The Palms at Lotusland

19671 osBoRNE: LorusLAND 123 with one another in crossing. On the falling pollen will find its way to the other hand, it is evident that some spe' open flowers. cies should be compatible because of This method can not be used with the general similarity of the shape and specieslike C. elegans that have glutin' style of the spadicesin both sexes,such ous pollen that will not be shed by the as those oL C. rnetallica and C. Ernesti' flowers. In such cases,remove one cor- Augusti. I assumethat this cross could olla at a time from the spadix branch' be made, and I recommend it as the hold it betweentwo fingers, and pluck kind of hybrid that should produce away the thick petals with tweezers. a significant and interesting result. Put the stripped flowers in a small, In handling the Pollen oL Chamae' open dish for two or three hours to air- ilorea, plastic bags, or Baggies, are very dry. Then the Pollen maY readilY be useful. When the male flowers are ready picked up by the bristles of a camel's to shed pollen and will do so when the hair brush by stirring the flowers with spadix is tapped, enclosethe spadix in it. The pollen will show as white powder the bag vigor' the bag, tap and shake on the brush with which the stickY ously, and the inside of the bag will female flowers may be touched, one by be whitened with pollen. When the fe- one. This is tedious, but it is effective, mdle flowers are sticky, envelop the and will make up for the absenceof an entire female spadix in the bag, taP and shake the bag, and the flYing or insect. GARDENTOUR The Palms at Lotusland Esfate of Madame Ganna Walska The area of Santa Barbara, Califor- nia, lying at 34 degrees, 25 minutes North Latitude, enjoys a milder climate than one might expect. The principal reasons for this pleasant situation appear to be two: the close Presenceof the Pacific to the south (sic; consult your atlas) and the fact that immediate- ly to the north of the city is a mountain range which, contrary to the custom of most red-bloodedAmerican ranges,runs east-westrather than north-south. The beneficial e{fect of these rocky slopes, which rise to three or four thousand feet, is often to shut out cold winds from the north, and to absorb and re-radiate heat ftom the low winter sun. January and August o{ficial average high and low temperaturesare given as 64.8",40.3oand ?8.1o,56.7oF. bY the I. Entrance to Lotusland. Iron gates in fili' em- Weather Bu' qree are flanked by tall tubaea specimens Department of Commerce Ersins from a planting oI gray'leafed agaves' reau. In recent Years, the weather sta' Bairy Osborne Photo. PRINCIPES [Vol. rl I 'i { J 2. Part of a grove oI Houeia at the Ganna Walska eslate. hy provides a lush and easily main' tained groundcover. Ken Foster photo. tion has been moved to within two white on several mornings each year. blocks of the beach, and often lies in a Thus, Lotusland serves as a good test chill bank of sea mist, while the rest of spot for the adaptation of a plant for the city is warm and clear; thus the the majority of the land in the Santa nationally published temperatures for Barbara area. the area now give only a foggy idea of On a tour. one enters the estate the weather here. through great iron gates which are I-otusland lies east of the city on gent- flanked by two nicely matched huge ly sloping land between the hotter mi' Iubaeo chilensis palms. Continuing up croclimate of the foothills. where frost the broad entrancedrive betweenclumps may occur only once in, say eight or and rows of aloes and agaves,one be- ten years, and the low-lying regions gins to encounteryoung Howeia Forster' where the ground is blanketed with iana on the right, planted both singly OSBORNE:LOTUSLAND .....". "desert" 3. The sky-blue reflecting pool in the section of the garden where palms-provide a tr.ansi- photo' ;io" il;;;" ;t; ;;.ti unf, s',r""ul"r,t. and the evergreen trees in the background' Ken Foster and in groups for a natural efect. On chontophoenix Cunninghamiana are the left soon appears the lotus pond worked into the grove. It is here, too, after which the estateis named. If one that two other specimensare seenwhich is fortunate enough to arrive at bloom- invariably causecomment when the tour ing time (generally July into Septem- members are palm enthusiasts:Iubae' ber) the pond will be a solid sea of opsis calfra and Paraiubaea cocoides' round lotus leaves,with the lush pink The Parajubaea is particularly striking, flowers unfolding above them on sway' as the leaves have a special sheen sim- ing stiff stalks. Large plants of Erythea ilar to that ol Cocosnucifera, as well as ed,ulis and. Phoenix canariensis form the contrasting vellow midrib. .It seems part of the backdrop for this spectacle, a shame this plant is not more widely along with various dicotyledonous or- distributed in California, as it appears namental trees and shrubs. to be hardy as {ar north as Richmond Further along the drive, the howeias (San Francisco Bay area), yet there on the right becomelarger, and gradual- is only one mature, bearing tree of the ly other species,such as H. Belmorea' speciesin the state, to my knowledge. na, Hed,yscepeCanterburyana, and Ar' Soon a decisionmust be made in our PRINCIPES lVol. ll ti t 5. Ptychospenna elegot; growing in the Santa Barbara sarden of Madame Ganna Walska. 4. Caryota ochland,ra in silhouette. Barry Os- The smal plant behind it is Chambeyronia borne photo. tnacrocarpa. Barry Osborne photo. walk, as paths begin to extend in sev- considerablesize in the state now: one eral directions. Generally, the decision in San Diego and one said to be in the is already suggested by the presence vicinity of Palm Springs. However, the of chainsmade of rattan, or the presence history of palms once grown here but of a wooden animal, such as those seen nor/yscarce or nonexistentwould be an- on carousels, blocking the way. The other article, so let us continue up one route has been planned, however, so of Madame Walska's secludedpaths. that you will not miss the sights behind Shortly we come upon an interesting the wood unicorn or gnu, but will circle situation of similarity and contrast: about for them later. large clumps oI Rhapis excelsa, Rhapis Generally, one turns here to the left, humiLis and Chamaedorea costaricana and goes down a little path past a are planted right next to a grove of Rhopalostylis sapida, a large Trithrinax black-stemmedbamboo. As one's eyes acanthoconr,a,and several butias, thence travel up these various jointed stems, into an area *here the lotus pond is there is always the slight feeling of sur- viewed from a different angle, and prise as the greatly differing leaves where many young palms are gathered are seen. under the trees. There are, for exam- Beyond these groves, the land begins ple, Arenga Engleri, Lioistona Mariae, to becomemore open and sun-drenched. and - most interesting to me - three It is here that the majority of aloes and Roystonea regia, the tallest about ten many beaucarneasare gathered. Along feet now, and just getting ready to form the sides of this desert-like area appear trunk. Records at the Santa Barbara Erythea Brand,egeei, two spiny-trunk Botanic Garden indicate that roystoneas Acrocomia Totai, and,several groupings have been grown in California, but so oI Ph,oenixreclinata. Here, too, are four far as I know there are onlv two of anv maiestic lubaea in a row. with Trachy- 19671 OSBORNE:LOTUSLAND t27 U 6, Cacti and palms make a pleasant garden setting. Ken Foster photo. carpus Fortunei filling in the fore- genusseen here are C. ochlandra,which "desert" ground. In the center of this has been found to be not only hardy there appearsa mirage-like sky-blue re- here, but rather fast-growing m well. flecting pool, free-form and edged with Beneath and around these ochlandras iridescent shells. W'ater cascadesinto are seen the other more familiar spe- this pool from several giant clamshells, cies such as C. mitis and C. urens, are- producing a shimmering effect on the ating a dense exotic effect difficult to whole area when the sun is at the right describe and, I understand, even more angle. difficult to photograph. From the aloe section, the tour then Nearby, for those impressed with continuesby severalmore formal pools, size, are several of the tallest Washing- past specimens of Acoelorrhaphe tonia lilit'era in this region, and an ex- Wrightii and. Iubaeopsis callra to the tremely tall Arecastrum Rornanzot't'ia- deeply shaded Caryota section. The nun-|. "forest" largest and most impressive of this After passinga tree-fern and PRINCIPES lVol. rl of Erythea arn1,atd, which vary from silvery-white to bluish in their fronds. Various blue evergreensare planted next to agaves,over a groundcover oI Festu' ca glauca and Kleinia repens. The over- all effect is rather Alice in Wonderland- ish because for the moment the whole world seems to have turned blue and ' silver. ? Since this is an article on the palms at Lotusland, we must regretfully pass over the collections of succulents and 7. Sunshine gleams on the leaves oI Paraj-u' cacti. the bromeliad collection, which baea cocoid,es,-itsdelicately pinnate leaves contrasting sharply with Agaue attenuard below.

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