Got an opportunity to stop by Jim's garden over the weekend. I enjoyed taking some of these photos, despite the difficult lighting conditions (bright highlights, dark shadows). Did a little post processing work to bring these photos to life. Hope you like them. 

Click the link to view the album. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GneVpq1VwwjRpdYr8

Phantastic album and best regards to Jim for granting permission to the tour!

Spectacular palms, absolutely amazing garden!

Thank you for sharing -

Lars

That's an amazing garden, especially for the area. I use to live about an hour from there, so I'm pretty familiar with the area, and to be honest I didn't know that all of those species could be grown there! Very impressive!

5 hours ago, BayAndroid said:

Got an opportunity to stop by Jim's garden over the weekend. I enjoyed taking some of these photos, despite the difficult lighting conditions (bright highlights, dark shadows). Did a little post processing work to bring these photos to life. Hope you like them. 

Click the link to view the album. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GneVpq1VwwjRpdYr8

Hi Will, It was a pleasure having you here. One correction. The hybrid Syagrus has no Queen palm genes. It’s actually S. cearensis x coronata.

Wow, that's a garden to work towards.  I wonder how many people realize the amount of work and knowledge it takes to do that.  I feel clueless on the specifics sometimes and can't ID about half of those.  These albums are great motivators to learn more and hop onto Google.  Thanks for sharing!

Nice garden and collection. Hard to believe that they can be that healthy that far north. You have the magic touch for sure.

3 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Hi Will, It was a pleasure having you here. One correction. The hybrid Syagrus has no Queen palm genes. It’s actually S. cearensis x coronata.

I'll fix that! Thanks! 

4 hours ago, RainforestCafe said:

That's an amazing garden, especially for the area. I use to live about an hour from there, so I'm pretty familiar with the area, and to be honest I didn't know that all of those species could be grown there! Very impressive!

I’m in a very nice microclimate here. Nothing below 33°F since 2007 and virtually no frost either. There are about 130 palm species growing in the garden presently, some of which I didn’t expect to live year after year such as Licuala, Wodyetia, Geonoma, Clinostigma, Burretiokentia, Euterpe, to name a few. I’m always experimenting. My latest  additions being Satakentia and Arenga hookeriana. 

Great curvatures on those palms! Has that been induced via planting technique or is it due to the extreme density?

Beautiful garden!!! How old is it?

Lovely photos! Definitely the most diverse outdoor palm garden in Northern California! 

Astounding! Having visited @Darold Petty's garden last year I would love to see what a slightly warmer microclime can enable.

IMHO,  Jim has the best garden in NorCal.    

1 hour ago, Darold Petty said:

IMHO,  Jim has the best garden in NorCal.    

Hey Darold, you came up in our conversation and I mentioned that.. "I need to go check out Darold's garden!"

Come by anytime !  

4 hours ago, Foggy Paul said:

Astounding! Having visited @Darold Petty's garden last year I would love to see what a slightly warmer microclime can enable.

I love Darold’s garden. He’s taken great advantage of every space so well!

It’s quite a bit warmer here however but still not a “hot” climate. You’re welcome to visit anytime. Here’s a couple views out my living room window this morning as more wet weather arrives.  

 

 

9 hours ago, 96720 said:

Beautiful garden!!! How old is it?

Most of it is roughly 20 years old. There are a few specimens older however and much that is a lot younger as well. 

17 hours ago, mlovecan said:

Great curvatures on those palms! Has that been induced via planting technique or is it due to the extreme density?

Most is natural curvature. 

@Jim in Los Altos garden is one of my favorites because of his use of color, contrasts in palm size/texture, and use of curved pathways to create “viewpoints” and areas that invite exploration.

Oh, and he owns a lot of cool palms too… but his design skills are what I most admire. Beautiful garden. 🥰

There are collectors and there are landscapers but somehow Jim (and Darold) seem able to serve two masters.

Outstanding. Would love to see it person and take it all in. Great job.

 

Fantastic 👍

Oh yeah, Jim’s garden is about as good as it gets. Been a pleasure seeing the botanicals and hardscape throughout the years. You go Jim!

Tim

Hi Jim I’m new to gardening and trying to grow a tropical garden. Is there a way to tour your garden. I also live in the Bay Area.