Palm trees going begging in SoCal (SB)

[Sean Osborne]

This post will take a bit of patience.

Hi folks, I’m in an … interesting situation. I have recently taken over caring for my father, Barry Osborne’s, extensive palm tree collection in Santa Barbara. Dad pretty much gave up on it 10 years ago do to failing health, and when his elaborate drip irrigation setup began to fail, Mom had some gardeners put in sprinklers.

This is Santa Barbara. The water bills are immense. I am slowly re-establishing the drip irrigation system and phasing out the sprinklers. But.

There are dozens of palm tree seedlings and some good-sized volunteers which have come up in the watered area over the past decade. Once I shift over to drip, these volunteers will die from lack of water. I have moved a half-dozen to pots, most of the rest are still in the ground.

Unfortunately, I have only been able to positively identify 3 of the volunteer species: Butia odorata, Parajubaea cocoides, and Copernicia alba. The rest are unknowns, some King palms and quite a few Brahea (species unknown).

I am looking for homes for these palms. I’d like to get a bit for the larger potted plants, since they took a lot of work to get up, and I need to keep funding the drip irrigation shift. I’m asking $50 each for the P. cocoides, and $20 each for the C. alba and the unknown king palms. The ones still in the ground you are welcome to come dig up for free, just bring your own pot(s) and clean up after yourself.

There are a good dozen tiny P. cocoides volunteers, as well as an 8 foot (trunk is 16”, tallest leaf over 8’) cocoides that I would love to get rid of but do not want to dig up.

There are a similar number of C. alba volunteers, some quite large.

There are a half dozen B. odorata volunteers in a bed where they cannot stay.

There are innumerable tiny volunteers everywhere that are too small to ID.

Barry Osborne had one of the most extensive rare palm tree collections in the U.S. The Roystonia regia is especially admired, as is the massive Chilean wine palm (Jubaea chilensis). At one point he was able to document over 800 endangered species in his yard, in order to procure an exemption from a water moratorium. His place was visited by palm enthusiasts from around the world for several decades.

If you are interested in any of the potted palms listed, or if you would like to come dig up some of the unpotted trees, or even if you just want to see the collection, text me, Sean, @ 828-674-3886.