Balboa park Visit

15 years ago

for those who have not been to San Diego, thought I'd post a few of the palms growing in Balboa park... pretty nice climate for palms (relative to the rest of southern California, at least... still rather 'poor' compared to Miami).

Here are about 100 Howea belmoreanas (rare cousin to Kentia Palms)... a bit yellow from sun and winter, but overall pretty healthy palms.

A closer shot of one of these nice palms.

Howea forsterianas are EVERYWHERE in San Diego, so their presence rarely stimulates me to photograph one... but his 'leaning Howea' is an excellent of a malady of Kentia palms that still is not completely understood... without some sort of intervention, most of these will die.

Shot of Balboa park with Phoenix reclinatas, rupicolas, Chamaerops, Braheas, Queens and Washingtonias visible

The palm canyon area is full of Rhopalostylis as well- most are R sapidas like these

But now and then you see a nice Rhopalostylis baueri

Got some really tall Triangle palms there

and one of the tallest majesty palms I've seen, though looks like it's outgrowing its water supply and suffering from 'pinched neck' syndrome as I call it (common here in California in drought land)

Basselinia gracilis is a hard palm to grow well, but this one is near perfect

Far away shot of the 'arboretum' area (slatted, covered area- no other protection than that, though)... can see the nice Bismarckias on the right

Closer shot of these impressive palms (pretty darn tall for California Bizzies)

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Comments (7)

wetsuiter
15 years ago
San Diego is still pretty impressive for what they can grow. I was out there in January and picked up a handful of Med Fan seeds from adjacent to the arboretum reflecting pool and some are finally sprouting. I've potted two and am experimenting with four others placed in my garden.

I "rescued" several Mexican palms from
my friend's North County garden and
four survived the trip home and repotting. She calls them "weeds", proving one woman's trash is another man's treasure.
statenislandpalm7a
15 years ago
Nice pics my favorite palm is the R sapidas. The majesty palm should be watered more. It would be a shame to lose such a tall one
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tropicalzone7
15 years ago
Great pics! When I went to San Diego, I was very impressed at what could grow well there! They really have a perfect climate for many palms and with proper care, even the more tropical palms seem to do pretty well.
Thanks for sharing!
-Alex
chadec7a
15 years ago
Great pics, looks like a great place to visit. I am really surprised at the variety of palms they are growing in that area. Love the bismarkias, just had mine shipped from jungle music there in cali to here in carolina. It is finally starting to grow again after suffering shipping shock for several months. I was starting to worry about it.
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
15 years ago
The Howea's look severely stressed for water and fertilizer..that slope isnt the best idea for rain forest palms. It seems like there is a shortage of micronutrients in parks soils down south..and I dont see much effort to fertilize. It's aggravating and sort of defeats the purpose of growing those Howea's or Phoenix rupicola's such as at the Huntington,if they refuse to spend for fertilizer.
The Triangles are outstanding..majestic. The Rhopa's are also rainforest palms,but they are very robust massive palms that must have a much larger root system then most to look so nice when the ground under them is dry looking.
lzrddr
Original Author
15 years ago
The Phoenix rupicolas are quite healthy in this same park- no yellowing whatsoever. These are yellow primarily from lack of water and excessive sun (though more likely the former) ... I don't think fertilizer is the problem, though I seriously doubt anyone is fertilizing them. Hard to keep the soil moist on that slope. Palms further down the slope than in that photo look much happier.
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
15 years ago
Drlzrd,IF you ever get a chance-post the palms and tree ferns inside that arboretum. I know some things in there are tender even for soucal,like Sadleria tree ferns.