Darold Petty Cloud forest @ sea level palm collection

[Tassie_Troy1971]

I meant to say Cloud forest !

Darolds palm collection is always of great interest to me as due to similar climates (except my warmer Summer temperatures ) i should be able to grow the same palms down in Hobart .

Darold started his garden 1982 with the constriuction of irrigation patio and pathways and a small greenhouse . In the Spring of 1983 Darold made a week long buying trip to San Diego . One of the first people Darold visited was Jim Wright whom advised Darold what palms would be suitable for his climate .

Darold has great drainage with his deep sandy soil and is situated i nthe Sunset area of San Francisco where foggy and overcast conditions persist for week in Summer with temperatures in nmidsummer sometimes not exceeding 60 F ( 16 c ) .

Darold has all the Lord Howe Island palms and with the exception of Lepidorrachis ( nearly trunking ) all the others have substantial trunk and are thriving in the heat deprived climate.

Out front is the magnificent Ceroxylon parvifrons

Video

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Even better at night time

This is what Darold said in a former post about his Ceroxylon parvifrons

" My plant of C. parvifrons was never in a
pot after germination. After the eophyll was fully expanded I ground
planted the seedling beneath a Chamaedorea microspadix in March of 1991.
The establishment phase was quite slow, with no above ground trunk for
the first 12 years. In the past 6 years it has grown 3.72 m (12' 2")
of true trunk with a diameter of 17 cm (6.75"). It holds 9-11 good
leaves, has flowered twice, and is a male plant.

Note that the trunk below the leafbases is more green. The
characteristic white wax is a response to sunlight and develops after
exposure. My plant is also more white on the sunny side relative to the
shady side!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Darold has 2 fully grown Geonoma undata in his yard and i took this picture from Darolds 2nd storey patio

The cheery red trunk is spectacular to say the least !

This is Darolds words on these 2 amazing palms

My plants of Geonoma undata are the high elevation form propagated by Dick Endt. I purchased three plants from Landsendt in January of 2001. G. undata
has a wide range of geographic location and altitude. My palms came
from a wild population in southern Ecuador, south of the city of Loja at
an approximate elevation of 2600 m (8500 ft). In 1996 I collected seed
from supposed G. undata at 1560 m (4800
ft) along the highway from Quito toward Tinalandia on the western
Andean slope. This lower elevation form failed to grow in my garden,
but I believe this might be the form Matty B is growing in San Diego.

I planted the first of my three palms on June 28th, 2001. It now has
61 cm (24") of clean trunk with diameter of 15 cm (4.8"). I have also
grown G. weberbaueri, but with poor results and have no surviving
plants.

My high elevation form of G. undata is
a true cloud forest plant. It wants very bright light, but not all-day
harsh sun: high humidity, constant moisture, and cool temperatures with
little day/night variation. If the potting medium of a potted plant
dries out, it is always fatal. The plants grow leaves quickly all 12
months of the year and actually slow down during warmer weather.

"

[Tassie_Troy1971]

This is Darolds smaller Ceroxylon parvifrons that is planted adjacent to his trunking one .

By the way Ceroxylon parvifrons in my fastest growing palm during the my cool humid Tasmanian winter .

[Tassie_Troy1971]

This is one of Darold's smaller Hedyscepe planted in the front yard .

Chameadorea stolonifera i think

Lytocaryum wedelianium

Butia - which one Darold

Chamearops cerifera

Dypsis baronii - loves Darolds cool climate

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Chameadorea plumosa in a tight group make a very effective planting

Darolds Ceroxylon collection continues into the backyard

Video

The Ceroxylon quindiuense is immense as seen from Darolds patio the huge asending fronds .

My Hand (complete with bruised fingernail for scale )

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Cyathea medullaris -massive tree fern from New Zealand thrives in Darolds Climate !

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Hedyscepe crown

Hedyscepe trunk

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Darolds Lepidorrachis mooreana is huge !

[Tassie_Troy1971]

ceroxylon Vogelianum

video

Darold collected this rare plants seeds in Peru !

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Dypsis baronii black stem

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Howea forsteriana

Howea belmoreana

Can't remember this one Darold ?

Splash of colour

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Tallest Howea forsteriana

Darold Hedyscepe crown

[Tassie_Troy1971]

I will be doing a seperate Thread on all of Darold's Rhopalostylis collection in the next two days ! stay tuned

teaser pic :drool:

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

This is my favorite Bay area palm garden! Darold is the one responsible for me getting into palms back in the 90's. Most of my early plantings were all species that Darold recommended. It's an incredible garden, shows what is possible in San Francisco.

Hey Troy, I've got a better shot of that massive crown shaft. It's way bigger than Pogobob's rhopie crownshaft, it's the biggest in the state. My son loved that crownshaft.

[sarasota alex]

Great photos!

Darold's Butia is B. catarinensis (formerly B. bonnetii)

[Bags]

Axel! That is such a cool picture! Monster crown shaft plus cute kid. Love it!

I am going to put Darold's Geonoma undata at the top of my list of palms I want to grow.

[_Keith]

Awesome. Keep em coming

[Bill Austin]

Unreal

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Awesome picture Axel ! and yes the crowshaft is unbelievably huge ! Young Lucas looks right at home clinging to it !

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Darold has many forms of Rhopalostylis in his garden

Rhopalostylis Great Barrier Island ( i think or is it the little Barrier Island )

Chatham island

Darold has all his palms date /size @ planting and source all on indexed cards wish i was that organised !

Troy

[dalmatiansoap]

Not unreal Bill,

this is: so unreal!!!

[LJG]

Darold has 2 fully grown Geonoma undata in his yard and i took this picture from Darolds 2nd storey patio

The cheery red trunk is spectacular to say the least !

This is Darolds words on these 2 amazing palms

My plants of Geonoma undata are the high elevation form propagated by Dick Endt. I purchased three plants from Landsendt in January of 2001. G. undata

has a wide range of geographic location and altitude. My palms came

from a wild population in southern Ecuador, south of the city of Loja at

an approximate elevation of 2600 m (8500 ft). In 1996 I collected seed

from supposed G. undata at 1560 m (4800

ft) along the highway from Quito toward Tinalandia on the western

Andean slope. This lower elevation form failed to grow in my garden,

but I believe this might be the form Matty B is growing in San Diego.

I planted the first of my three palms on June 28th, 2001. It now has

61 cm (24") of clean trunk with diameter of 15 cm (4.8"). I have also

grown G. weberbaueri, but with poor results and have no surviving

plants.

My high elevation form of G. undata is

a true cloud forest plant. It wants very bright light, but not all-day

harsh sun: high humidity, constant moisture, and cool temperatures with

little day/night variation. If the potting medium of a potted plant

dries out, it is always fatal. The plants grow leaves quickly all 12

months of the year and actually slow down during warmer weather.

"

One of my favorite palms in any yard

[BS Man about Palms]

I whole-heartedly concur with you Len.

[Gileno Machado]

Thanks for these nice pictures, Troy.

I visited his fantastic collection back in 2006 and I remember most of these palms, much smaller though. The Geonoma undata is looking awesome now...

Darold is a great enthusiastic collector and grower, a true pioneer in this palm community, and also a friendly gentleman in every sense.

[edric]

Great thread Troy, amazing trees Darold, Ed

[Joe palma]

That G. undata is insane looking!!! Wow!!!......Wow, wow, wow!!

[humangenomaproject]

I love the Geonoma. Insane. Is Baronii "black stem" the same as Dypsis Affinis sold by Floribunda? Jeff mentioned that affinis resembled baronii and I have three that look very similar.

[Darold Petty]

In Post # 11: The seedling palms are actually Dypsis baronii 'black petiole', provided by Floribunda Palms.

second image is Chamaedorea tuerckheimii.

third image is Dyspsis marojejii

fourth image is Ceroxylon ventricosum

In Post # 12: The palm is my third plant of Geonoma undata. This one has failed to thrive because it is in an area too shady, and too dry.

Thanks to all for the kind remarks !

[JasonD]

A treasure of a man with a treasure trove of a garden. Perfectly documented, Troy!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Thank you Darold for the updates

Yes no visit to SFO is complete for a palm grower without a visit to Darold's garden

[Hammer]

I am going to put Darold's Geonoma undata at the top of my list of palms I want to grow.

Me too!!!!

[JakeK]

Darold, your garden is incredible. I'm blown away by your undatas. The highland version is much more colorful than ours growing in the forest on the ranch at 5000 feet. All those Ceroxylon's and Rhopies too! Just incredible.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Darold, your garden is incredible. I'm blown away by your undatas. The highland version is much more colorful than ours growing in the forest on the ranch at 5000 feet. All those Ceroxylon's and Rhopies too! Just incredible.

Wow Darold a compliment from Ecuador ! :greenthumb:

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Bump

gotta love this palm collection

Darold and his wife Jan will be our Guests down here in Tasmania in early March !

Troy

[Jim in Los Altos]

I can just imagine what San Francisco would look like if there were lots more Darolds living there. Darold's awesome garden is a testament to what can be done in such a cool but not cold environment. I NEED a G. undata too!

[Moose]

So impressed by all the mature palms, many species I could never grow but so wish I could !

[ghar41]

I can just imagine what San Francisco would look like if there were lots more Darolds living there. Darold's awesome garden is a testament to what can be done in such a cool but not cold environment. I NEED a G. undata too!

I've had no success germinating seed of what I presume is the lowland type of G undata Jim. Last time we spoke, Darold isnt having any luck either. Has anyone had success with it?

[Alicehunter2000]

Can't believe I missed this thread. So many cool (pardon the pun) palms. It really is amazing that such beautiful palms grow with such limited heat. Something to be said for the the latitude that they flourish in as well, that sun angle up there has got to be pretty low most of the year. Beautiful garden for sure.

[Darold Petty]

The RPS seed was a complete bust, according to a friend who purchased 1000 seed and sent me 200. I obtained no germination from the 200 seeds.

Last November I visited the exact site of Dick Endt's 1990s collection in the south of Ecuador. The red-crownshaft form of Geonoma undata is common there in the dense cloud forest at 2482 masl. Sadly, there were no seeds, and not even any active spadices. I would assume a higher probability of seed this April or May.

The good news is that the immediate area is original, and intact. The Inca Trail is still used and maintained by the local residents. The site is an easy daytrip from Loja or Villcambamba and is just steps off the main highway.