"I am pleased to invite you to our first ever TROPICAL VIBE GARDEN TOUR!!
SATURDAY, JULY 28, 2007 9:00 A.M. Sharp

Call 714.784.3228 for more information. The TV Garden Tour is a great opportunity to see what other tropical gardening enthusiasts have done with their piece of earth.

After the tour, I will be hosting a delicious and free fresh seafood and traditional hamburger B.B.Q. at the nursery. Our BBQ chef extraordinaire, John Limbocker, will be working the grill again! You will have an opportunity to meet new people, view inspirational tropical gardens, have a great lunch – and receive 10% off of everything in our nursery! I have organized garden tours for the Palm Society of Southern California in past years but I am really excited about our tour because we will have the opportunity to walkthrough a couple of gardens never toured before.

All four gardens present great ideas and layouts for you to consider and appreciate. The plant and palm selections are all rare and beautiful. Clear your schedule because you do not want to miss this tour!

Here’s the drill… All of the gardens are in Huntington Beach and within one mile from each other. We will view each garden for approximately 45 minutes and you will have the opportunity to speak with each of the featured gardeners. You are on your own for transportation or
carpooling with others to the subsequent gardens follow-the-leader style.

Directions will be provided for those that fall behind. After the final destination, we will head to the nursery for a tasty lunch and great deals.
Since we will be at each garden for 45 minutes, please be on-time.

Don’t forget to ask for your 10% discount card during the tour!! Several experts will be available to help you. We have tons of large and small palms and tropical plants waiting for you. Landscape design, landscape consultation, delivery and installation is available, too!

SEE YOU ON SATURDAY, JULY 28, 2007 We will be meeting at the first garden at 9:00 AM sharp and will be leaving the next garden at 9:45 AM. NOTE: We are not meeting at the nursery – go straight to the address below! The John and Barbara Limbocker’s Garden 9911 Mammoth Dr, Huntington
Beach, CA 92646 For more info about the featured gardens, read below.

Happy Gardening! John Mendoza Landscape Designer, APLD Tropical Vibe Nursery 714.784.3228 www.tropicalvibe.com

The Limbocker’s have re-created Hawaii in their front yard (front yard tour only). Three and a half years ago, John and Barbara visited our nursery and went nuts buying at least 100 palms. They got the Palm bug in big way! What’s
unique about their approach is that they started with mostly liner sized palms under 12"-18" tall. This garden is a great example of what can happen when you diligently care for your garden. When you see their garden you will be impressed with the growth they have achieved with their
tropical plants and palms in such a sort period of time. They also used concrete in a very creative and unique way. No forms were during the pour and the concrete was stained to emulate the look of a lava flow.

The Wild’s have a great middle-aged to mature palm garden that they have been developing for several years. I have enjoyed driving by their garden for several years and occasionally stopping by to catch up on their latest additions. You will have a chance to view large Dypsis and
Pritchardia as well as several species of stout Roystoneas, large Caryotas, seeding Hyophorbes and Howeas among others. It has been exciting to watch this garden grow and see the additions over the years. Gary also
owns a seemless rain gutter company. Be sure to notice his whimsical copper rain gutter design during our visit. Our last stop will be a double dose of pure tropical ecstasy!

The Boyer’s and the Young’s are next door neighbors with a common passion – rare palms and tropical plants. Both homes feature extensive hardscape and lush softscape that will make you feel like you have been transported to a distant
tropical resort Years ago I conducted a tour of these gardens during a construction phase which really picked everyone’s interest. We will have the opportunity to see the Boyer's new zen outdoor/study room with a waterfall. All of the stones used for their planters and walkways were
brought home from many, many trips that involved driving through the desert– literally thousands of stones!! The Young’s have added a long creek that runs the length of their large backyard and finally drops off into a pond. They also added several planters and increased the plant
population in the yard. Both gardens have a unique feel and will inspire many new ideas for your garden. This is going to be a great tour!
Don’t miss it! We will be meeting at the Limbocker's garden at 9:00 AM sharp and will be leaving at 9:45 A.M. Directions for the subsequent gardens will be provided at the first garden."

Sooooooo...great tour, free lunch, plant discount...can't get any better than this!
sanda

P.S. I am not affiliated with Tropical Vibe, I am just passing this invitation along.

This is the first house we went to:

and one of his triangle palms:

The foliage of this palm is located just above the man in the red shirt in the first pic.

The link to the rest of my pics is below, but I have a lot more to upload. It was tough conditions to photograph with the really bright sunlight and tropical shade beneath, not to mention my inexperience in photographing these plants/landscape. I really wish I would have taken more pictures from far away to show how everything played together, rather than focusing so much on individual nooks. I'll let you know when I get to them and provide more pics and details. The last two houses were extraordinary.

sanda

this is the first pic from the second house.

Please feel free to post any of my pics for discussion.

The tour was good fun and we saw over 400 species of palm trees alone!! Over 1000 species of tropical plants were in the ground between the four gardens. I was unable to photograph the gardens since I was "running" the tour. I was expecting 10-20 people and was pleasantly surprised when about 75 people showed up. I had a great time meeting everyone and seeing old faces.

I had a few people assigned to take pictures so we should have plenty to post along with Mike's pictures. Some have already been posted on other boards but I will see what we can do to add the pics here, too.

John Mendoza
Landscape Designer

Here is the Bismarkia (nobilis?) and the first pic from the last two houses

A Traveler's Palm closeup

And one of my favorite vining plants, Thunbergia mysoriensis

The rare palm pictured below is a Dypsis albofarinosa which was probably purchased from me as Dypsis scottiana affinis. Since these palms matured we discovered they are a very rare species which has just barely come into cultivation on a limited basis. Great tree that did pretty well in the January freeze.

Does anyone know where Thunbergia mysoriensis can be purchased?

Your estimation is correct of the Bismarckia nobilis. It was actually flowering, making it one of the very first ones to flower in SoCal.

I got my Thunbergia mysorensis from Kartuz Exotics in Vista. They are currently sold out, but it does strike from cuttings.

Yes, we have 2 tours planned for next year - late spring and late summer. I like to give the hosts plenty of time to recover from winter and let whether warm up a bit. The actual homes/locations are still undetermined but there are quite a few we are considering.

We still have a couple of fun events planned for this year. Sometime in late September we are planning to have a tropical arrt show at the nursery. Artisans of various mediums will be showing their works of art including scultures, oils on canvass, waterpaintings, etc. We are still open to more artists so feel free to pass the word along.

The dates/details for all the events will be sent out to everyone on our mail list (sign up at www.tropicalvibe.com). I will try to post the events and details here but if I get to busy with our landscape design work and nursery operations I might forget. Once the email is sent out please feel free to post the information - "the more the merrier!"

torpicalvibe

I'd like to add your photos to the gourden tour gallery on our website.

Thanks,

Tropical Vibe