Jungle Music Palms, Cycads & Tropical Plants — Local services in Encinitas

UPDATED 04/01/24: Just read the response from Phil for our honest review and laughed out loud - what nonsense.

While his son was professional and kind, the father (Phil) was cranky, disrespectful, and unprovoked - plain rude. No amount of his rewriting of history changes those facts.

A simple apology for your disrespectful rudeness (you don’t say “Ohhh, come on” to a customer with an annoyed tone or complain to that customer’s brother that his terminally ill sister “is being difficult”) because she asked simple questions like when you expect more bromeliads. I wanted to purchase more. You cost your own company thousands of dollars because of your behavior period and earned our negative review.

Alas, we found all the plants we wanted at Walter Nursery for 1/3 of the price, all their plants looked beautiful, and they were so nice. We spent around $9K to fill our yard. Our yard looks gorgeous!

This is not your first negative review either. Check the Internet. Maybe Phil will learn - maybe not.

PREVIOUS REVIEW CUT DOWN TO FIT UPDATE: My brother purchased 2 small bromeliads and a red banana tree after visiting this nursery for me on a Saturday. My brother sent me pictures/video as I am disabled and very ill so I could pick my choices.

The pricing was inappropriately high for the condition of the bromeliads which were the only ones they had left in the colors I wanted.

When I asked when they were expecting a new shipment, Phil was is a bit gruff. Worse, he had no idea when he would expect more (he's the owner), proceeded to explain that they were rare, very difficult to find and for them to get from their growers in such detail that it felt like he was complaining about his growers/process to me (uhhh, not my problem nor a good answer to my question - maybe cultivate more relationships with better growers).

Delivery came today - 13 days after purchase. What delivered was not good - my pick of the previously beautiful 25-gallon Red Banana Tree now had leaves that were shredded/beaten up. It appeared to not have been watered at all since my brother saw it. I actually wondered if it was the same tree.

The two smaller bromeliads which were not pristine originally, now appeared to be on death's door. We refused the delivery of those two - never had to do that in my life, but I can't reconcile paying $200 for two dying plants.

When I called Phil the owner to ask him what happened, his attitude was not customer-friendly. He erroneously claims he has been holding them for a month - wrong. Then, he says they were watered - wrong again.

Phil seems to think the customer works for him. He had already asked me to send a copy of our receipt to him TWICE as I had already done so already when adding a plant (don't have it on your computer?), asked me to clarify what I had already texted about how many plants I wanted in total, and never answered my text about whether he needed my credit card to add another plant.

Then he texts me that he needs my credit card and to call him. I call him in between my doctor's appts to happily give him the information again and he has the temerity to order me to call him in two minutes like some gruff Army Sergeant. Lol - what the ... I'm your customer Phil, have texted you already about this and now I have to call you yet again, but I do and still remain polite. I get a message that his voicemail is full and can not receive messages. Sigh. So I text him again to let him know I tried calling back two minutes late (salute!) and to please call me back when available. Whew! WAY TOO MUCH WORK Way to put on a customer!

When I called about the plants not looking good, Phil's response was an impatient and inappropriately impolite "Ah, "come on." This is where I told him I would have my brother call him about the refund of the refused plants because I had had enough of Phil. I'm too ill to deal with Phil acting like a jerk. Andrew called and spoke to his son who is nice and said they would honor the returned plants and refund my credit card so that's...

This is a legendary nursery for people who are crazy for rare species and forms of Palms and Cycads. And it helps to be a little well-heeled. If you are seeking just generic plants you'll do much better at a big box store or chain nursery. However, Jungle Music is where you find the impossibly obscure palms and cycads (and some other subtropicals) you've only read about. Physically, it's a bit different from other nurseries. You are free to walk around the crowded, jungle-like nursery area. But no prices are on the plants and many don't have labels. Nor are the plants organized in an obvious manner. So do take advantage of the owner Phil's offer to be shown around by an employee. In my case it was Ricardo and he is delightful. Taught me many things in a short amount of time and gave me some good advice. He knows the plants here backwards and forwards.

Do check out their website. There are lists of their vast current inventory with sizes and prices. In person, I found the plants well grown. Note that palms and cycads take many years to grow to a good size so the prices may shock you. You are paying for the years to grow them. Some species are available as less-expensive small plants but not too many. That said, I bought three palms in five-gallon pots. I have a very good feeling about this place and look forward to returning. By the way, the San Diego Botanic garden is five minutes away by car so treat yourself if you have time. The massive mature specimens there...

Jungle Music Palm Nursery is the best nursery for rare and exotic palms we have ever been to. They have more species of palms and more palm knowledge than anyone else. They also have all the palms that are regularly used in landscape industry throughout SoCal. They have so many palms it is like a ship laden with treasure from all over the world. It is THE destination nursery for palm collectors, and for people who want to boost their home's value with palm magic. We travel from San Francisco all the way to Encinitas to get the gorgeous palms that we can't get anywhere else. We've had a lot of fun in the process, as you never know what you might find, and they have great recommendations for what works where we live. Phil, Jesse and their team are extremely knowledgeable about selecting palms for specific conditions and climate zones, as well as maintenance and care tips. They have the answers to questions and are great to communicate with. Every trip we have made has been a wonderful experience, and every palm has been strong and healthy. It's amazing how tropical our garden feels and looks even though we are north of SF. Here are some pictures of what Northern California can be like with a little Jungle Music (these are all...