When I was in San Diego for the 2025 Cactus and Succulent Society of America’s (CSSA) Biennial Convention in April, Rick Bjorklund graciously arranged several garden visits for me. This included the garden of Julian Duval in Vista.
Julian was the Executive Director of the San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG) for almost 25 years before retiring in 2019. During his tenure, he and his wife Leslie lived on-site at the SDBG, and in his spare time, he began to create his own botanical garden on a 2/3 acre (30,000 sq. ft.) property they owned in Vista and rented out. As Julian told me, the tenants living in their house understood that Julian might show up at any time to work in the garden. After he retired, the Duvals finally moved into their house and Julian was able to focus all his energy on his garden.
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| Look at the beautiful aloes |
As I was driving down Julian’s street, I knew right away which house was his. You can always tell by the plants out front that a gardener lives there.
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| Two beaucarneas |
The front yard reflects the kinds of plants Julian is particularly fond of: desert plants (like the aloes above), tropical plants (like bromeliads and bougainvilleas), and ficus trees (like the tall ones in the back). But the most outstanding feature is a huge boulder. More on that later.
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| Bougainvillea tapestry |
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| Flowering Aloe barbadensis (or Aloe vera if you prefer) looking great against the gray of the rock |
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| Clumps of bromeliads everywhere |
A good chunk of the front yard is under construction, as evidenced by the black tarp. I look forward to seeing the changes.
Several large ceramic bowls serve as miniature ponds for water lilies:
A large pot rock collection along the side is ready to be used in the next project. I love how casually tillandsias lounge on some of the rocks.
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| Julian also has a collection of driftwood |
The front yard was just a warm-up. The real action is around back.
The house is built around that massive boulder you saw above.
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| These might be the prettiest flowers I’ve ever seen on a tillandsia |
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| Bromeliads growing at the base and on the rocks |
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| Variegated ficus on the top left |
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| Tropical vines, too |
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| And orchids |
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| Vining cactus (dragon fruit?) climbing up a palm trunk |
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| Cycas revoluta |
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| Cycads, too |
As Julian led me down the hill (the house is on top), the vegetation became even lusher. In some spots you’re enclosed by trees, shrubs, and vines on all sides, like you would in a tropical rainforest. I’d never been to a private garden that gave me this feeling.
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| Julian in front of a Roxburgh fig (Ficus auriculata) |
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| Crazy how the fruit... |
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| ....grows... |
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| ...right on the trunk and branches |
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| Strangler fig roots wrapped around another large boulder |
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| And of course there are staghorn and elkhorn ferns (Platycerium sp.) living in the trees |
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| Flowering epiphyllum |
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| Looking at a tree aloe from inside the jungle – truly a sight I’ve never seen before |
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| Greenhouse |
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| The greenhouse is climate-controlled |
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| The humidity was so high, the lens on my camera fogged up |
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| Julian grows a large variety of tropical plants, many of which require tropical conditions |
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| It may be hard to believe, but this is actually a cactus (Strophocactus wittii) |
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| Strophocactus wittii is native to seasonally flooded forests of Brazil’s Amazon basin and clings tightly to trees just above the high-water mark |
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| Ant fern (Lecanopteris sp.) native to Southeast Asia. It grows epiphytically... |
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| ...and has hollow rhizomes which are used as nests by symbiotic ants |
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| Shade structure next to the greenhouse |
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| Huge variety of plants ranging from bromeliads and staghorn ferns to caudiform trees and succulents |
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| Who doesn’t love a trunk covered with prickles! |
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| All kinds of Platycerium |
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| Elkhorn on the right and left, staghorn in the middle. Elkhorn ferns typically have multiple smaller and more slender fronds that grow in clusters, while staghorn ferns have fewer larger and more shield-like fronds that resemble deer antlers. |
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| Platyceriums, epiphytic cacti, and more |
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| More boulders towards the bottom of the hill |
As we left the lush tree canopy, the plantings became more xeric. This part of the garden, near the bottom of the hill, is home to a wide variety of succulents.
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| Brazilian pricklypear (Brasiliopuntia brasiliensis) |
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| Aloidendron ramosissimum |
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| Branch structure of Aloidendron ramosissimum |
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| Ceiba speciosa (left), Euphorbia cooperi (middle), Euphorbia millii (front) |
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| Aloes... |
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| ...and euphorbias |
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| A magnificent specimen of the variegated Euphorbia ammak |
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| Not a lot of agaves, but here is a nice clump of Agave parryi var. truncata |
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| Looking towards the house |
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| Table with rock specimens |
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| View of Vista from the house |
There are all kinds of private gardens, ranging from small to large, from formal to informal, from minimalistic to exuberant. What separates them are size and style. Julian’s garden is different from all of them. It truly is a botanical garden – not one driven by institutional requirements, but purely by personal preference. My knowledge of tropical plants is limited so I’m sure I wasn’t able to fully appreciate the scope of Julian’s collection. But I loved how all these plants, many of them rare, come together to form unique environments that are nothing short of awe-inspiring.
MORE ABOUT JULIAN
As the director of the San Diego Botanic Garden, Julian was in the public eye for 25 years. Here are some interviews with him that give more insight:
© Gerhard Bock, 2025. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.
Wow, what a garden and what a place! Thanks for taking us on a virtual tour...next best thing to being there. That rainbow of Bougainvillea took my breath away. And the Water Lilies: Just stunning. So much to see and review there!
ReplyDeleteMagnificent! I imagine that a lot of people would turn their back on a property with a humongous boulder like that one but Julian clearly had the vision necessary to work with it. I love the immersive tropical garden. The water lilies in ceramic pots amazed me too - does Vista have no raccoons?!
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