She believes that most palms do best with an abundant
supply of water. Her theory is that you can't overwater a palm,
which makes sense because in habitat, most palms come from areas
of 100 to 300 inches of annual rainfall. Pauleen even allows some
of her palms to sit in an inch or so of water, and she has developed
a system of swirling out the old water so that fresh, oxygenated
water is provided to the palms each time she waters.
Pauleen's collection includes some species that
no one else has been able to grow, so be certain to make a note
to see them. Most significantly, Pauleen has Ceroxylon ventricosum.
lt has about 18 feet of trunk with upright fronds extending shaving
brush style up to about 33 feet tall overall. It's easy to miss
this tall plant because at Pauleen's garden your eyes are constantly
drawn towards the many beautiful shorter palms. Nowhere else in
the northern hemisphere can such a large and majestic Geroxylon
be found except at one of Pauleen's other gardens which is not on
the tour. Pauleen planted her Ceroxylon in the ground in its present
location as a two leaf seedling! Also of significance is a Dypsis
(Chrysalidocarpus) decipiens, Chambeyronia macrocarpa, Kentiopsis
oliviformis, Hedyscepe canterburyana, Dypsis (Neodypis) leptocheilos,
Ravenea madagascariensis var. monticola, Ceroxylon vogelianum, Basselinia
favierii, Normanbya normanbyi, Lepidorrhachis mooreana, Ptychococcus
elatum Pinangajavana,and many other specimens.
Louis Hooper also emphasizes the importance of a
greenhouse, and he has developed an excellent system for potting
up the palms. Louis has discovered that the palms just can't seem
to survive outdoors in California unless they have obtained three
or four leaves in the greenhouse. Louis' potting system is very
effective. He starts with a rose pot, and goes from that size to
a four inch, to a gallon, to a five gallon, potting up the palms
after they become a large plant with a solid, substantially rootbound
rootball.
He moves the palms out of the greenhouse as a large
one gallon potting them into a five gallon size and growing them
under 70% shade cloth until they reach a good size at which time
he plants them outdoors in the ground. Louis likes to prop open
his greenhouse door in the summer, and expresses great appreciation
for the heat that he enjoys at his La Habra, California growing
area.
California Dreaming
