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Found these 2 palms growing near each other in Oakland, FL, a small rural town about 15 miles west of Orlando. A super tall clump of Caryota mitis, that tallest trunk is nearly 30ft tall, looks like it was defoliated last winter. and a perfect, tall specimen of Sabal palmetto And something you don't see everyday in Florida, buffalo !!!

Hana Palms - If that is an invitation to work on your garden in Maui, I'm sure something can be arranged! Eric and Michael - thanks for the compliments on the house as well. It was a lot of work, but I had a good friend who is a construction guy who helped me with everything I couldn't do on my own. This winter's project will be a bridge that goes from my hot tub deck to the roof of my garage, and then a deck on the roof. That way I'll have one more viewing area for the garden and a nice view looking out over town and the surrounding hills. I'll make sure to post pictures when I do that. This idea was inspired by Mardy Darian's catwalks. Mine will just be a little miniature version!

Jason, Right on, Left Leg, Brother! You're a DIY-er to the max! The hardscape is really dialed in and the landscape speaks for itself! Nice varities, groupings, and separations of plantings! When that stuff gets big, look out! That will be a massive canopy! I'm one to be very familiar with a shovel, and I know that must have been a lot of work! The house looks so much better, too! You're an inspiration to all of us, and keep up the good work, thanks for setting the bar high, my wife will never let me away from the yard now! FINS UP! -eric

Thanks everyone. To answer a few questions: Jim in Los Altos: I have just over 100 species, not quite all of them are in the ground yet, but most are. I have just over 160 total palms in the ground right now, with probably 85 different species. palmpuppy: A lot of what's left in the 5 gallon pots will not be planted. I got carried away when I first got into palms and would buy a bunch of small 1 gallons just to have them. Now I'm realizing I went a little overboard with those and I plan on selling / trading them sometime soon. Most all of the palms that are under my makeshift shade structure are in 1-3 gallon pots and those I plan on planting eventually. Those consist mostly of small dypsis and other little gems that I'm waiting til they get a bit larger. basilios: I realize that the Clinostigma and Veitchia are pushing it a bit, but I figured I would give them a try and see how they do. The Veitchia Arecina is struggling, but I have a Veitchia Spiralis (can't really see it in the photos) that is planted under a Jacaranda tree that is doing great. I bought it as a 1 gallon plant 2 years ago and it's now over 4 feet tall. Both of my Clinostigma's have seen 2 winters outdoors in Fallbrook while in pots and seem un-phased so far. I've seen some really nice Clinostigma's in other parts of San Diego, so I am hoping they do okay for me. Also, I agree that everything is planted really close, but after going to Ralph Velez's garden, I saw that not only could it work, but I love the jungle feel of it. I got bitten by the palm bug pretty bad and it's made me want to collect a lot of different species. Since I only have a 1/4 acre lot, I'm limited with space, so that's why I'm packing it in thick. I've tried to layer it in a way with the tower trees, Foxtail, Roystonea and various Archontophoenix serving as the "pillars" of the landscaping that will become the canopy. Then everything else gets filled in under them. I'm sure some stuff will not make it, but others will end up thriving. So it's all a big experiment for me! And since I stick with mostly 1-5 gallon size palms to start, it's not too expensive of an experiment. Also, just to add in a little more info about the area where I live. Before living in this house, I lived just a few blocks away on top of a similar sized hill, so the climate was identical to what I have now at this home. I didn't live here during the freeze of 2007, since I moved to Fallbrook in May of '07, but since then the coldest temperature I have seen is 35 degrees. And that was only for 1-2 nights each winter. The front yard of our property faces south so we get nice full sun in the front all year, which is where the Bismarck, Dypsis Decipiens, Royals and Spindle palms are all planted. Also, a fun fact is that I got into palms in the summer of 2007 when I saw a large Caryota Gigas at a wedding that was held at a palm collectors property. Seeing that in all of it's glory is what got me hooked and opened my eyes to all sorts of cool palms. And I also want to say that being on this forum has really helped a lot. There's so much information shared here! Thanks everyone.

Amazing transformation, Jason, nice work! That's going to be un-Velez-able!