Slide Show of San Diego Garden

[palmaddict]

For many years my mother of 83 years came down to visit me about twice a year. She would stay four or five days and she loved to sit on my back patio and read a book with a cup of coffee. About four years ago my father was diagnosed with cancer that has metastasized from his legs to his lungs and elsewhere. My mother being a former nurse with her own health issues, as she needs a double knee replacement and has heart arrhythmia, has provided 24-hour care for my father. Thus, she has not been down to visit for quite some time. When we talk on the phone I describe the work I have done on my garden as she knows I am an avid plant person. Since she has not been down in so many years, and so much has changed in my garden, I spent significant time taking pictures, selecting the best, and organizing them into a slide show for her. Having done this it makes perfect sense to post the slide show here. Warning there is well over 100 slides in the presentation.

The garden is one acre with about half of the yard an open space reserve. In the open space reserve I have created a dry garden with palms, drought tolerant trees, hundreds of aloes, and agaves that can tolerate some poor drainage (heavy clay). The other half of the garden is tropical with over well over 150 palms, mixed with succulents and other plants. I bought the house in 2000, removing two enormous coral trees, and a weeping willow. Several areas of lawn have been removed with future plans to remove more. I built two large keystone block walls to create a flat area on a slope that I now refer to as the backyard canyon. Keep in mind that San Diego receives on average 10 inches of rain per year, and water is expensive. I hope you enjoy the slide show and welcome all comments.

The photobucket link for the slide show is: http://s1266.photobucket.com/albums/jj525/palmaddict/

Patrick

[Bags]

Looks great. Thanks for the pictures.

[Nate DeWees]

Beautiful landscape! Thanks for sharing.

[pfancy]

i like the neighbors "common palms" photo!?!??! i wish u were my neighbor-nice yard

[Stevetoad]

Wow! Looks incredible. I really like the mix of succulents, palms, and cycads.

[dalmatiansoap]

Beautifull!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Patrick the garden looks fantastic from the dry beds to the rainforest area . :greenthumb:

Agave parryi and Aloe Hercules very nice .

How old is your Chatham Island Rhopy ? i have a few of these in the ground down here in coastal Tasmania ?

Troy

[Cindy Adair]

So many treasures beautifully arranged and cared for! I see plants that struggle for me (probably too much rain for their liking) but thrive for you. Wonderful slideshow too!

[Palm Tree Jim]

Well done and thanks for sharing!

[David Clulow]

Wonderful garden, congratulations. Do you have full time help?

Have you considered planting any Desert Roses Adenium cultivars ? They should do very well in your conditions and flower for 10 months of the year or more

[mulungu]

What a fantastic garden... You are to be congratulated-- a great diversity of genera and textures wonderfully integrated. There were so many specimens that were striking, but I especially loved the Phoenix rupicola. I can imagine how tranquil it must be to enjoy a good book and a cup of coffee while gazing out on such beauty. Hope that your mother enjoyed seeing photos of how the garden has developed, and best wishes for your parents' health. Thanks for sharing your amazing garden.

[CardiffPalmNut]

Beautiful Garden!

[palmaddict]

Thanks for all the comments.

1. My inspiration for the garden in part comes from Robert Riffle's book the "Tropical Look." I consider it to be the finest book I have read on making a tropical paradise. Too many people forget how succulents really can add a new element and set off a garden.

2. I do all the garden maintenance myself and have a full time job. I am at the point where I would like to hire someone to work two full days a month where I could give them a list of things that need to get done. By the time they reach the bottom of the list they would need to start at the top. Gardening is fun when its an option but can wear on you if you have to spend all of your free time with it.

3. As with many of you my neighbors probably think I am neurotic. They don't understand the fascination with plants but they love my garden. I am a biologist by training and so from a early age botany has been an interest.

4. People talk about going away on vacation to Hawaii to seek paradise. I say that is great but why not create one of your own. You just have to step out your back door.

5. I am now at the point where I have enough unusual succulents that I take cuttings or pups and trade them with a nursery owner who specializes in succulents. Just today I have four more succulents to plant from a trade. As with many of you I will spend for the unusual palm or cycad.

[George Sparkman]

Great garden Patrick !

It sure looks much fuller compared to the last time I was there.

Really great pictures of your plants.

[MattyB]

Dang Patrick! Just amazing! The amount of xeric plants you've got out back is just mind boggling! Thanks for taking the time to share all those photos! I saw the shout out to MattyB too

[Peter]

Fantastic garden, great mix of succulents. Very appropriate to our climate yet very 'exotic' looking. Great job!

[TikiRick]

Patrick,

It's always so amazing to see how others' put their gardens together. For me, I was so intrigued by what you can grow---things I can not. You mentioned that you only get 10" of rain annually, so I assume you hand water, or have irrigation of some sort. (Tropical Storm Isaac just dumped about 8" on my garden on two days!)

Great job! Your hard work and labor of love certainly shows.

[Daryl]

Wow, what a great garden! Looks like a lot of hard work has gone into it!

Daryl

[AusJude2]

I have to agree with everyone else,your garden is so interesting not to mention amazing! You have tied it all together so well. I can see a lot of hard work has gone into it,must be so rewarding for you to see it as it is now. I also love your P. rupicola,such a beautiful palm. What's its growth rate like compared to P canariensis?