Mark your calendar, July 15th, the PSSC will be holding a garden picnic in Holmby Hills at the home of Drew Zager. This is a marvelous exercise in landscaping transformation where pre-existing is meshed with a heavy touch of the tropics.
Drew Zager is the son of PSSC Board Member Bud Zager. Fittingly, the theme of busy lives is "Palms Brought Us Together".

The history of this estate in Drew's words:

In early 2000, I bought my home in Holmby Hills (west of Beverly Hills - east of Westwood) in a probate sale. The house was in complete disrepair and had been vacant for over two years with no running water. However, the house was paneled with thick Philippine Mahogany on the outside and was located on over an acre lot in one of the best neighborhoods in L.A. It also had 50 year old Mediterranean Fan Palms in the Driveway Island, 5 specimen trees and it had a tropical/Polynesian feel that the original owners had given to it. Mary Simmons had left the house to three charities when she died. When she was young, and before her and her husband Ed built the house, she was a Ford model and was engaged to Cary Grant. Her name back then was Betsy Hensel and her father forbid her to marry Cary since he was an actor and was not catholic. I decided to continue the tropical theme in the restoration and decided to research Bamboo and have planted 12 different types of running and clumping Bamboo with root guard. My Dad, Bud Zager and his wife Jo Moore, have also helped me with the selection and education of palm trees for the backyard.

Dad and Jo were just getting into palms at the time and helped me get started with kings, kentias, teddy bears and foxtails. Later Dad brought a grower named John Strazicich over to the house. Coincidentally John and I grew up and went to school together, we decided to get 36" boxed Caryota gigas, A. purpurea and macrocarpa palms from him. John continued to come back and show me many other exotic palms which were used to highlight areas of my backyard. We picked up from Jerry Anderson, Chamadoreas, myolensis, Dypsis ambositrae, lutensis & baronii, Clinostigma and others that were shipped up. Just as I thought I was done with my large palm acquisitions, John decides to become a minister in American Samoa and wants to sell his entire personal collection of over 180 rare palms including other types of Caryotas (Caryota karawongensis as well).

The interest in palms has not only taught me to appreciate their beauty and variety but more importantly it has brought me closer to my Dad. Everything seemed to line up around palms. My purchase of a tropical house, my classmate John, my Dad becoming a palm lover and teaching me to be one. Two weeks ago I took my Dad to Rome, it was our first trip together since I was a kid. We checked out the University's botanical garden. We may never have gotten so close if palms wouldn't have brought us together.

Directions:
From North or South 405 Freeway, exit Sunset Blvd. And go East towards UCLA. Proceed past UCLA on Sunset about a half mile and past Beverly Glen Blvd. Take the first right after Beverly Glen onto Mapleton Drive and find parking ONLY on the West or right side of the street. Drew's home is actually on the corner of Sunset and Mapleton at 111 S. Mapleton.

The tour will start at 11:00 followed by a poolside potluck at noon so bring a contribution to the meal. Chicken will be supplied as the main meat. The meeting will convene at 1:15pm with our Auction to follow.

Map of 111 S Mapleton Dr

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