Identifying Palms

[stevef]

I am new to palms and have purchased some for my property in Spain, I have been watering like mad thinking that it will help them grow, I have killed one, now I am trying to locate a book, not only to identify how to look after my palms but aso to identify them by name!

attached is one of my plants

[Zac in NC]

I reccomend An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms by Robert Lee Riffle and Paul Craft. It is a little expensive, but well worth it. We just lost Bob Riffle about 10 days ago, but Paul Craft posts here as well. I believe the palm you have there is  Washingtonia robusta, but the picture is a bit small.

Zac

By the way, welcome to the forum. You will learn a ton from all of the posters here. We are very nice.

[stevef]

Thanks for the response, off to amazon now to try and buy the book.

Regards

Steve

[bgl]

Steve,

Welcome to the Forum, and yes, I agree 100% with Zac. Whenever I meet someone who wants to educate themselves about palms, that's the book I recommend. Lots of great pictures and lots of easy-to-understand info about palms.

Where in Spain are you?

Aloha!

Bo-Göran

[stevef]

Hi,

I am in Alicante, the place is swarming with palms and I wanted to add some greenery to my garden so I visited my local Spanish garden centre and purchsed 4 different palms, one of which is no longer with us, it rotted through over watering apparently, so I am now trying to learn and keep the others alive, I have found the book on Amazon, I am in the UK on Thrusday and will try to buy it direct from a book shop, failure to get it I will order through Amazon.

Regards

Steve

[bgl]

Steve,

OK, I'm sure that's a nice place! Been to many other places in Spain (and spent a bit of time in the Fuengirola area near Malaga). Hope you'll be able to find the book, one way or another. The nighttime low temp during the winter will pretty much be the deciding factor in what you can grow at that location. And by that I don't mean the normal, average, low temp, but what it drops to on the coldest night of the year.

Bo-Göran

[stevef]

I can't wait to get the book, the lowest I have seen  is just freezing, well enough for a frost and that is one night of the year, day time in winter is 15-20 degrees with night time 4-10 these aren't facts but my own experience over three years of living here.

Regards

Steve

[Fred Zone 10A]

Phil, one of our fellow posters, owns a marvelous nursery here in Southern California.  His website (www.junglemusic.com) has a wealth of palm information.

Below is a link to an article he wrote on cold-hardy palms:

Phil's Article on Cold-Hardy Palms

I'm familiar with Portugal, not Spain, but I suspect your climate isn't that different from parts of Southern California:  hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.  It that's so, there are many species of palms that will grow where you are.  Pull together some information on your climate (especially the year's lowest low) and ask the denizens of Palm Talk.

By the way, I agree that Robert Lee Riffle's An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms is an absolute must have.

Last, I hope you'll add some information in your "signature" about your location and climate.  It makes it lots easier for us palm nuts to respond to your queries.

[Walt]

Welcome, Steve. I concur with others that the purchase of An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms is the thing to do. Also, Betrocks just came out with a revised expanded edition of Betrock's Guide To Landscaping Palms.

Further, I believe you will get all the information you will need right here at this forum, especially since you can post photos (big, big plus).

I imagine most of the best palms you can grow are Phoenix species, Brahea, Washingtonia, but lots more.

I guess your climate is arid/semi-arid. I say this as I'm a Spaghetti Western buff and so many movies were made just down the road from you in Cabo De Gato, Los Albaricoques, Tabernas, Almeria, etc. It looked very dry in these locations with lots of agaves. Most palm species I saw were in the Phoenix genus.

Walt

[cfkingfish]

From what I remember, The Encyclopedia was only a $40 book, but I did buy it awhile ago. If you want an expensive book, get Genera Palmarum or POM.  

They are all worth it!

[bgl]

Genera Palmarum was published in 1987 so it's a little bit out of date with many of the names, which is part of the reason why Genera Palmarum 2 is in the works now (for publication maybe next year?). But more importantly, and excellent as it is, I don't believe GP is the book to recommend for someone who is just getting into palms and needs horticultural information, and basic info about different genera and species. As of right now (and since it was published) I believe the "Encyclopedia" is the best choice.

POM (Palms of Madagascar) is of course a "must have" book for most of us, but again, probably not the book to recommend for someone who's new to palms. Also, most of the Madagascar palms are probably marginal at best in Spain.

[Jeff Searle]

All you need is a sharp shovel and the.........DESIRE ! :cool:

[BobbyinNY]

Stevef.... BIENVENIDOS!!!... Espana es mi favorito pais - todo el mundo .... tambien es donde fuemos para luna de miel......   y es un buen tiempo para crece las palmas...

[SunnyFl]

I'll add my vote for getting Riffle's Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms.  

The book is simply beautiful.  The way it is written and the photographs are wonderful.  Plus, it will help you learn about the palms - their native habitat, their requirements, and how to best show them in a landscape.

I also agree with Walt - you can get a wealth of information from this forum - a number of the people who post here are experts, and generous in sharing their knowledge.

But a word of warning about Riffle's book - if you get it, it will turn you into a palm-obsessive - if you aren't already   .

[MattyB]

Give the Trachycarpus palms a try.  They won't ever die from your cold....they are very hardy and love the sun.

[stevef]

Thanks to everyone for the input, and to Bobby the spanish writer, Spain is a great country, Alicante and especially Elche have a large number street lined Plams which makes the place look beautiful. I will find out more about the climate, but as a rough guide from April - October no rain and I mean no rain, October - March the days draw in and get colder we have over 300 days of sunshine so even over the winter we will only get 30ish days of rain. - I will update my profile with more wheather stuff later.

Thanks to all