More of the garden of Richard Douglas (PalmguyWC)

[TikiRick]

Sorting through my hundreds of pictures from Richard's garden, it was difficult to narrow them down. I will not make any attempt to describe the palms at all, since I know I could never do them justice (and I am not that familiar with these cold hardy species). I will leave that to Richard himself. Enjoy the tour!

[TikiRick]

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[freakypalmguy]

Nice pics Rick. Did you get any of his Butia X Parajubea?

Matt

[LJG]

Dick has an impressive old garden. He must be proud for sure.

Nice pics Rick. Did you get any of his Butia X Parajubea?

Matt

[palmislandRandy]

For a private garden this size, it's amazing how manicured every palm is!

[sonoranfans]

I am just ...... speechless. And that is rare for me. Outstanding garden, Richard!

[surferjr]

LOVE THE BAMBOO :drool:

great PICS

[monkeyranch]

Wow, nice inspiration for us NoCal. folks who patiently wait for our palms to slug through our chilly winter months. I hope the answer isn't so obvious but what is that blue clumper in post 5 pic on bottom left? Thank you again from the Nevada county foothills.

[_Keith]

I should live so long as to see my garden only become a fraction of yours. Congrats Dick.

[FRITO]

Really awesome and everything does look real nice and clean.

Great Garden Richard, Those are some large palms! looks like I need more Chamaerops.

Thanks for showing us these Rick!

[_Keith]

Oh, and if my garden ever gets even close to that, I want Rick to come and photograph it. Awesome pictures.

[osideterry]

freakypalmguy - I think it might be Post 7, Pic 7. Or is that a P. torallyi?

That Nannorhops! (Post 5, pic 9)

[ryjohn]

The impressive clumper in Post 5 is Nannorhops and the even more impressive clumper in Post 6 is Trithrinax campestris

[freakypalmguy]

freakypalmguy - I think it might be Post 7, Pic 7. Or is that a P. torallyi?

That Nannorhops! (Post 5, pic 9)

I think you are right Terry, thank you. It has grown a ton.

I agree, that Nannorhops is unbelievable!

Matt

[Kris]

Dear Rick

thanks for the lovely stills & great photography,and it would be more beneficial to novice like me if you have tagged all your stills with palm names...

And as some have pointed out that all the palms looks very neat & tidy...no dried fronds to be seen_lovely !

thanks & love,

Kris

[monkeyranch]

Whoa!@?! to that Nannorhops. I wonder how large it was when planted in '74? I never imagined they got that large in a lifetime by the rate mine are growing.

[Pivi]

really nice!

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

Great pics, Rick...Dicks place looks awesome, I'll bet it is even more so in person.

Rusty

[Hollywood Palms]

Great pics! Thanks for the tour.

David

[palmazon]

Is this Gtlevine sans shirt w/dragon tattoo?

[spockvr6]

Fantastic garden!

I can hardly believe the girth on that Jubea! The trunk on that think makes a Royal's look like a piece of bamboo.

[TikiRick]

All,

I had the opportunity to visit Richard's garden for the first time in 1995. On my way out to Northern California with the late Paul Drummond (a long time friend of Richard's) I was thinking to myself....how palmy can Richard's garden be---being this far north. It is easy to get caloused living in South Florida regarding palms.

Upon my arrival on that chilly November afternoon, I was astonished. Absolutely blown away. Situated about 40 miles due east of the San Fransciso Bay area, on a little over an acre of land, Richard's garden has got to be the premier northern California (perhaps premiere northern all together!) palm collection anywhere. Meandering paths, long vistas, blooming waves of colorful groundcovers, towering healthy palms, and a 500 year old oak tree stands as a guard over all.

Even to this day, I view this collection of palms to be amazing. They are clean, healthy, fruiting, and loving life here. I strolled through the garden, camera in hand, taking all kinds of photos as the sun was setting casting unusual shadows onto palm trunks and the grasses and succulents planted beneath.

If you are ever in the Bay Area, call Richard for a quick tour. He is usually gracious enough to invite most everyone to share his slice of paradise. I enjoyed this visit as much as I did the first time.

[PalmGuyWC]

All,

I had the opportunity to visit Richard's garden for the first time in 1995. On my way out to Northern California with the late Paul Drummond (a long time friend of Richard's) I was thinking to myself....how palmy can Richard's garden be---being this far north. It is easy to get caloused living in South Florida regarding palms.

Upon my arrival on that chilly November afternoon, I was astonished. Absolutely blown away. Situated about 40 miles due east of the San Fransciso Bay area, on a little over an acre of land, Richard's garden has got to be the premier northern California (perhaps premiere northern all together!) palm collection anywhere. Meandering paths, long vistas, blooming waves of colorful groundcovers, towering healthy palms, and a 500 year old oak tree stands as a guard over all.

Even to this day, I view this collection of palms to be amazing. They are clean, healthy, fruiting, and loving life here. I strolled through the garden, camera in hand, taking all kinds of photos as the sun was setting casting unusual shadows onto palm trunks and the grasses and succulents planted beneath.

If you are ever in the Bay Area, call Richard for a quick tour. He is usually gracious enough to invite most everyone to share his slice of paradise. I enjoyed this visit as much as I did the first time.

Wow!

I'm almost overwhilmed myself! Rick phoned me this morning at 4:30 AM on his way to work. (He forgets it's early here on the Pacific coast, but I was awake anyway). He said, "I posted the pictures, so now you can put captions on them." This is probably not the best way to do it......but I will attempt.

I should mention that Rick arrived late afternoon, and his suit case hardly made it through the door, as he dashed out in the garden, camera in hand, to get some shots with the late afternoon light. As usual, Rick's superior photographic skills are shown. Thanks again, Rick, for posting the pictures. Rick claims he can't take a bad picture with his new camera, but I think there is more to it than that.

I won't point out many of the palms, as it's obvious what they are. The photo below the one of Rick hugging the large Jebaea is the Butia X Parajubaea. Growing near it is a Parajubaea T V T about the same size, but my roomie's truck was blocking a camera angle. Also growing in post 13 are some Tracheycarpus wagnerianus which were only planted about 3 years ago. They have grown incredibly fast. If you notice the space between the upper and the lower fonds, all of the upper fronds were grown this year.

As for the tatoo: If I had spent over 15K on it, I'd want to show it off too. It was 105F when the pics were taken, and the next day it reached 113F, the hotest day of the year. Dennis, the fellow with the tatoo, has a raw acre of land behind his Frank Loyid Wright designed house in Concord, and I've almost convinced him to make it a palm garden. It used to be a vegitable garden, but now it's prime real estate. He's already ordered three 55 gal. Jubaeas with basket ball sized trunks for a starter. I figgure the rest of the garden can be designed around the Jubaeas if they are properly spaced.

To be continued......running out of time.

Dick

[PalmGuyWC]

More..........

The first two photos on post #1 is the inflorescence of Butia paraguayensis which had just opened that day. There is another photo of the palm with me standing in front of it on post #4, #9 photo. To the left of that is Butia yata. Both palms were planted around 1975 and the B. yata has about 12 feet of woody trunk, while the B. paraguayensis only has about 4 feet of trunk and the trunk is very fat. I point these palms out because they have unusual characteristics from my other Butias, and both have been hybridized with Syagrus and Parajubaea cocoides. The B.yata has also been crossed with Jubaea, and the B. paraguayensis with Parajubaea sunkha. All of these hybrids should be very interesting.

I have 5 nannorrops and they were all 1 gal size when they were planted around 1975. They were all planted in full sun, but over the years other palms have grown faster and shaded most of the Nannorrops. The one pictured post #4, #9 photo, has grown into a monster palm. Nannorrops is a strange palm and they may sit for years with hardly any growth, then suddendly explode with growth. The large one has about 9 or 10 main trunks much higher than my head and the foot print in the ground is around 10 feet. There are also many large suckers growing from the base. Don't plant one to close to your house.

Continued..........

Dick

[PalmGuyWC]

Post #6.........

The #2 photo is of Trithrinax biflabalata. The palm is 18 years old and has 6 trunks, but it appears only two will be dominate. It has never bloomed and it does have spines along the trunk, but much smaller and less lethal than T. campestris.

The thrid photo on post #6 is Brahea edulis. It's full of juvinile fruit, but the squirrels will probably clean off all the fruit before they mature.

The 5th photo with me standing in front is Trithrinax campestris. It is the only palm I have that blooms in October, and it usually sets seeds which mature over the winter. The two photos to the right are Chamaerops var. cerifera, but they are much more silver than shown in the photograph. It could have been the late afternoon light. The next two to the right are details of the Bujubea trunk.

The last photo is the front of my house. It's mostly single trunked Chamaerops. I wanted fool proof palms planted in my front, all which would take temps in the teens, and they have been cold tested several times with little or no damage

[hulagalnz9]

It's so beautiful in here. I'm sure years of work and patience are represented. Forget gold and platinum...you are in the absolutely priceless realm of a garden. Thanks for taking time to shoot the photos Rick. Richard, you inspire me. I am so glad you are just up the road...okay, a lot up the road. :-)

[PalmGuyWC]

With the exception of one palm, it's been my goal to only plant palms that are very cold hardy, that are visable from my front or from my pool and patio area. The marginal palms go in the back where I don't have to look at them if they are damaged by cold or heat. The one exception, that I planted up front, is Parajubaea T V T. I was lead to believe it was much more tolerant of cold than it has proven to be. In the winter of '07, it was 60% burned by 23.5 F, but I expect it will take much colder temps and recover.

Here is a list of the palms that grow in my front and will take temps. into the mid teens with little or no damage.

Brahea armata

Jubaea chilensis

Serenoa repens

Butia X Parajubaea

Butia X Syagrus

Butia X Jubaea

Butia X Jubaea X (Syagrus)

Chamaerops (various forms)

Butias (different forms or species)

Tracheycarpus wagnerianus

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

Sabal Riverside

Nannorrhops ritchiana

Washingtonia robusta

There are several other cold hardy palms that I could grow in my front area, but I have very little room for any other palms. The bamboo takes up quite a large area.....but it's worth it. The bamboo is quite an attention getter, and people driving or walking on my street stop all the time to ask about it. I've given a lot of it to various folks, and it's spread far and wide. Unfortunately, it will bloom one of these years and then I will have a mess of thick rhizomes to contend with. Of course, palms will replace the bamboo, and it will take a backhoe to root up all the rhizomes.

Any other questions? I'll be happy to answer.

Dick

[bgl]

Dick,

You have a spectacular garden, and my memory of our (=the IPS Directors') visit in May 2007 will always be with me as a real highlight!

Rick - thanks for posting these excellent photos!

Bo-Göran

[PalmGuyWC]

Thanks for all of your kind comments, and it's always nice to get an "Atta Boy" from the Prez. In the list above I forgot to include Trithrinax campestris and T. acanthocoma. They are both as tough as nails and fruit regularly.

Regards,

Dick

[maesy]

Dick,

your garden is just unbeliveable!

I hope I will once have the chance to come to the states and enjoy your garden personaly.

I have seen similar gardens in southern switzerland and northern italy, but yours seems to be huge and looks very tropical.

After winter I will plant out the Butia x Parajubaea hybrid that I got from Patric last year.

It's not that big yet, but it will have its first divided fronts by then.

Yours is very impressive and beautiful. How old is it now?

Can you already see what the stem is going to look like? more like Butia or more like Parajubaea?

Marcel

[PalmGuyWC]

Hi Marcel,

You are welcome to come visit me any time. I'll give you a nice garden tour.

My Butia X Parajubaea is about 6 or 7 years old, but I've lost the lable. At this stage it's hard to say what the trunk will look like, but I think it will have a fairly thick trunk, but one that enlongates like a Butiagrus. The base of mine now is about as thick as a basketball and still expanding. It has no thorns on the petioles, but the base of the petioles are covered with fiber like a Parajubaea. Mine grows even when the temps. are cool, so it should do well for you. It's the fastest growing palm I have and also my favorite. Mine is in full sun until about 3 PM in the afternoon. It is reported they will take temps. down to the teens with no damage.

Dick

[amazondk]

Dick,

You have a wonderful garden. And, Rick thanks for the pictures.

dk

[Jeff Searle]

Dick,

I just got in late last night and now just seeing your palms featured here in this thread. WOW ! Your garden is amazing and spectacular. Your collection of cold hardy species is endless. Besides having probably the nicest collection, your garden has many beautiful layed out areas. You should be very proud! I hope someday ,Andrea and I have the chance to visit you as well.

Rick,

Thanks for sharing your great pictures and I'm sure you were amazed as well as you first stepped outside for the first time.

Jeff

[bubba]

That is one beautiful Garden.Thank you