Golden Gate Palms & Exotics
www.goldengatepalms.com
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THE DAYS ARE GOLDEN! HERE COMES SPRING!

Owls Love Palm Trees

Gary couldn't resist snapping this image of his freshly trimmed century old matriarch Canary Palm at our Central Valley growing ground. The palm was ephemerally silhouetted against an intensely colorful sky and sunset. The surprise though was the Giant Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus pacificus) that flew right out of the canopy of the tree just as Gary snapped the photo. To lend scale as to how big this owl is, the tree is 28' across right where the owl is flying. Great Horned owls can attain wingspans of up to 5' and this guy is not far off - that's one big owl. Hunting nocturnally, native owls love to use Canary Palms as their homes and can eat as many as 2 rats or 5 mice per night. Now doing third grade math, that comes out to about 1800 fewer mice or 730 fewer rats per year. Just another reason to come down to the nursery and pick out a beautiful Canary palm for your garden.

AWESOME ARTICLES!

Gary's forays into free lance journalism continue with a fantastic article about the Pacific madrone, an amazing California native tree. Here's a taste of Gary's informative yet cheeky writing style:
"If you fancy manzanitas with their richly colored, smooth bark, you'll love the Pacific madrone. It looks like its not-so-distant cousin the manzanita (Arctostaphylos species) after a heavy dose of steroids."

Madrone Article

The papery bark peels from the Pacific Madrone to reveal the soft, smooth bark beneath.

Hugo Gragg lends scale to a decade old Pacific Madrone planted in Gary's Native California section of his Lafayette Garden.

NURSERY EXPANSION & IMPROVEMENT!

If you thought Golden Gate Palms Nursery was big before, wait until you see it now. We are happy to report that Richmond's largest tropical forest has grown as we bought a neighboring parcel, cleaned away all the weeds, tires and trash and will soon be boxing up more fabulous palms that will eventually find their way into the Bay Area plant scene.

Our NEW real estate

In our "spare time", we have been building a new demonstration garden/customer lounge featuring more of our sumptuous plant materials and some super cool art pieces pulling double function as furniture, paving and bird baths by renowned local artist John Lamos. Check out the next newsletter for the finished product.

New Demonstration Garden under construction

GOLDEN GATE PALMS AT THE PACIFIC ORCHID EXPO!

Golden Gate Palms and Golden Gate Orchids (talk about a match made in heaven!) team up at the biggest and best Orchid show in the Bay Area. Our own Gary Gragg and Tom Perlite from GG Orchids will colaborate to put together a beautiful installation. Stop by and talk to them during the 3 day show. Or better yet, go to the Gala Evening and have a glass of wine or two with them and preview all of the amazing plants.

Pacific Orchid Expo Information

MEDITERRANEAN FAN PALM SALE!

25% OFF ANY MEDITERRANEAN FAN PALM IN STOCK.
Print this coupon and bring it in to the nursery with you.

Read more about the stunning multi-truck Mediterranean Fan Palm!

Chamaerops humilis - Mediterranean Fan Palm

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