday this will be a huge cavern to walk underneath. There's a total of 9 Phoenix out here and they are incredibly drought tolerant, receiving absolutely no water the entire summer.

[MattyB]

Another Jubaea x Butia hybrid nestled into a rocky pile in the brush.

Jen and Belle with Aloe bainesii x dichotoma, aka 'Hercules'

Looks like we've got a nice crop of Carambola 'sri kembaggen' aka Starfruit forming.

Giant Encephelartos arenarius

[MattyB]

Another one of those Dypsis onilahensis/baronii types

Dypsis decipiens splitting

One of the best evergreen canopy trees you can grow, Acacia dealbata. I've limbed this thing up as high as my pole saw can go.

Another one of those clumping Dypsis onilahensis/baronii types in front, with Dypsis ambositrae, Keriodoxa elegans, and Hedescepy group behind.

[MattyB]

Coccothrinax fragrans flowering/fruting

Unknown Coccothrinax but whatever it is, this thing is a monster.

[MattyB]

Pinanga coronata 'kuhlii'

[MattyB]

I'm really enjoying the dry garden areas now that I have all the rocks layed down and there's no weeds. I can spend a lot of time just looking at all the small plants that are so pretty.

Encephelartos horridus

Agave victoria-riginae

Dudleya britonii

Echinocactus grusonii

[MattyB]

A bunch of different Aloe zebrina hybrid types.

[MattyB]

Chamerops humilis 'agentea'

Agave things

[MattyB]

Copernicia suerona. I really hope this one does well. If it looks half as good as Jeff's I'll be stoked.

Encephelartos longifolius 'Joubertina'

More dry garden stuffings. All this stuff goes in as a cutting or very small pot that I shove into a crack between the rocks and then they look really cool as they get larger and cling to the rock cracks.

Agave

Agave paryii 'truncata'

[MattyB]

Ghost peppers

White Habaneros

[MattyB]

Livistona victoriae

Pseudophoenix sargentii, ekmanii, vinifera

Heliotropum and another clumping D. onily/baronii type

Orange Hibiscus that Jen likes to put in her hair like a huge satellite dish.

OK, now that's really it! I'm done for 2017!

[Zeeth]

Hey Matt, how much rain do you get per year? Also I see quite a few Jubaea hybrids, but do you have a pure Jubaea growing? If not, why not?

[doranakandawatta]

....during this morning's walk....

I wish I could do such a lovely morning walk every day!
Many thanks again for posting such nice and interesting pictures.

Philippe

[MattyB]

Hey Matt, how much rain do you get per year? Also I see quite a few Jubaea hybrids, but do you have a pure Jubaea growing? If not, why not?

We usually get no more than 10" of rain per year, with the vast majority occuring in the winter.

I do have 3 Jubaea. They are much slower growing than the hybrids and not much to look at yet since I've started with small plants.

[Zeeth]

Hey Matt, how much rain do you get per year? Also I see quite a few Jubaea hybrids, but do you have a pure Jubaea growing? If not, why not?

We usually get no more than 10" of rain per year, with the vast majority occuring in the winter.

I do have 3 Jubaea. They are much slower growing than the hybrids and not much to look at yet since I've started with small plants.

Wow that's not a lot of rain! It must be really pertinent to provide artificial irrigation to most stuff, and really says a lot about those Phoenix that go without!

[MattyB]

Considering that it falls during winter, that's pretty much no useful rain.

[freakypalmguy]

Wow, amazing job Matty!

[Kennybenjamin]

Excellent work as usuall Matty!! Great collection of well grown palms!!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Great update Matty

Having visited Matt's place in 2010 and again in May this year i can say that the amount of work and hard labor to transform a dry scrubby slope into a lush palm oasis is an incredible achievement ***** 5 stars for this garden ! :greenthumb: :greenthumb: :greenthumb:

[Cindy Adair]

Your garden is amazing. I love the Pritchardia beccariana and the weeping Dypsis onilahensis among many other palms.

Your new retaining wall and all your succulents and desert plants show a microclimate I'll never achieve in humid coastal Virginia or mountainous Puerto Rico. Yet you also have a rainforest area with Pinanga. Your playful giraffes add the perfect touch.

Yes, truly amazing.

[Alicehunter2000]

Hold on! Wait a minute! Are you telling me that this is your place? You just moved there a couple of years ago right? I remember the threads where you were just shifting dirt around and planning your "rainforest section" ........How many years have you been living there.......it's incredible how much work has been done. Dang......time is flying. I am going back when I got time and studying some of your plantings.....fantastic job!

[MattyB]

Thanks y'all. It's been 6 years since we moved in and it looked like this:

I tried to get a better shot of the Carpoxylon in better lighting.

[Alicehunter2000]

One overall angle of the rainforest. Jen is in there if you look closely.

11-4-13- 022.jpg

Matt what is the dicot in the center?

[MattyB]

?

[Alicehunter2000]

Thanks Matt, I researched all three a bit and only the inga edulis might be cold hardy enough. Although the Acacia dealbata might make it as well. Does anyone else In a colder climate have experience with these trees? Love the fact that they are nitrogen fixing.

[Xhoniwaters1]

Hey Matty you should do a palm drought experiment where you planted those phoenix. Pick a handful of palms that you think have a chance of making it in that environment and see what happens. Have like a drought rating on each palm. 0 to 5 5 being the toughest. And then report your conclusion on palmtalk.

[MattyB]

Interesting idea. I've already had Brahea armata, Syagrus romanzoffiana, Phoenix reclinata, and Nannorhops struggle out there. If I don't water them once a week they die. I thought for sure Nannorhops would be ok, but they need water.

[grant b.]

sounds like an expensive experiment. why waste perfectly good plants if you don't have to?

[Xhoniwaters1]

Of coarse you don't want to leave your most prized palm to the wolves, but when you have those spares that you don't know what to do with then yeah. My first thought would be Pseudophoenix. I bet a 7 galloner or bigger would make it and still look good.

[Hilo Jason]

Incredible!!!

[Xhoniwaters1]

Nannorhops (a over-rated desert palm)??