Beautiful Palmy House San Diego, California

[Palms1984]

This palmy house is located four blocks from where I live.  I believe these palms were planted in 2008.  They’ve grown very well over the years.  The royal palm had no trunk back in 2008.  
 

Unfortunately, you cannot see all the palms around this house.  I believe there’s Veitchia species, Wodyetia bifurcata, Wodveitchia, Howea, Roystonea regia. 

[Palms1984]

These photos were taken on August 11, 2025.

[peachy]

Might be the house of a palm talk person. It's a good variety and all look healthy and well grown too.

Peachy

[Harry’s Palms]

Yes , very nice palmy house . Do you know the folks? It might be worth getting to know them . I have made wonderful friends through a common interest . My wife and I go for walks around our neighborhood and always admire a garden a few blocks away . Full of palms and cycads. There are only a few such gardens in our city of Santa Paula . One day I was riding my bike in Ventura and decided to stop for iced tea on my way back to Santa Paula . There were a couple of cyclists sitting outside the coffee house . I asked them to keep an eye on my bike . When I came out , I asked where they were from , “ Santa Paula “ one of them said . I asked where and it turns out that one of them was the owner of the palmy house I had admired for years. We became the best of friends . His wife and my wife hit it off . We exchange plants and seeds. He and I go for rides together and laugh about our chance meeting. Harry

[SeanK]

Nicely landscaped. Could use a couple of small palmate plants underneath. Like a blue or silver Serenoa.

[Palms1984]

On 8/14/2025 at 4:11 AM, peachy said:

Might be the house of a palm talk person. It's a good variety and all look healthy and well grown too.

Peachy

Peachy,

I’ve never seen anyone outside this house, and I’ve lived in this neighborhood since 2003.  
 

The palms look good, but they could use fertilizer and I’m sure a lot more water.  San Diego is always so extremely dry.  This year San Diego has had only officially 4.5 inches (114 mm) of rain.  

[Palms1984]

On 8/14/2025 at 6:12 AM, Harry’s Palms said:

Yes , very nice palmy house . Do you know the folks? It might be worth getting to know them . I have made wonderful friends through a common interest . My wife and I go for walks around our neighborhood and always admire a garden a few blocks away . Full of palms and cycads. There are only a few such gardens in our city of Santa Paula . One day I was riding my bike in Ventura and decided to stop for iced tea on my way back to Santa Paula . There were a couple of cyclists sitting outside the coffee house . I asked them to keep an eye on my bike . When I came out , I asked where they were from , “ Santa Paula “ one of them said . I asked where and it turns out that one of them was the owner of the palmy house I had admired for years. We became the best of friends . His wife and my wife hit it off . We exchange plants and seeds. He and I go for rides together and laugh about our chance meeting. Harry

Harry,

Wow! That sounds like a wonderful experience!  

I’m very fortunate to live in the college area.  The climate here is awesome!  No frosts, temps very rarely below 44 degrees, and even in January of 2007 I only had one morning low of 35 degrees and few at 37 and 39 degrees.  There’s many large, old Dypsis lutesens, Dypsis decaryi, and Wodyetia are everywhere along with Ravenea.  Also, big, old Plumeria and African tulip trees everywhere.  There’s even some large Delonix regia and jackfruit trees around.  I believe most of the San Diego urban areas are within zone 11a now (except canyons). 
 

 

[Palms1984]

Seank,

There’s definitely room for more palms.  Ptychosperma elegans; schefferi and Pinanga coronata ‘Kuhlii’ grows very well here in semi-shaded conditions.

[Harry’s Palms]

The last winter was very dry . I watered quite a bit and always keep my garden tilled and mulched but in our arid climate the plants depend on our short rainy season. In drought years they just don’t look as good. I fertilized (organic) my Plumeria as always in early spring and got very few flowers this year . The plants look green but just not the flowers like wet years. There is something about rain that I am not able to duplicate here. Last year was just one of those years , the prior two years were very wet years for us and things were looking better. The palms are still healthy but look better in wet years. 
   I think the subject garden is beautiful . San Diego has a better climate than up here , for palm growing , but it is not tropical . We cannot change the arid climate we’re in. I have Chambeyronia, C. Decarii , Ravenea , R. Oleracae , and a few Dypsis that grow freely here . Some are over 25 years in the ground through warm and cool , dry and wet , they grow . Being on a hill has its advantages. Harry

[hbernstein]

I know that Roystonea can get big in California, but they definitely grow slower than in South Florida. The Royal in the photo shows it with it's massive, squat trunk. Probably a combination of cool winters, cool nights, and not growing in a swamp!

[Palms1984]

8 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

The last winter was very dry . I watered quite a bit and always keep my garden tilled and mulched but in our arid climate the plants depend on our short rainy season. In drought years they just don’t look as good. I fertilized (organic) my Plumeria as always in early spring and got very few flowers this year . The plants look green but just not the flowers like wet years. There is something about rain that I am not able to duplicate here. Last year was just one of those years , the prior two years were very wet years for us and things were looking better. The palms are still healthy but look better in wet years. 
   I think the subject garden is beautiful . San Diego has a better climate than up here , for palm growing , but it is not tropical . We cannot change the arid climate we’re in. I have Chambeyronia, C. Decarii , Ravenea , R. Oleracae , and a few Dypsis that grow freely here . Some are over 25 years in the ground through warm and cool , dry and wet , they grow . Being on a hill has its advantages. Harry

Here the plumerias are flowering like crazy!  Practically everyone in my neighborhood has one or more trees.  This is even with the extremely dry winter and cooler than normal July and August, so far.  
 

San Diego has a semi-arid (or mild subtropical) climate.  It does have quite a few warm to very warm days throughout the year, but is definitely not tropical.  I’m from Hawaii originally and the climate there is definitely not the same as in San Diego. 😎

Living on a south-facing slope in the College Area definitely creates a good microclimate for tropical and subtropical plants and trees.  There’s several royal and bottle palms in my area. 

[Palms1984]

7 hours ago, hbernstein said:

I know that Roystonea can get big in California, but they definitely grow slower than in South Florida. The Royal in the photo shows it with it's massive, squat trunk. Probably a combination of cool winters, cool nights, and not growing in a swamp!

Royal palms do exceptionally well in San Diego.  They can grow 60 to 65 ft, but I’ve never seen one as large as in Hawaii or Florida.  Hawaii and Florida are much hotter and receive 6 to 8 times more rainfall per year than San Diego.  The cooler nights here don’t appear to affect the royal palms, according to what I’ve observed. 

[Hu Palmeras]

On 14/8/2025 at 4:30, Palms1984 said:

Esta casa con palmeras está a cuatro cuadras de donde vivo. Creo que estas palmeras se plantaron en 2008. Han crecido muy bien con los años. La palma real no tenía tronco en 2008.  
 

Lamentablemente, no se ven todas las palmeras que rodean esta casa. Creo que hay especies de Veitchia, Wodyetia bifurcata, Wodveitchia, Howea y Roystonea regia. 

Very beautiful. Those palm trees give it an exotic and exquisite touch. I hope to germinate Roystonea Regia seeds soon.