Our Pond Palms

[LilikoiLee]

Mike and I like to get out in the garden before the bright sun and heat take over, but Saturday morning we were too late to avoid it so we decided to put a beautiful Pinanga densiflora in a shady area of the garden. There was an excellent shade spot on the border of our future pond so we took out the existing Japanese aralia, planted the Pinanga and took this picture.

Lee

[LilikoiLee]

Since we never took pictures of the area prior to clearing it we decided to take some so we would have pictures of it at this point in time. We really regret that we did not start taking photo records of our garden until early this year. It would have been particularly significant for this area because it took us 4 months of weekends to clear and remove three enormous trees, dozens of coffee trees and a death defying vine - but we didnt take any pictures before we started.

My husband Mike (Oo Bar Master) loves ponds and the area seemed to be an ideal place for one as clearing the roots of the original trees had created a small sunken area.

The following are photos of the future ponds area.

As Mike digs up large rocks from other places in the garden he moves them to the pond area where we will use them to build a small waterfall at the entrance of the pond. The water will reach the pond by cascading along the border of a clump of bamboo which is just up the slope and then under the bench platform.

[LilikoiLee]

The still-to-be-finished platform below the calyptrocalyx and the bench is one of the places we like to sit after a hard day in the garden. We really enjoy watching the fading light slowly change the way the palm fronds look from below. The plastic box under the bench stores candles that we light when it gets too dark to see.

Lee

[LilikoiLee]

These pictures are of the palms immediately bordering the pond. All of them were planted two years ago from various pot sizes and are doing well considering that due to large rocks in the area we couldnt get any decent size holes.
One of my original ideas was what I call peek-a-boo landscaping. I wanted lots of winding trails so that as you came around a corner you would see something that hadn't been visible before.
This worked out very well for the pond area. As you pass the pond from the surrounding trails you can only see small parts of it from different vantage points.
When you are sitting at the pond you can fully see the palms that immediately surround it.


Thrinax parviflora and P.densiflora


Orange vestiaria


Coccothrinax argentata and argentea

[LilikoiLee]

Kentia fosteriana



That's a giant anthurium under this Kentia fosteriana. Cant remember what is called or where I bought it but it is a stunner!
Note: I planted the ivy vine from a few cuttings three years ago. It has taken over the area but wed rather have it than weeds.



K. fosteriana with bamboo

[joe_OC]

Beautiful pinanga!

[LilikoiLee]

We had to take pictures of the following palms from beyond the pond because they can be seen but not photographed well from the pond.

Gaussia -We bought these at a ‘big box’ store early on. They were labeled Caribbean Palms and we didn’t know what they were until Bo-Göran identified them as Gaussia. These are the only ones we’ve ever seen in the gardens we’ve visited.

C. Spicatus

We saw this palm on a garden tour. (Palm tours are very dangerous things!) We couldn’t find it anywhere for a long time but finally found one in a 10 gal pot at a local nursery. It was close to death so the owner sold it to us for $25 and promised that if it died he would give us a $25 credit toward another palm. It took a couple of years to rebound but is now healthy and growing well. When we showed the nursery owner a picture of it he couldn’t believe we’d managed to save it.

In this photo you can also see a smaller Spicatus. We wanted to be able to walk under the canopy of two Spicatus but couldn’t find one as tall as the 1^st one, a Dypsis baronii and a Rhapis. Barely visible in the back left corner of the photo is a Licuala aurantiaca.

Lee

[LilikoiLee]

This is also one of our first palm purchases. I really wanted one after seeing it a TV gardening show but couldn’t find one for a very long time. I didn’t know how climate tolerant it was so I foolishly planted it one of the shadiest locations in the garden - where I could have planted some of our rain forest palms.

Trachycarpus fortunei

Lee

[LilikoiLee]

Mike loves Komodo Dragons so I gave him this one for his birthday last year. It looks great sitting on the edge of pond and real enough that some people might do a double take (or so we hope).

Thanks for looking!

Lee

[Kim]

Palms and ponds and waterfalls and komodo dragons, oh my! You and Mike are having way too much fun. I'm a little jealous of the impending water features -- the sound of trickling water is so soothing. I will have to be satisfied listening to the rain. Beautiful photos, thanks!

[bgl]

Lee,

Wow, stunning photos and all that work you've done. Makes me wonder what you did with all your free time before getting involved with palms? So, next HIPS garden tour on the Kona side at your and Mike's place?

Bo-Göran

PS. Oh, and that Komodo Dragon! Perfect!

[LilikoiLee]

Palms and ponds and waterfalls and komodo dragons, oh my! You and Mike are having way too much fun. I'm a little jealous of the impending water features -- the sound of trickling water is so soothing. I will have to be satisfied listening to the rain. Beautiful photos, thanks!

Kim, your post reminded me how wonderful the sound of rain is on water. Something to look forward to when the pond is finished.

Thanks for the positive feedback. We're always hesitant to post the messes in our garden but if we waited until is as spotless as most of the gardens here we'd never get to post anything.

Lee

Palms and ponds and waterfalls and komodo dragons, oh my! You and Mike are having way too much fun. I'm a little jealous of the impending water features -- the sound of trickling water is so soothing. I will have to be satisfied listening to the rain. Beautiful photos, thanks!

Oops, it took so long for the Reply box to come up I clicked the button again.

[LilikoiLee]

Lee,

Wow, stunning photos and all that work you've done. Makes me wonder what you did with all your free time before getting involved with palms? So, next HIPS garden tour on the Kona side at your and Mike's place?

Bo-Göran

PS. Oh, and that Komodo Dragon! Perfect!

Mike and I always up to something. So many fun things to do and learn about, but nothing has been as fun, interesting and rewarding as palms. We've pretty much given up everything else we used to do.

We'll have a tour here as soon as the entire HIPS membership comes over and pulls weeds! If they put in 10 hour days they shouldn't have any trouble getting it done in a month.

Lee

PS: Mike has a thing about dragons of any kind. His bamboo garden has a doz....(well, I better not say how many he has or I'll get into trouble....) He's got them very nicely arranged - in the trees, hiding under the bamboo, etc. We enjoy a bit of childishness. it makes us forget how old we are.

Lee

[talkjk]

Very nice. We look forward to seeing the progress photos.

[NApalm]

Beautiful. There's nothing better than a water feature in a garden. They really make it. Ill second joe oc's thoughts and say beautiful pinanga

[LilikoiLee]

Thank you everyone for your positive comments. It takes so much work and energy to take care of our 400 plants in the ground and at least 50 more seedlings to 1 gal plants that we often can't see the beauty that is 'blooming' through all of the weeds and general mess. So it feels really wonderful to have others tell us that it IS coming together and some of it is really lovely.

Lee

[Walter John]

Beautiful.

[doranakandawatta]

Many thanks Lee,

Reading your topic in the morning after waking up is like staying in the dream.

...take care of our 400 plants in the ground and at least 50 more seedlings....

My problem is: We have 50 plants in the ground and at least 400 more seedlings! What to do?

Philippe

[Shirleypalmpaws]

Very Sweet, Lee…..you and Mike are champions of pure beauty!

[Tassie_Troy1971]

very nice Lee

I was so surprised to see the kentia doing so well !

[Cindy Adair]

Lee,

You and Mike have done a great job with your bit of paradise. While I clearly enjoy visiting perfectly manicured gardens and looking at photos of correctly spaced individual plants, there's nothing like a collection of beloved species each with a story!

We have had only a few visitors so far to our Puerto Rican jungle. One was a friend who has a fabulous suburban backyard in the states that he tends to daily. He has a horticulture job and his garden has rightfully been on many garden tours. After a hike around part of our farm he said although he loved the cacophony of plants, he could never own such a property. He then explained that he would feel obliged to maintain the same level of detailed attention that he currently achieves on his temperate small yard. He said he would be constantly frustrated by the abundance of the tropics.

I understand his feelings. I started small with a geometrical group of raised beds where only herbs were allowed. Then I expanded the herb designation to allow for truly useful plants which of course really means anything if you add beauty or bizarre to the mix. Add more pets and 3 children and now I plant what I like in that originally formal garden.

So I don't worry about my Puerto Rican acres ever being perfect for anyone, but us. I clean around the plants to keep them alive and so I can admire them better. We machete paths so we can get to the plants and make room to plant more. My PVC pipes with orange flagging tape are much more distracting than a few weeds.

So don't worry about cleaning weeds before you have people over. Plant lovers will understand!

[O'o Bar Master]

Many thanks Lee,

Reading your topic in the morning after waking up is like staying in the dream.

...take care of our 400 plants in the ground and at least 50 more seedlings....

My problem is: We have 50 plants in the ground and at least 400 more seedlings! What to do?

Philippe

Aloha Phillipe,

Thank you for your kind words and the humor in your comment. On the positive side you will have the pleasure of watching your seedings grown and evolve into stunning palms. It took me a long time to understand and enjoy that process. I wanted an instant garden but watching the seedlings prosper and change now brings me great pleasure.

Mike recently took some pictures of the 'nursery' he set up. I will post them very soon.

Lee

Oops. My computer keeps kicking me back and forth into O'o Bar Master. This is the second day we've been having this problem and are working on a solution.

Lee

[doranakandawatta]

Ayubowan Lee-Mike,

I am looking forward to discovering new pictures of your garden and seedlings...

Thanks in advance.

PS:
Doranakanda news;

We had a fight between a cobra and some wild pig in our seedlings nursery last night, Lord Cobra is doing night guard and don't allow others to come close to the 400 seedlings!

[LilikoiLee]

Lee,

You and Mike have done a great job with your bit of paradise. While I clearly enjoy visiting perfectly manicured gardens and looking at photos of correctly spaced individual plants, there's nothing like a collection of beloved species each with a story!

We have had only a few visitors so far to our Puerto Rican jungle. One was a friend who has a fabulous suburban backyard in the states that he tends to daily. He has a horticulture job and his garden has rightfully been on many garden tours. After a hike around part of our farm he said although he loved the cacophony of plants, he could never own such a property. He then explained that he would feel obliged to maintain the same level of detailed attention that he currently achieves on his temperate small yard. He said he would be constantly frustrated by the abundance of the tropics.

I understand his feelings. I started small with a geometrical group of raised beds where only herbs were allowed. Then I expanded the herb designation to allow for truly useful plants which of course really means anything if you add beauty or bizarre to the mix. Add more pets and 3 children and now I plant what I like in that originally formal garden.

So I don't worry about my Puerto Rican acres ever being perfect for anyone, but us. I clean around the plants to keep them alive and so I can admire them better. We machete paths so we can get to the plants and make room to plant more. My PVC pipes with orange flagging tape are much more distracting than a few weeds.

So don't worry about cleaning weeds before you have people over. Plant lovers will understand!

Aloha Cindy,

I will never be like your meticulous friend. Not that I like a mess but I do enjoy a garden that looks natural and a FEW dead fronds and a FEW weeds don't upset me. Our garden is WAY beyond that! Year after year we've told people that we'd be finished by next January and would have a tour. We've been doing this for four years. I at least want to make a 75% good impression when we have our 1st friends over. (You'll have to fly in from the mainland or PR, but it will be worth it to see the many gorgeous gardens on the Big Island.)

I am amazed that you have accomplished everything you've done with three children and pets. We only have the pets and they are on equal priority with the garden. Fortunately the palms out number them exponentially. Mike and I are both amazed at how well your PR garden is doing despite that you are not taking care of it full time. Mike looked at your recent video post of it and really liked the way you've marked the plants with the orange pipes.

I'm looking forward to seeing you in Miami and among other things, I will finally be able to find out how to pronounce your 'handle'.

Lee

[DoomsDave]

Palms and ponds and waterfalls and komodo dragons, oh my! You and Mike are having way too much fun. I'm a little jealous of the impending water features -- the sound of trickling water is so soothing. I will have to be satisfied listening to the rain. Beautiful photos, thanks!

Rain?

What's that?

[DoomsDave]

Lee and o'o-m, keep the pictures coming. Of everything.

When the biennial comes again to Hawaii, your place should be on the list . . . .

[Cindy Adair]

Thanks for your kind words.

I'm looking forward to seeing you in Miami and among other things, I will finally be able to find out how to pronounce your 'handle'.

Lee

You don't have to wait to find out and the answer is kind of boring. Actually I don't pronounce it!

It is a combination of my initials (SSA) "and" my husband's initials (APA). It's easy for me to remember and I didn't know when I first registered here if I'd ever post a second time. I also figured no one else would have chosen it already. Yes, I am Cindy, but my legal first name is Sarah, hence the SSA.

[LilikoiLee]

Ayubowan Lee-Mike,

Aloha Philippe,

Is Ayubowan similar to the Hawaiian "Aloha"?

Get tired of the cold? I lived on Chicago’s lake front for a few years. The wind off the lake could freeze a person to death.

A cobra and a wild pig? I wouldn’t want either one in our garden. The only kind of snake we have is called a “Hawaiian snake”. They are only 4 inches long and minutely thin. I’ve only seen one in the 30 years I’ve lived here.

We do have a family of wild pigs living of the vacant lot next door. We put up an electric fence which they quickly learned to respect. We enjoy watching them. I’ve read that they are one of the smartest animals and from what we see that is definitely true.

Mike and I really appreciate your kind words about our garden as well as the ‘conversations’ we have with you.

Lee

[doranakandawatta]

Vanakam, Lee,

You're right , Ayubowan is sinhalese "Aloha" and now Vanakam is tamil "Aloha" , sinhala and tamil are the two native langages in Ceylon!
I love these populations and feel very sorry they had a war few years ago. Sri Lanka is such a lovely country.

Last news told me we have around 10 cobras in the village, but they can be the rebirth of some grandmother or incarnation of any god, so we worship them.

We can't have electric fence in Doranakanda garden since we can't have electricity every day, so we have to admit wild pigs eating young Bismarckia or others, but not too much!

Worst are porcupines, our friend Thabit Suby lost so many palms of his collection.

some more pics soon?

Kindest regards

Philippe

[LilikoiLee]

Thanks for your kind words.

I'm looking forward to seeing you in Miami and among other things, I will finally be able to find out how to pronounce your 'handle'.

Lee

You don't have to wait to find out and the answer is kind of boring. Actually I don't pronounce it!

It is a combination of my initials (SSA) "and" my husband's initials (APA). It's easy for me to remember and I didn't know when I first registered here if I'd ever post a second time. I also figured no one else would have chosen it already. Yes, I am Cindy, but my legal first name is Sarah, hence the SSA.

OK - got it. I'm still trying to come up with a way to pronounce it...just for fun.

"I didn't ....know if I'd post a second time". That makes you the 999,999th person to incorrectly think they might not post a second time. (And that may well be a serious understatement.)

Lee

[doranakandawatta]

Lee,

it seems to be dry in Kona, I don't see your pond!

Did Kona got a tsunami destroying the coast? (I experienced the tsunami in december 2004)
Do you have to water often?

Regards

Philippe

[LilikoiLee]

Rain?

What's that?

Don't be too jealous, Dooms Dave! Rain is very rare on the west side of the Big Island and since I fell in love with rain forest palms we have very few palms that actually love the sun and dry weather. Most of our water comes out of a pipe so what we have are horrendous water bills.

Lee

[doranakandawatta]

off topic,

Sorry! Lee

But we can compare Kona and Doranakanda's village seen from the sky:

it's more green here and you can notice the river on the top of the picture (Kelani river), paddy fields, rubber plantation and betel nut palms... and the wild jungle.

[Pedro 65]

Lee and Mike, I love seeing your pics and great work you have both done," Love the Pinanga", I think the "pond" ( pic 1 ?) needs different name, or at least some water, or do you just see the blue liner when looking down and it looks like clear blue water Look fwd to more pics of your beautiful gardens. Pete

[LilikoiLee]

Lee and Mike, I love seeing your pics and great work you have both done," Love the Pinanga", I think the "pond" ( pic 1 ?) needs different name, or at least some water, or do you just see the blue liner when looking down and it looks like clear blue water Look fwd to more pics of your beautiful gardens. Pete

We wanted to put something down to keep the weeds from taking over and just happened to have a blue tarp. Lee

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I like the fact that you're blending in some cooler growers like kentias and trachys with nice tender tropicals. The fact that you have one of the hardiest palms on the planet in your garden where it will always be some 50-70 degrees above it's lowest tolerated temperature is interesting and fun. The fact that you're on the dry side with some elevation should open up an opportunity to grow all the wonderful highland palms alongside more tropical lowland types. I wonder if it's dry and high enough to even play with brahea? I know they grow in some of the higher elevations around the big island. Seems like the best of both worlds. You guys might want to go look for some ceroxylon palms, I bet they would grow beautifully up there.

[realarch]

What a great post Lee. Too bad I have to learn about what a wonderful garden you have via photos. Still patiently waiting for an invite

for the peek-a-boo tour. The topography for the water feature is killer, tell the O'o bar master a few more 'BIG' rocks wouldn't hurt, although I'd hate for him to lose anymore teeth, a finger, or an eye just for that perfect slice of ambiance. On second thought, no I wouldn't, ambiance is everything.

Tim

[O'o Bar Master]

What a great post Lee. Too bad I have to learn about what a wonderful garden you have via photos. Still patiently waiting for an invite

for the peek-a-boo tour. The topography for the water feature is killer, tell the O'o bar master a few more 'BIG' rocks wouldn't hurt, although I'd hate for him to lose anymore teeth, a finger, or an eye just for that perfect slice of ambiance. On second thought, no I wouldn't, ambiance is everything.

Tim

Hey Tim,

You, Bob, Bö-Goren and Kim, along with a few other special people, will be the first to see the garden. As you saw on Sunday's HIPS tour, we've already got the chairs and tables for the get-together! Despite the long delay I am just as anxious to do that as you are!

Things are coming along, we planted two large Iriartea yesterday in a place Mike swore we'd never find holes. And there weren't even any rocks in them!

In the meantime we'll continue to post pictures of things that can be seen above the weeds.

PS - It is rainy today but I am sure Mike will post pics of the Iriartea the first day the weather lets him take his camera outside.

[LilikoiLee]

I like the fact that you're blending in some cooler growers like kentias and trachys with nice tender tropicals. The fact that you have one of the hardiest palms on the planet in your garden where it will always be some 50-70 degrees above it's lowest tolerated temperature is interesting and fun. The fact that you're on the dry side with some elevation should open up an opportunity to grow all the wonderful highland palms alongside more tropical lowland types. I wonder if it's dry and high enough to even play with brahea? I know they grow in some of the higher elevations around the big island. Seems like the best of both worlds. You guys might want to go look for some ceroxylon palms, I bet they would grow beautifully up there.

I like the fact that you're blending in some cooler growers like kentias and trachys with nice tender tropicals. The fact that you have one of the hardiest palms on the planet in your garden where it will always be some 50-70 degrees above it's lowest tolerated temperature is interesting and fun. The fact that you're on the dry side with some elevation should open up an opportunity to grow all the wonderful highland palms alongside more tropical lowland types. I wonder if it's dry and high enough to even play with brahea? I know they grow in some of the higher elevations around the big island. Seems like the best of both worlds. You guys might want to go look for some ceroxylon palms, I bet they would grow beautifully up there.

I like the fact that you're blending in some cooler growers like kentias and trachys with nice tender tropicals. The fact that you have one of the hardiest palms on the planet in your garden where it will always be some 50-70 degrees above it's lowest tolerated temperature is interesting and fun. The fact that you're on the dry side with some elevation should open up an opportunity to grow all the wonderful highland palms alongside more tropical lowland types. I wonder if it's dry and high enough to even play with brahea? I know they grow in some of the higher elevations around the big island. Seems like the best of both worlds. You guys might want to go look for some ceroxylon palms, I bet they would grow beautifully up there.

Axel, Thanks for sharing your ideas and information. You've got me thinking out of the box! I had never thought about it as an opportunity to put different climate palms in our garden, but we've been doing that. I love rainforest palms so we've had to pretty much create that environment in a climate that everyone warned us would never work for those palms. Well, we've growing lots of them. The only ones I've failed at are Basselinia...just the 1g and below ones. Although I now have a 1 gal pancheri that is looking really good. All the others I've had to buy in 3 g or larger to have them succeed.

We already have 8 kentia....only because a friend moved back to the mainland and gave us her two triple-planted ones to add to our existing two, as well ad the sealing wax we'd given her a few year's earlier. The triples are in 20 gal pots and I don't see Mike putting them in ground even if the holes for them opened up on their own accord!

All of the them are doing really well, growing at a good rate and never had a pest or fungal problem. Mike wants a belmorena really badly but we can't find one. The only one we've ever seen was at a very high elevation on Oahu so I suspect they wouldn't do well here.

We also have an incredibly beautiful Brahea clara. Wow do I love it! I looked for one for years and finally found one in a 2g pot. When it got to 3g size we planted it in a very sunny area of a 20' cliff with some other sun and heat loving palms.

If I ever find another Brahea I'll grab it up.

Lee

[bgl]

What a great post Lee. Too bad I have to learn about what a wonderful garden you have via photos. Still patiently waiting for an invite

for the peek-a-boo tour. The topography for the water feature is killer, tell the O'o bar master a few more 'BIG' rocks wouldn't hurt, although I'd hate for him to lose anymore teeth, a finger, or an eye just for that perfect slice of ambiance. On second thought, no I wouldn't, ambiance is everything.

Tim

Hey Tim,

You, Bob, Bö-Goren and Kim, along with a few other special people, will be the first to see the garden. As you saw on Sunday's HIPS tour, we've already got the chairs and tables for the get-together! Despite the long delay I am just as anxious to do that as you are!

Wow, special mention! Looking forward to this and with the new part of the Saddle Road open, easier and quicker than ever to cross the island. As you know so very well! Took the Saddle Road coming back Sunday evening, and, WOW, what an experience! Undoubtedly the best road in all of Hawaii!

Bo-Göran