Greetings from Jungle Music Palms and Cycads in Encinitas, CA. 

I hope that you and your garden are both thriving.  Below is a short article on one of the most common difficulties people have in creating a beautiful garden in their locality.  It presents the problem and hopefully a solution for our readers.  

THE PROBLEM OF SELECTING THE RIGHT SPECIES:
Having a nursery for over thirty-three years, it has long been apparent to me that many people who want to create a lush and beautiful garden don't really have any idea of which species of plants to select for their garden.  Sure, there are some self-educated enthusiasts who have studied up and arrive at our nursery knowing exactly what they want.  But, by far, the majority of people need some guidance.  They need advice as to which species will survive in their area and which species they really like the most.  And, they need to know the cultural requirements of these species.  They often have the concept that they'd like their yard to "look like Hawaii", but have no idea where to begin and what species to select.

Unfortunately, not everything will grow everywhere.  Mother Nature designed it that way.  As an example, weekly I get calls from people who would like to grow the Red Sealing Wax Palm here in Southern California.  This is not possible in our locality and would require a garden in the warmest area of the tropics.  Southern California just gets too cold for this species.  Limitations of what one can grow are typically based on weather characteristics; each given area can support certain species and not others.  Limiting factors include such things as cold experience during the winter, maximal heat during the summer, air humidity and intensity of sun. 

An overly cold winter can be a devestating thing to the garden of those who didn't research the best species for their locality.  And, such losses might incorrectly lead a person to the assumpition that "everything dies" in their garden.  This is not the case.  They have either chosen the wrong species to grow or have not been informed about the cultural requirements of the plants they did purchase.  Staff at home improvement stores are famous for not knowing much about the species of plant they sell.  Some inappropriately assume if the store sells it, it must grow "here".  Unfortunately, many times this is not the case.  In our area in Southern California, such stores sell Coconut Palms by the thousands and 99% of these are dead by the first winter.  The same could be said for a shade loving palm placed incorrectly in full sun with a subsequent rapid decline.  The customer either didn't recieve or didn't follow proper culture.  People also assume that any palm will grow indoors.  But, there are certain species commonly sold as "house plants" that are near impossible to grow inside.  And yet they are sold as houseplant.  All of these failures result from not being told which species to grow in a given area and not getting appropriate cultural advice.  To solve the problem of what to grow and how to grow them, one either has to do a lot of research himself or get help from an expert.   

KEYS TO SUCCESS WITH YOUR GARDEN:
Palms, cycads and other tropical plants are the mainstays of creating a lush, tropical garden.  There are literally thousands of different species of these plants and all have their own specific growth requirements.  And, each of thse different species have different cultural requirements.  Of all the factors involved, winter's cold is by far the most important thing to consider.  Plants are quite predicatable in their cold tolerance.  At a certain temperature the plant fails to thrive.  At a lower temperature it dies.  These occurences are fairly predictable.  Nurserymen in the business of growing many palm and cycad species have come to understand the cold tolerance of all the species.  Next are the cultural factors such as sun or shade, air humidity, drainage, etc.  To accomplish success, a consumer must either learn these things through many hours of research or count on a nurserymen to give him good advice.  He should recieve a list of species he can grow.  He must then deicide which of these species he likes.  And finally, for the species he selected he must receive accurate cultural advice.  It is literally that simple: Know what one could grow and how to grow them.  It's the same whether you're starting a brand new garden or just adding a few species here and there in the garden.

It is possible to create a palette of plants that you like and have success with them.  All that is needed is guidance.

One can hire a designer or landscape architect to achieve these goals.  Or, one an rely upon the advice of an experienced friend or search books and the Internet for advice.  And finally, one can get sound advice from an experienced nursery that has the knowledge and experience to guide its clients.  Our staff at Jungle Music has literally had near 90 years of experience in helping customers achieve their goals.  We've grown as many species as any nursery in the country and for 33 years gotten feedback on what has done well in localities across the country.  And we have compiled all this data to help current customers achieve maximal success. 

THE FREE CONSULTATIVE SERVICE WE OFFER:
For a limited time, we are offering to our readers a free email consultation on the best species of palms and cycads for their area.  This will include species that can potentially be grown in their particular area, photographs of these species, sun and shade requirements, and other factors important to successful growth.  If you contact us by email, we will do our best to suggest species of palms and cycads that are ideal for your locality.  We are offering this service for people who want to grow interior plants in their home as well.  But, you must let us know exactly where you live, any peculiarities about your locality, and hopefully information on the coldest winter temperatures that you have experienced.  Giving us this information is crucial to our making meaningful recommendations.  I am sorry, but we are only doing this for people within the United States as we do not know growing requirements of localities outside of the U.S.

I know of no other nursery that offers this as a free service.  One could expect to spend hundreds of dollars for the same service if he hired a professional.  We cannot guarantee your success at growing species you like, but at least you can utilize our decades of experience to get going in the right direction.  Have you ever gone to a nursery and asked questions, only to get a puzzled look on the face of the person helping you?  Or, has your gardener picked "new" species for you, only to show up with another Queen or Sago Palm?  Or, have you hired a contractor to get a unique garden and ended up with the "cookie-cutter" formula of species seen everywhere in your neighborhood?  Many of you might answer yes to some of these questions and appreciate the service that we are offering.

This is a limited time offer.  You must email us to let us know where you live and (if you know) how cold you get.  We have spent countless hours collecting photographs and gathering cold hardy data for this offering.  I hope to hear from many of you who would like this new service that we are offering.

We are currently taking mail orders and, if needed, offering delayed shipping to your area if cold is a problem with shipping.  Just call us and we can explain your options.  It is easy for us to ship plants when weather permits.  Sorry, but we do no international shipping.

TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS FREE EMAIL CONSULTATION, CLICK HERE.  Don't forget to tell us where you live.

Thank you for reading this.  I hope many of you take advantage of these limited time offers.

Phil Bergman