This meeting is a must for any palm enthusiast. It is our opportunity to visit the home of Ralph Velez, at 15461 Devonshire Circle, Westminster. If you don’t know Ralph, he started his palm collection in 1962. His yard was highlighted on Huell Howser’s television show. Many newspaper articles have been written about his fabulous garden of exotic palms and other unusual plants. His two story greenhouse will also be open for touring. There you will find many palms and plants that are unable to be grown in California.

Viewing will start at Mile Square Park at 10:30 am. Palm Island parking is on the Euclid Street side (see directions below), followed by a Potluck at 11:30. This is the Palm project which Ralph Velez has spearheaded since 1998 with the City of Westminster, his own efforts and some donations from growers and the PSSC. Ralph will give a short presentation on efforts to develop this public palm garden. At 1:00 pm, we will reconvene with a tour of Ralph’s wonderful rainforest garden and the auction to start at 2:30 pm. Address is 15461 Devonshire Circle. Ph. 714 775-6324 if lost. Cell phone is (714) 457-4442.

Ralph has spent a lifetime growing nearly 415 different species, most of which are outdoors (some 307 in ground species), which will expose you to many varieties that can be grown in Southern California. His recently rebuilt green house holds over a hundred tropical species needing shelter and heat to survive and thrive.

Among the notables to look for are: Chamaedorea (over 50 species), a Dypsis sp. named “Slick Willy” from Madagascar, Syagrus oleracea, Syagrus glaucescens, Ravenea monticola, Parajubaea cocoides and torallyi, Caryota gigas, Jubaea chilensis, and a most unusual and rare palm, Nannorhops stockiana. The list goes on. Ralph’s garden has been featured in several publications and on educational television programs.

Directions to Mile Square Park:
Coming from the North or South on the 405 (San Diego Freeway), exit on Brookhurst going North. Continue on Brookhurst past Mile Square Park turning right on Edinger Ave, proceeding to Euclid. Turn right on Euclid past the first traffic light at Heil and enter the Park gate on the right. Bring your newsletter (NL) as we are trying to get the parking fees waived with proof of membership, use the NL as proof. Park in Lot F, which is closest to Palm Island.

Directions from Mile Square Park to Ralphs:
Exit Park parking lot and turn left on Euclid. Proceed north and turn left on W. McFadden until you come to Yorkshire then turn right, go one block to Nottingham Ave., turn right, go one block to Devonshire Circle. Ralph’s garden is on the corner of Nottingham and Devonshire Circle.

Heads-up written by Ralph Velez about his garden:
The primary purpose of the following is to give members a kind of ‘HEADS-UP’ on what to look for the day of the tour. First of all there are a lot of palms to look at. Between my house and the parkway of my neighbors, there are over 400 palms and about 307 species to look at. Secondly, I already know I have too many palms planted too close to each other. I have a constant battle going on in my head between the collector and the artist. I have always loved the ‘jungle’ and that’s what I have created. I hate brown leaves, so my ‘jungle’ is civilized. Of the 307 species in the ground, 41 are in the ground in my large 2 story heated greenhouse. A lot of my palm collection consists of tropical palms in pots from liners to 15 gal. size containers. All together there’s about 445 species.

I’ve been very fortunate in that I have a lot of my collection planted in my neighbor’s parkways. I got permission from my city and the various home owners to put my palms there. I have so much canopy and shade, that the sun loving palms such as Bismarckia, the Triangle palm and Wallichia disticha just will not grow on my lot.

Some of the palms I would like to bring to your attention are: the Syagrus oleracea. It may well be the largest in So. Calif. It’s in my north parkway (Nottingham) There is also a Syagrus glaucescens. It’s quite unique with the color of the fronds. Unfortunately, although I have planted 3 Ravenea monticola, not one looks decent. I could never figure out why. In Devonshire circle; there are three species of Latania. Of the red, blue and yellow forms, the yellow, verschaffeltii grows the fastest and looks the best year round. There is also Parajubaea cocoides and torallyi, Caryota gigas, Jubaea chilensis, and a most unusual and rare palm, Nannorhops stockiana. What’s so unusual about it is the abundant soft tormentum near the base of the rachis. It is probably what keeps the palm warm during the winter in its native Afghanistan. N. ritchina is usually the only species that one sees at Botanical gardens and peoples homes. The only stockiana I have ever seen is mine. I grew it from seed. This palm easily suckers and BRANCHES. My tallest Royal is across the street in the circle. It was planted in mid ‘70’s. In my parkway is probably the largest Licuala spinosa in Calif. It has never been damaged by any cold weather.

Almost in the center of my front yard is my fruit bearing Prestoea acuminata (montana) that I collected in the El Yunque rainforest in Puerto Rico. I had viable seed last year for the first time. Acanthophoenix rubra is doing much better than I ever thought it would. Likewise, my Dictyosperma rubra under a lot of shade.

On Nottingham, across the street is the single trunk Wallichia disticha, which grows it’s fronds on a single plane. I have another one in my back yard that I planted many years ago, but it doesn’t grow much at all. Too much shade. Wallichia densiflora, nearby, does great. Also in my back yard is a Cocothrinax dussiana (barbadensis), which I planted in 1965 before I even heard of the Palm society. There is also a huge Arenga pinnata and the largest leafed Sabal mauritiformis you can imagine. The one in the front yard is much taller, but does not have fronds nearly as large as the one in my back yard. Another great palm you might miss in the back yard is Licuala elegans. It is planted outdoors right up against the south wall of the greenhouse. On the south side of my house, where there is a block wall between my neighbor and me, are two good specimens of Hyophorbe, H. verschaffeltii and H. indica. The bottle palm is doing a slow death due to lack of enough sunshine and heat. There is a Veillonia alba hiding behind a huge trunked Royal right by the gate. Nearby are a Licuala sp. and a Ptychosperma macarthurii. Also in the back yard is a Loxococos rupicola. It’s a rare palm from India, but sort of looks like a King palm. It’s close to the south side block wall in the back yard.

On the north side of the greenhouse is an Acrocomia Mexicana that I planted in 1969. In the same area are three species of Ceroxylon, but are relatively small. Also, in ‘69, I planted inside the greenhouse, a Zombia antillarium. The most unusual thing about this palm is the trunk. It is really slow, even in the greenhouse. I can imagine how slow it would be in a normal Calif. environment. In the greenhouse are Marojejya darianii and Johannesteijsmannia altifrons (the Joey palm for short) are both huge palms and are planted close to each other. It will be interesting to see which one will grow the fastest. If you are not familiar with these two palms, check them out in your palm book. They are just fabulous. Ravenea xerophylla, a sun-loving arid type palm from Madagascar is hidden under a tree fern in the back yard and has stayed alive for many years. It’s one of the slowest palms to have. I am amazed it’s still alive.

In the front yard, very near the sidewalk, about 7’ from the block wall fence is a Dypsis sp. (slick willy) from Madagascar. This palm is so incredible in looks and cold hardiness. It keeps on growing right through the winter. It has two trunks.

Altogether, there are about 50 Chamaedorea species in the garden, so I hope you enjoy the tour and try not to miss those special palms you love.

Map of 15461 Devonshire Cir

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