A Good Thing About Packing

It's not all gloom and adieu to the warmer weather when packing up plants for the winter. One of the little benefits of doing so is you get the chance to inspect the plants one by one as you do so (as long as it's not a rushed affair). You get to inspect them and see how well they have performed from the past growing season and how they are doing just before they get stashed away for the winter.  

Sorry birds, you're off to a warmer but sunless place for the winter!

The health of the plant can be checked before winter arrives. If they are in a good state then they can be stashed away immediately. If not then perhaps a few things needs to be done first to remedy the problem before they go to their winter homes.

Or simply you get the chance to admire them!

Such was when we finally moved this palm to its home and position for the winter (in the jungle hut).

Parajubaea torallyi var. microcarpa

My it has grown really well! And it's looking great!

This particular palm is Parajubaea torallyi var. microcarpa. You can read more about this coconut lookalike on this page. Although this palm grows in high altitude areas in parts of South America and has a good degree of cold and frost tolerance, it is still unsuitable for permanent planting in our garden without extra protection. It is a good candidate however for planting in the milder parts of the country like in the coastal west and Central London.

With Gaz for scale

So not quite suitable for planting out but good enough to be grown in a pot and kept in a frost free, minimally heated space for the winter. A lot easier to keep alive without costing the earth in heating bills than its lookalike, the coconut palm.

The jungle hut is now full of plants, although I didn't take a photo at the end. Everything tucked up ready for winter, with plenty of natural light and insulated walls to keep the heat in.

Mark :)

Read More

In Praise of the Humble Trachycarpus

What would an exotic garden in the UK be without the humble Trachycarpus fortunei?

The wonderful and hardy palm, Trachycarpus fortunei

First of all, using the word humble to describe this palm is already doing it a disservice as it is actually a tall growing, potentially imposing, stately, and a very architectural palm.

However, it is also usually maligned for being so 'common'. And being maligned makes it humbled which is very unfair.

There are different types of Trachycarpus palms out there with T. fortunei being the hardiest and most popular and T. wagnerianus a very close second on both aspects. This photo was taken at the Palm House Nursery in Devon, a nursery specialising in T. wagnerianus

So what's not to like about this palm when it is:

As stated above: tall growing, stately, and very architectural.

Hardy for most parts of the UK

Hardy for most parts of the UK

Relatively fast growing for a palm, more than a foot a year is possible once it is established on the ground, slower when in a pot.

Fancy a different look? When it is tall enough you can strip its trunk from its fibrous covering

Evergreen

Leafy and very exotic looking. Equally at home to jungle, xeric, and Mediterranean style of garden.

It's a jungle out there!

Solitary trunk. Once it has gained a significant size of trunk and the crown is well above ground you regain precious garden space beneath it for layering and under planting. Or just leave it as it is for a minimalist look.

It can be dug up with just a small rootball left and yet survive and transplant successfully into a new location. It will sulk for a year or two of course but afterwards it will carry on growing as usual.

Will grow happily either in full sun or shade and anything else in between. 

Drought tolerant (except in pots) but does appreciate and perform much better when watered generously and fertilised during the growing season.

Severely scorched by flames but it carried on producing new growth as normal

Provides a very good backbone and structure to a garden.

Easy, undemanding, reliable.

However, it's own good merits are also the very reason it is often maligned by other exoticists. By being so easy, undemanding, and reliable it is readily available hence 'common'. And by being common, snobbery comes into place by others.

Personally I am so glad, thankful, and appreciative for the existence of this palm and all of its good merits. It's easy enough to focus on what's not existing out there (like a reliably hardy feather palm for a start) but I can't imagine if this palm did not exist at all!

It is of course possible to have an exotic garden in the UK without any palm in it. Or even a palm based garden with only a few or no Trachycarpus fortunei in it at all. But you'll have to be in one of the few milder areas in the UK, or have an exceptionally good microclimate, or do loads of protective measures during the winter.

Whenever we visit nurseries it's funny how we still gravitate towards this palm whether it is surrounded by other exotics or not. We don't always buy them of course but good sized ones for a good price the temptation gets very high and resistance becomes weak, just like when we recently went to the Palm Centre.

Bargain Trachycarpus fortunei

Sometimes I wander down the garden, looking out for some of our rarer and more unusual plants and thinking of writing a blog post about them. Often I get on such a mindset that I overlook some of our reliable stalwarts, like this palm when they really deserve as much focus as some of the rarer ones. So here I am singing praises for this wonderful palm, a plant we couldn't be without in our exotic garden.

What about you, any plant in particular that is 'common' and yet you couldn't be without in your garden?

Mark :-)

Read More

A Look Back at the Year 2013

What a roller coaster of a year 2013 has been! Just looking back and reminiscing at the things that we got up to and the events that transpired in the past twelve months, some of which we didn't have any control of has reminded us how intense this year was.

Very intense, and what an insane year, whew!

What a difference twelve months can make. Looking back on our blog archives it's amazing how many things have happened in what is relatively a short period of time. Some of these activities we have almost forgotten about but were instantly reminded of the moment we read them all over again. And that's one of the many advantages of having a blog, it also serves as on online diary that we can refer to if we want to remember what we got up to gardening wise in a particular time of the year from the time we started blogging.

Ahh 2013, such an intense yea!. So many highs, a few unexpected lows, overall very intense. Intense, have I said this word enough? It is the perfect word that sums up how both us feel about this year.

We actually don't know whether to consider 2013 as a good year or a bad year for the both of us. One thing is for sure though, is that it was...well...intense! Too intense at times and that's not always a good thing.

So a good year or a bad year? We will pass judgement as soon as we have finished looking back and we'll deliver our verdict at the end of this post. Join us as we reminisce on the year 2013...

JANUARY

A snowy and mellow start to our year as we continued with the final stages of our big pond build and began its Final Countdown as we completed the decking next to the pond, as well as introduced you all to the Prequel Pond which gave us our first experience in building a raised pond. It is also the pond that jump started our koi keeping hobby and is the mother of our big pond build.

It's The Final Countdown.

The Prequel Pond

Read More

New Palms for the New Year

Where do we even begin....

Today was designated to be a gardening day as soon as we took note that the forecast for this Sunday would be sunny and dry. And sunny and dry it was which made it conducive to get stuck in to gardening.

Having had an extremely busy past few month it has felt like we haven't gardened properly for a long time, and that today was the first time after a busy period. The first 'designated gardening day' for a quite a while!

Facing the patio today, with debris, litter and building materials randomly dotted all over I thought where do I even begin? Without further analysis I just picked up a broom and started sweeping and soon a natural order of activity quickly fell into place. At this moment sometimes it's best to just tidy up and do the planning later on when either of us are inspired or in the mood at least.

Incomprehensible placing of random things....

Anyway, we have been buying a few new palms in the past few weeks with the biggest haul of our recent purchases coming from the winter sales at the Palm Centre. It was too dark to take photos of our haul when we got home last night so we just unloaded the car and freed the palms from their cling film bondage and left the picture taking until today.

Trachycarpus fortunei

First things first, more Trachycarpus fortunei! For the type of gardening that we do they make great backbone and filler plants. Each of them has a trunk of over 40cm and at £17.50 ($28) each are an absolute bargain! So three of them went back home with us. 

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

In my post yesterday I mentioned that I was after three palms in particular and I managed to get all three of them which includes the Needle Palm, Rhapidophyllum hystrix. This very slow growing palm is still a rarity in the UK and specimens for sale with a reasonable price tag are certainly worth getting. It is a cold hardy palm and along with Trachycarpus fortunei can be planted out with confidence in most British gardens and other areas with similar climates or even slightly colder.

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

A palm native to the US, it is a shade loving palm if planted on milder areas or areas that get really warm summers. For British gardens it is recommended that this is planted in full sun or at least in a bright spot as summers here are rarely consistently warm and winters are not always mild. We can attest to this, we have several planted out already in the garden and we actually managed to kill one that was sited in deep shade.

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

The Needle Palm is called as such due to the needles found on its trunk which actually look more vicious than they really are. Still handle it with care as a miscalculated move can result in injuries.

This is a very, very slow growing palm with a shrubby habit. Buy as big a specimen as you possibly can as it is so slow to gain size and best planted in association with other plants with stronger architectural merits.

Trachycarpus 'Naggy'

The second palm on my list is a Trachycarpus 'Naggy' which is a cross between a female T. nanus and male T. wagnerianus and is a Palm Centre special/creation. The hardiness potential of this palm is good with both parents being UK hardy palms with an appearance potentially distinct enough from other Trachycarpus with its deeply split leaves. If you look closely there seems to be some red spider mite damage to the leaves of the one we chose due to it being kept in a greenhouse for years but this shouldn't be a persistent problem as this palm will be planted out soon.

Trachycarpus 'Naggy'

We're hoping 'Naggy' will have the good traits of each parent with the split leaves of the slow growing and subterranean trunked T. nanus, and the the vigour and trunk forming character of stiff leafed T. wagnerianus. Although a palm with inverse trait (squat and stiff leaved) doesn't sound bad either!

The third palm on my list is Chamaedorea microspadix and we bought three of these, two small specimens and a large one over six feet tall for an instant impact. These are replacement palms. We used to have several pots of this palm but lost them all in the fire last July. Unfortunately all the pots were huddled in the same area that has been badly affected so none survived. It's one of the plants we lost that we really missed so we're glad that we finally have replacement ones.

This is the only palm from our recent purchases that won't be planted out but instead used as part of a summer display. It is hardy enough for milder parts of the UK or favourable areas of a garden with a good microclimate that remains warm enough to keep this palm alive and looking good. We have tried planted a few out in our garden before and sailed through fine on milder winters but not in the most recent ones which were not on the mild side. They got cut back down to the ground and although they did come back in the spring they didn't size up quick enough to make a good showing in the summer. I'd say they are fine down to -6C for brief periods, slightly lower than that they start to sustain considerable cosmetic damage and much lower than that you'll lose all of the top growth and will have to come back from the ground.

Chamaedorea microspadix inside the jungle hut

This is a shade loving, suckering palm and is prone to slug and snail damage so keep an eye out for these pests!

Apart from the Palm Centre we also recently bought a trunked Chamaerops humilis, the European Fan Palm and the only one native to this continent, in Crews Hill Gardening Club a few weeks ago. It is now taking shelter under the roof of the jungle hut verandah until it gets planted out.

Chamaerops humilis

Chamaerops humilis

After Trachycarpus and Rhapidophyllum this genus is the one next in line when it comes to hardiness and suitability for planting out in British gardens. Trailing not far behind Chamaerops are the genus Butia, Jubaea, Trithrinax, and Brahea. Hardiness also depends on the species of each genus, with some species hardier than others. Even Trachycarpus, some of its species are only borderline UK hardy like T. martianus. Other genus of palms that would have been hardy had if we get reliably warm summers here are Sabal, Nanorrhops, just to mention a few.

Anyway, back to the last set of new palms we have bought recently are a couple of Trachycarpus princeps hybrids, and this one came from Hardy Palms. 

Trachycarpus princeps hybrid palms

Such a beautiful, graceful looking palm even at a small size, our photos don't do it justice...

Trachycarpus princeps hybrid

It is said to be a hybrid palm between Trachycarpus princeps and either a T. nova or T. fortunei. The undersides of the leaves has a blue tinge to it which is akin to the hue T. princeps leaves but the speed and vigour of growth T. nova/T. fortunei. It'll be interesting to see how the appearance of this palm will change and develop in time, we'll all just have to wait and see but the potential for hardiness is really good based on the toughness of both of its parents.

Trachycarpus princeps hybrid

So there you are, a few new palms for the New Year. We haven't figured out where to place each of them but I'm sure we'll eventually figure that out once the ball starts rolling again in just a few weeks time, very early in the spring.

First things first though, we must figure out what to do will all these materials scattered on our patio and where to store them. And make a sensible arrangement of the patio until we're ready to give it a proper makeover.

Mark :-)

Read More

Palm Crazy at the Palm Centre

So we had three choices this morning of what to primarily do today: go to Kew Gardens, go to a shopping mall and brave the sales again, or stay at home and do some gardening.

Ok, it's not a palm but a handsome specimen of Dasylirion serratifolium

All three started on equal footing but choosing one would be essential otherwise our sense of laziness would have prevailed and both of us could have easily stayed in bed all day (a luxury activity in its own right).

Read More

NYBG Conservatory - Rainforest and Aquatic Plants

We finally had the chance to start sorting out the photos we took of our visit to New York Botanical Gardens last September and one of the highlights of which was our wander through the different sections of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

This conservatory, a major landmark and considered to be the crown jewel of New York City houses the tender plant collection of the botanical gardens. The building itself was inspired from the Palm House at Kew Gardens as well as the Crystal Palace (which was destroyed in 1936 and was never rebuilt). The conservatory fell into disrepair in the 70's and needed some much needed major restoration which was then made possible by the generous donation of Enid A. Haupt, hence the conservatory being named after her once all restoration work was completed.

Read More

Book Review: The Encyclopedia Of Cultivated Palms

The first edition was originally published back in 2003 and ever since The Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms has been a key reference text for all palm enthusiasts.  This much anticipated update includes an additional author and well known palm expert Scott Zona, curator of the Wertheim Conservatory in Florida and also includes a significant number of palm species and varieties that have been  introduced into cultivation since the original edition was published.

There are 825 species of palm described in detail, including key information for us on cold hardiness, water needs, height, and any other special requirements. Each palm is well illustrated, with almost 1,000 colour photographs in the book in total.

Our own interest is particularly focused on those palms available within the UK for example, Trachycarpus and Brahea are well represented with each having 8 species listed and described. Butia, Chamaedorea and Syagrus fair even better with 9, 43 and 24 species discussed respectively. Some of the very new introductions are omitted but clearly the botanic world can be quite fast moving and so any encylopedia will need regular revision and updates to include everything.

Many will be familiar with the revised naming convention that was proposed in 2010 for the Butia family, the new names are used in the book and are well explained, in particular how the name impacts on the popular Butia odorata (formerly Butia capitata).

After an initial introduction to palms, the book contains two main sections, the first of which deals with the photographs, The Gallery of Palms has 250 pages containing in excess of 900 colour photographs, many of which tease and delight in equal measure. Sadly many remind us how far north and cold we are in the UK and thus we can only admire many of the wonderful plants from afar or within the protected environs of places such as The Palm House at Kew.

Following on from the photo gallery comes the second and significantly larger section of the book which contains an alphabetical listing of the palms starting with Acanthophoenix and covering the 825 species through to Zombia. The individual entries each give an overview of the family with an introduction to the genus, followed by a more detailed discussion and explanation  of the individual species characteristics, including typical traits and growing conditions needed as well as seed form and germination techniques.

The final part of the book lists palms by  a number of categories, assisting those looking to select a palm for a specific aspect, for example drought tolerance or speed of growth, perhaps this section may be less useful for those growing palms in the UK as most will have to be grown under glass due to the colder climate.

For those of us growing palms in the UK we often have to deal with pests or overwintering plants in doors, the book doesn't cover pests and treatments or the suitability of a plant to spending time as a house plant. However this book is great value for money and a must have read for anyone interested in growing, identifying or simply enjoying palms. Highly recommended.

The Encyclopedia Of Cultivated Palms is published by Timber Press and available from all the usual outlets.

Read More

The Full Brazilian

I've always fancied having stripped, non hirsute trunked Trachycarpus palms in the garden  but somehow we have never managed to have any. Nor had we the chance to do some palm stripping ourselves despite actually knowing how to do it. All theory, no practise and that's no good!

Take it all off baby!

So we decided to end such an omission by finally giving a 'full Brazilian' to a decent sized trunked Trachycarpus wagnerianus this weekend.

Read More

Winter Protection Austrian Style

A couple of years ago we had a lovely short break in Vienna in the run up to Christmas. Whilst there we visited the small botanical garden which rather conveniently was located close to our hotel. Heading towards the small exotic house we spotted this strange wooden tower...

What was in it....

Heating cables and a thermostat to keep it warm!

That's what it is a tall Trachycarpus fortunei protected from the harsh Austrian winter in a giant insulated shed.

Now thats dedication!

Gaz

Read More

Tropical Rainforest Greenhouse - Jardin des Plantes

In one of our earlier blog posts I mentioned that we always make it a point to check out if there are any nearby botanical gardens we can visit whenever we go on a city break. And on our long weekend break to Paris just recently it was no exception as this time we made sure to check out the huge Jardin des Plantes, the main botanical garden of France which is also conveniently located in central Paris and can be reached via several metro stations (or on foot if your hotel is just nearby).

A taste of the exotic in central Paris!

Read More

Kew, A Wander Through the Palm House

When we visited Kew a couple of weeks ago, we included a tour through the Palm House. Built between 1844 to 1848 its one of the most iconic looking Victorian Glasshouses and home to a fantastic collection of Palms, Cycads and other exotic plants. But on a cold day the warm and humid tropical conditions are a real draw and the lush exotic plants a wonderful escape from the cold autumnal weather outside.

Read More

Win A Tropical Britain Gift Voucher

Its competition time again and this month we have a £20 gift voucher to give away from Tropical Britain, an online nursery specialising in exotic, rare and unusual plants. The site is run by John Edmiston an experienced plantsman, who grew up in New Zealand surrounded by plants that many of us here now call exotic.

John explains, "Cordylines, Phormiums, Astelias, Pseudopanax, Metrosideros, tree ferns and Nikau palms were all a regular part of everyday life, along with the many species that we could never really hope to grow very successfully in the UK, the Karaka, Kawakawa and Ngaio. I had a great fondness for the New Zealand bush and spent as much time as I could there, learning about the plants and their traditional Maori uses."

Later he travelled to Australia, Java, Malaysia and Thailand before ending up in the UK, living near to Kew Gardens. He visited almost every day over the first winter to escape the cold and be reminded of the tropical plants from home.

Eventually setting up the Tropical Britain Nursery in Surrey John explains his vision "Here at Tropical Britain, I set out to create not only a multi-functional website that is intuitive and user-friendly but also has within it as much useful botanical, horticultural and cultivation information as possible. I am more motivated to create a vibrant community of like-minded souls than a place to just spend money. What I didn't want to do was create just another internet shop, another soul-less supermarket-style website, but rather a place for people who love plants to wander around in - a bit like a garden really - and enjoy yourself, the views, the little corners or larger vistas, the occasional snippet of information that gets you thinking, that inspires you maybe to try something new or different."

As well as the website, do check out Tropical Britain's Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter pages too. 

On signing up to Tropical Britain all new customers can select a free Trachycarpus fortunei with their first order (remember to tick the box!), and automatically receive 200 Palm Points (Which are redeemable against future orders). This is available in conjunction with the competition prize gift voucher and must be selected when placing your first order. 

To enter, please sign up as a new customer on the Tropical Britain Website, put this code into the referral box YWlnK20vTXdiMGNwbTB2bEpBYzZXVXVOYzdrQkw1M2VBaWRBb1VGS0JXRT0= (no purchase is necessary to win) and  answer the following question on the blog here:

Trachycarpus fortunei is named after which famous plant hunter?

a) Francis Masson
b) Robert Fortune
c) Ernest Wilson

The winning entrant will have their account at Tropical Britain credited with the gift voucher.

Extra entries can be made by following us and sharing this competition on Twitter or by liking our page and sharing the competition on Facebook. An additional entry can be made by "following" this blog via Google Friend Connect

Terms and conditions: This competition closes at 23.59 on 10 November 2012. Any entries received after this time will not be counted. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 years or older to enter. By entering this competition you agree and consent to your name being published and by taking part in the competition, entrants are deemed to have read, understood and accepted all of the Terms and Conditions and agreed to be bound by them. The winner will be selected at random from the correct entries and will be announced here on the blog. Please make sure we are able to contact you if you do win as we need to pass your details on to Tropical Britain to provide the prize.

Read More

Rarities at the Palm Centre

Trachycarpus princeps - this one not for sale though!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, that's what they say when you feel more excited to see or do something if you haven't done so for quite some time.

And somehow that's what I felt the moment we drove into the car park of the Palm Centre en route to our afternoon in Kew Gardens last Sunday. It's just that we haven't been to both for quite some time, many months, and that's a relatively long stretch of time considering that we have an annual pass to the latter. Life has been hectic on the whole this year and we haven't really made much use of this pass (and somehow I'm starting to think it will be the same again next year but it's handy enough to have the pass nevertheless, especially when the odd moment comes that we have free time and don't know what to, and presto, head down to Kew!).

Read More