Another amazing palm garden

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I don't know if this will come as a surprise to anyone, but there are incredible gardens right here in Leilani Estates that have never been featured on PalmTalk. One such garden belongs to a very good friend of mine, Rich. Rich and his wife, Barbara, own a few acres here, about half of which has been landscaped beautifully. The previous owners planted a few palms back in the mid 1990s and when Rich and Barbara acquired the property in the late 1990s they began to add many more palms, and Rich has been actively adding to his incredible collection ever since. A whole bunch of Dypsis went in the ground just a few days ago. I will attempt to cover the garden as well as I can, with photos of certain areas of the garden and of many of the spectacular palms, even though it would be impossible to cover everything. There are currently in excess of 500 individual palms in the garden of close to 100 different species. There will be no particular order in which I post the photos, except the first few. And the very first one shows me and Rich next to one of his incredible Dypsis sp. bejofas. I should add that I currently live right next door to Rich. Takes me no more than a minute to walk over to his place! Is this a great place or what!?

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Coming in from the street, a row of Dypsis cabadae that were planted not long ago. And just a few more steps in along the driveway, and you have this beautiful vista (photoo #2) to your right - a group of tall Bentinckia nicobarica and one of the most spectacular Beccariophoenix sp. windows that I have seen anywhere.

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And just a short distance beyond the Metroxylon, which is just barely visible on the left in photo #2 in the previous post, a group of Areca vestiarias. Always beautiful in any setting!

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Closer to the house a tall Prestoea acuminata that was planted in the mid 1990s, or possibly even before.

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When I turn around in the opposite direction, a group of Verschaffeltia splendida.

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And just beyond the V. splendidas, a long row of perfectly grown Pinanga coronata.

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And a little bit to the right, this amazing looking Licuala peltata var. sumawongii. And actually, another one right behind it as well as a L. ramsayi to the left.

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Many afternoons, Rich and I find it necessary to spend a few hours on his back lanai, enjoying a glass of wine or a beer and this is our view! And in case you wonder why - well, it doesn't get much better than this!

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Wodyetia bifurcata may not be all that unusual any more, but who can resist an incredible looking trio like this one?

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And just beyond the Wodyetias (and actually somewhat visible in the previous photo), another beautiful trio: Neoveitchii storckii.

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A little bit to the right of the Wodyetias, and amazingly almost completely hidden is this treasure: Marojejya darianii.

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A group of Hyophorbe indica, sticking up above very lush Chamaedoreas and cycads and right next to the back lanai.

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And the trio of Neoveitchia storckii and Wodyetia bifurcata, viewed from the opposite direction, with the house in the background. Rich's very friendly dog, Po, can be seen patrolling the premises! (See also post #8).

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A row of the "orange" Areca vestiaria, growing out in full sun (or at least fully exposed! Some days may not necessarily be "full sun" here!).

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More Arecas: A. triandra and A. guppyana.

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A row of Euterpe oleracea (actually on the property line between Rich's place and the property where I'm currently living).

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And as has been well established ( ), you can never have too many Clinostigma samoense!

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Wallichia densiflora is a beautiful palm, and you don't see it in too many gardens here.

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This Pritchardia pacifica was planted back in the mid 1990s by the previous owner, and has been very close (twice!) to making the unfortunate leap to palm heaven, but was saved both times! Just in time!

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Licuala grandis, one in a group of several.

[BS Man about Palms]

Wow! great stuff!

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Thanks Bill - and then you'll like this: two Dypsis sp. bejofa.

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Dypsis tokoravina

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And Dypsis pilulifera/"orange crush" (I know, I know, controversy - I'll just go by what John Dransfield identified it as! )

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And a Tahina spectabilis, planted only a couple of months ago.

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Pritchardia schattaueri, from the other side of the Big Island. More to come.

[Dypsisdean]

Thanks for the pics Bo. I knew I would get to see Rich's garden sooner or later.

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Dean, you're welcome. And a few more to come. I believe there are a total of four very tall Pigafetta elata on the property, all planted in the mid 1990s. Here's one of them, from two different angles.

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And we're not quite sure whether these are Metroxylon vitiense or warburgii. Suggestions welcome!

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And a close up of the Beccariophoenix sp. windows (see one of the very early posts).

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And the view out towards the street, which is "hidden" behind the row of very tall Caryota mitis. Group of Clinostigma samoense on the left and a little group of fsirly tall Iriartea deltoidea on the right (not that easy to spot). In the extreme upper right, the crown of another one of the Pigafettas. And in the grassy area, a group of (still small) Normanbya normanbyi.

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And a few Socratea exorrhiza with their interesting stiltroots.

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A very well established Dypsis leptocheilos.

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And a row of Hyophorbe indica! These palms are very robust and fast growers here.

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And a close-up of the Bentinckia nicobarica group (see one of the early posts).

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And a view from Rich's OTHER back lanai (yes, he has two of them!), with lots of palms; Clinostigmas, Pritchardias, Dypsis, Licualas, Pigafettas and many more. Like I said, it does't get much better than this. And that concludes this evening's presentation!

[Cindy Adair]

Spectacular garden and spectacular photos! Better than my reference books! Now when I look at my tiny seedlings of many of these species I picture what they could become in 20 years!

[Lowey]

Great photos Bo, wonderful garden,i wish I could get some Clinostigma's, they should not be that hard to get in Aus but I just dont seem to be able to get any

Again, love the pics

[Walter John]

Unreal, those coronatas were incredible, thanks for posting Bo.

[MichaelS]

Absolutely great garden report Bo !

Thanks for posting all those pictures,

Michael