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My Garden in Pyrgos...


Kostas

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Hello!

As you may have read in many topics of mine,i have a house in Pyrgos which belonged to my grandparents till a few years ago when they both passed away :( Anyway,a year ago we(my parents and i) started fixing the house and did a renovation to it...Now finally the time has come to plant the relatively small garden it has...I hadnt done anything with it before due to the dirty jobs from the house and the soil needing a thorough clean up by hand picking the MANY garbage it has scattered eveywhere...To these,add the scrap cement,paints and others from the recent house renovation,and you end up with a soil full of garbage and ugly things :angry: This had always detered me from planting anything to it till now as its a lot of work to clean it.Last time i was there thought,i decided to do something about it and handpicked every metal i could find in the garden...To make a ong story short,here is the pile i ended up making:

IMG_0465a.jpg

And i think there are more...I remember i found another train rail but didnt had a second person to move it with...They are too heavy to move these alone and the one you see in the photo is only a half rail and still needs two persons to move it...

The garden was planted by my grandparents in the past with 3 Yucca,2 Lemon trees,2 Mandarin trees,a persimmon tree and a single Olea europea along with many Vitis vinifera and roses...My parents had planted a beautyfull Pine tree too,25years ago which was wonderfull and had grown huge till my grandmother had it chopped to the ground :angry::angry::angry::rage: Two appricot trees, 2 almond trees, a Prunus insititia and a beautyfull Ziziphus tree were established also by themselves from seeds trown away in the garden and and from nearby trees(in the case of Ziziphus only)...This appears like a nice(although plamless...) garden but unfortunatly my grandparents had a really bad habit of hard prunning,better called chopping i would say,fruiting trees to keep them low so ''they could reach all the fruits and have the tree be more productive...''So,as you can understand,every tree looked awfull...Almost all were having multiple tops with multiple point from which a load of branches arrouse,showing the old chop points...I dont like trees like these and in fact,i dont like anything less than unprunned trees(except for the lower branches,till my height,which,if the tree is going to be very tall,can be removed once it gains some height...) and so all the ugly trees had to be removed,a hard job since all were of more than 15years in the ground,probably 20 and i knew we would have a hard time removing them...But,with a shovel,patience, a piece of rope and an ML350 jeep,we managed to remove the persimmon tree and the tree along with a almond tree(better described as almond bush from the stupid prunning...) and a pot planted,center trunk chopped Yucca.The other Almond tree was cut to the ground a few months ago and the two appricot trees too...The latter two were almost dead and we removed the stump of one of them too.Now,we need to remove all the Lemon and mandarin trees which also dont look beautyfull and are grafted trees,not the real species,along with one Yucca which i was initially planning to keep but my uncle chopped it down when i was away while ''cleaning the place'',thinking as he says that i didnt wanted it.I am gonna replace it though with another,unprunned one.

The trees i am gonna keep are the Olea europea,which,although bad prunned,can be turned into natural shape with some carefull and well planned prunning,the Ziziphus tree,which although i think it has been top chopped in the past,it has that very high in the trunk and its not very visible,and also is big and beautyfull and so i will let it and hopefully the prun mark will fade more with age,and a Yucca(no idea of species...can you id?),along with 3 Vitis vinifera which are clinbing a tall fence and have been maintanance free for years...They never get sick while most Vitis catch disease and need treating all the time...

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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And now some photos... :)

Here is the pile of the plants we removed...It sits in the propety next to hours...The owner lets us do whatever we want in his property and the only think he wants in return is cleaning his yard from the dry pests in summer so as to not pay for that(its something enforced by the law to prevent fires and anyone not doing it in his yard,gets to pay the local authorities that go and do it for him...So we are free and use his yard which he doesnt mind and dont cost him as he doesnt uses it himself... :lol:

IMG_0466a.jpg

Many of the trees and shrubs were in patios...Here are the patios with everything removed and the blocks lining them removed too...They will be enlarged a bit and new blocks will be placed to line them :) The house is to the left on the first picture...

IMG_0456a.jpg

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IMG_0454a.jpg

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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IMG_0461a.jpg

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The Yucca i am gonna place where the chopped one is...I will place one of the two from this pot,not both :)

IMG_0457a.jpg

Looking to a walkway that is to the side of a second building in my propert...It was a bakery in the past and now its destined to be renovated at some point and become a beautyfull house with visible wooden roof...Well,someday in the future as i lack the money at the moment...Thats why i will not plant directly to the wall of this building,as the roof will be replaced with a wooden one...(the current is made from amiant,a now known cancer inducing factor...that was not known 20-30years ago though,when it was built...).To the right you see the Yucca i am gonna keep and to the right were the now removed Yucca and Prunus insititia...

IMG_0459a.jpg

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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IMG_0458a.jpg

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View from the end of the walkway,to the right,at the back of the building...The tall tree that is barely visible to the right,is the Ziziphus...

IMG_0464a.jpg

A picture of my recently planted Magnolia grandiflora!!! I went and after much searching selected this beautyfull specieman for its perfect brances which have never been trimmed! :) Only the lowermost ones have but i dont care for these as they will be removed in a few years... :) I saw the move from the nursery to my house as i lead the truck driver...I was very anxious on the move and got pissed seeing the tree banged to the low hanging trees on the road and a few low cables...I totally get BS Man's anxiety with the Orania on his trip home!!!The black soil you see is soil amendment,which i mixed with our original loamy soil...At the surface i placed pure soil amender for its beauty...I love dark soils! :) It took me and 3 other persons to move this beauty to the planting hole and remove the pot...The pot was actually hacked with a chansaw to remove it as 3 persons werent enough to pull the tree of the pot...The planting spot is the place were the persimmon tree was...

IMG_0462a.jpg

Edited by Kostas

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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And here is a photo of the largest Kentias i found locally and which will probably be my next purchase...Are they 100% Howea fosteriana? Do they appear to you in good shape?I ask because there were two that had serious fertilizer burn in this nursery and i worry if these have had in the past too and if this will have effect on their lower trunk when it will be exposed,or its caliper...

IMG_0448a.jpg

Thank you very much in advance!

I hope you liked it!!!Its a work in progress and will be updating as i move on! :)

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Melissa, Cannot wait to watch you recast this Garden. What a beautiful spot! What is your latitude?

What you look for is what is looking

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Hi Kostas!

Lot of work there but i belive it will look great when you finish with it and plant palms :)

Those Kentias look great too. Gor for them if price is good.

Bubba, he's not Mellisa. He's male, Kostas. Melissia is a part (suburb) of Athens. B)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissia

Edited by Pivi

island Vis, adriatic sea, Croatia. Zone 9b/10a

Temperature low last winter: -0.9°C/30.4 F

Temperature low this winter: -0.3°C/31.5 F

-Creating my own little palm heaven-

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It will be very satisfying to look back on these photos in a couple of years time.

Bubba, I'm sure Melissa will do Zeus proud once again!

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Hello Giannopoulos,

you have a lot of potential there!

I would maybe begin with thinking about which type of garden you want to have. I mean, a typical mediterranean garden is something completely different from a tropical style garden. I suspect, but i am not sure, you want a tropical looking garden when i look at the yucca's in combination with kentia and magnolia grandiflora.

I can advice you to plant Butyagrus palms. They are a hybrid of Butia Capitata and Syagrus Romanzoffiana and grow pretty fast. You can see a picture here Butyagrus 1 and Butyagrus 2

They are hardy enough for your location and very tropical looking, more so than either parent.

I wish you the best of luck and i hope to see more stills from your garden in progress.

Were you able to get a trachycarpus?

Henri

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Kostas,

Lots of hard work, sweat, and pain ahead of you there... But, it will be very rewarding once it is all done. Take lots of pics to document the progress.

Joe

Huntington Beach, CA

USDA Zone 10a/10b

Sunset Zone 24

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Kostas,

You definitely have your hands full, but we would like to see the progress as you move along. Tell us, are there many nurseries near you that offer a good selection of plants? If so, maybe you could share a few pictures of where you buy from and also as you plant in the yard.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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The Kentia looks fine. However, it must be acclimated to the the partial or full sun. This will take more than a year, and you will notice that in the first couple of years the frond will be shorter. In partial shade it will grow faster. I had all of mine acclimated to full sun and they took about 2 years. I would recommend you to grow dracaena draco instead of the yucca. It's more stately and people friendly. :drool:

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The before and after photo comparison will be amazing to say the least.

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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Costas,

If you are looking for ideas, this is the place to go.

My experience with Kentias has been that buying some fairly young ones and putting them directly in the ground with half-sun has yielded better results than purchasing much older and pricier ones. The small ones ( about 40 cm ) are now around 2 metres and the 3 meter ones are now also 2 metres.

If you can get your hands on some archontophoenix you'll really be pleased with the results. The alexanders do great in full sun and the cunninghamas ( particularilly the Illawaras ) do great in the shade. They are quite easy to source from Germany - even a dozen seedlings will fit in an envelope and a 10 cm seedling will be a meter tall in 2 or 3 years.

Besides that, many Dypsis seem to work quite well for me. Sabals are also a nice alternative to the strictly Washingtonia fan palm thing in Greece.

Edited by mlovecan

Lardos, Greece ( Island of Rhodes ) 10B

1.9 km from Mediterannean Sea

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Thank you very much all of you for your replys!I am glad you liked the photoshoot! :)

Thanks bubba! :)

My latitude is exactly 37 40' and this is the garden i was telling you that i am planning to try Jamaican Tall coconuts! :)

Btw,my name is Konstantinos(Kostas for short) and Melissia is the suburb of Athens my main house is located,exactly as Pivi said :)

Thanks Pivi!

I am sure it will,i am already imagining it with huge canopy trees and Palms :drool: Well,in 20-40years... :unsure:

The price for the Kentias is good,its less than half what is asked in Athens for much smaller Kentia...And these currently grow in a very bright shadehouse,thats why i am considering these specifically...I have found others too,and in one place they seem ready to trunk and so they are quite appealing to me,but they seem to be growing in a good amount of shade,although the fronds are small and seem like they were growing in full sun...Unfortunately i didnt had the camera with me at that nursery,and it was the biggest i had seen in Pyrgos...I dont know,i will go searching again the nurseries when its time to buy and talk with the emplayees about the conditions they were growing before winter approached and everyone locked them up in greenhouses...I am searching for 3 in good condition and ready to trunk :)

I hope that John! :)

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Hello Henri!

Good to hear that!

I have long long ago decided about the style of this garden,fully tropical,with a mix of all conditions found in tropical places.Dry,sunny but humid and deep shade rainforest :drool: Basically,after many years,i plan on the whole garden becoming deep shade rainforest but i will have to wait many years till everything grows enough to achieve this...Well,wait and see!!! :)

I dont have much cold hardiness problems in my area fortunately,i can grow Syagrus romanzoffiana with real ease in my climate,as far north as where i live,Melissia.Pyrgos is much much warmer,with minimus of only -1C to -2C once a year and only -3C at most,every 20years!So i plan on making my garden trully tropical and not only tropical looking! Thanks a lot for the tip though,although i am not very fond of hybrids :) I like maintaining species purity and my palm and plant selection will be such as to not have hybrid seeds... :)

I do am able to obtain Trachycarpus and big ones for only 260euro and that is mainly the reason i am thinking on getting a couple.But the problem here is the lack of knowledge of nurseries and that none really cares here what plant he gets as long as he likes it!No need to know the name for them.For the matter of fact,only imported small plants that are sold in their shipping packing are labeled in nurseries...No other plant has a tag and you have to ask and if the salesman cared to know,he will tell you...Most times,you only get to know the genus,except if its a really common plant,where you may be able to get a full name but not the exact variety... :( As you can see,without knowing the Trachycarpus fortunei varieties myself,i have very slim chances of knowing what i will get and that is not an ideal situation for me that wants palms as they are in the wild and not any man made variety,even if it arrises from selective ''breeding'' of same species palms...I will post photos once i get them,or,in an ideal situation,before i get them...

Hi Luis!

Thanks a lot! :)

Yes,good spot!!!You must love this tree right?You can see the one i own and will be part of my garden behind the Magnolia grandiflora,under the shade of the beautyfull trees from the school next to my property :) Olea despises shade in general but this one has lasted all those years of shade and grows well,without problems,so i am gonna leave it and prun it to natural shape(tall tree,not shrub...) and so it will hopefully be one of the canopy trees in the years to follow...

Thanks a lot Joe!

Yeap,lots of hard work...Next time i will be there,i will try to complete the cleaning of the soil and i will install the drip irrigation system i will use(i will include foggers too in my rainforest are,which will be the whole garden between the old bakery and the school and also the garden behind the old bakery building)and this will by itself be a lot of hard work...Several 100s feet of black pipe to bury...

3 trees and a yucca to remove too...The last ones though...

I will do take photos to document the proccess,especially after all the cleaning has been done and also during the planting!!!! :)

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Hi Jeff!

I will try to document everything as good as possible! :) There do are many nurseries in and near Pyrgos and most are biggish for Athenian standards...There are however some much bigger a few km outside Pyrgos,such as the one in Korakochori,where i got the Magnolia grandiflora.This one certainly can be called a good one and is the only nursery i saw big Plumerias,for the first time in my life :drool::drool::drool: I had only seen a few 40cm ones at a annual show in Kifissia,Athens from a fellow palm enthousiast(the only one i know in person...to hear his qualifications,he brought with him a biggish potted trunking Dypsis lutescens he has grown from baby and has always had him in his working place,in the nursery he owns...And he was not selling it,it was just to have it with him :blink::lol::) ).This is also the nursery i saw the ready to trunk Howea fosteriana too but had forgotten my camera...I will do try to take pictures at the nurseries for you,although that may be a little difficult as i will be there checking and the plants i am there for thoroughly and have all my mind on that...Maybe while leaving from them... :winkie:

I will do take photos of the planting,thats always the best part!!! :)

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Thanks for the comment on the Kentia BigFrond! :) I understand that and i will be making a tent with shadecloth to slowly acclimate them to the part day sun they will be growing...(full sun from dawn to vertical sun angle,then shade...)Then just that 1 year to pass...Wish they were faster growing...

Unfortunately i dont have that much space availiable to grow Dracaena draco.I chose the Yucca because its already planted years now and also because of the tall size and thick trunk it sports when big :drool: The photos i have seen from what i think is the same species of Yucca growing in the desert,are just amazing... :drool: People friendliness is not an issue for me,people must know to respect plants :lol: If it wasnt for my mother,i would plant a Ceiba where the Magnolia is and an Acrocomia aculeata somewhere too :drool: Fortunately she is used to having Yucca and doesnt see them as possible danger...The power of habit... :lol:

Thanks Ray for believing in me! :)

Hi mlovecan!

Good to see you live in Greece! Rhodes has a great climate for tropicals so its a very good selection of place to live! :)

What you say may also me due to different growing conditions between the 2 and 3 meters ones and that not on your part,but from where you got them...I mean,i have seen 3 meter ones with a really thin base and 1,5 or less meter ones ready to trunk!So,i guess that by checking the base diameter,you can get a plant that will do be bigger once established than another very tall one with a slim base that will really decrease in height in sun...Its my understanding that base diameter shows true palm stage/age...

Archontophoenix palms are in my plans! :) I will soon be buying a 2-3meter Archontophoenix alexandrae from England and i will be getting A. purpurea seeds as soon as they become availiable online again!I hope they do well for me and not burn...I will protect the big one i will get for 1-2 years but then it will be on its own...I hope they get huge fast!!! :drool: Do they ever get damaged in winter for you?

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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I am currently growing Dypsis baronii from seed for this garden!Now only to get them to plantable size...Dypsis leptocheilos,Dypsis sp. 300 and Dypsis sp. ''Dark mealy bug'' are in my wishlist too as far as Dypsis go but i am afraid of hybridization with D. baronii when they get to flower...If i can get my hands on seeds of the latter two though,i may try one of them! :) Which Dypsis are growing well for you and what are the minimum tempratures you experience at your garden there?

Sabals take too many years to trunk and also take too much space...If i had a bigger propertyi would surely include one of the tropical,big leaved Sabals but for this one,i will go with the Washingtonia robusta(Sonora) i am growing from seed and will hopefully be quite big in just 4 years... :drool:

Here is a view of my property from Google Earth!My property is the one i have lined...You can see my latitude and longitude at the very bottom if you want to find it in Google Earth yourself! :)

PyrgosGarden.jpg

I am waiting to have the patios remade to go there and plant my single Syagrus romanzoffiana which i have grown from seed and to get(and possibly plant too!!!) 2 Trachycarpus fortunei and 3 Howea fosteriana...

Stay tunned!

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Hi Kostas,

I agree the source of the Kentias is important - the more sun-grown ( and the earlier they've seen sun ) the better.

All of the Dypsis I have tried have done well ( expect for the Dicipiens that just will not take the heat ) particularily leptecholios.

As for Archontos, the alexandrae has no problems with the sun at all. I've only tried Cunninghama in the shade and they get much thicker and lush than the alexandraes. I've lost a couple of Purpurea to the sun and heat and the one I have managed to keep alive for 3 years has just thrown out it's first frond last summer.

As for winter damage, most of my palms have suffered a little in the first winter but end up growing through most of the winter ( except for February ). Kentias and Rhopalostylis do much better in the winter than summer and I find Christmas a very good time to plant these palms.

Don't know who your source is for an Archonto in the UK but you may find a better price ( and cheaper shipping ) from one of these guys ( all in Germany ):

Palmeperpaket.de , Palms.de , Palmscenter.de

Lardos, Greece ( Island of Rhodes ) 10B

1.9 km from Mediterannean Sea

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A couple Greek shade grown Illawaras + 1 normal cunninghama planted 2 years later. First picture taken Oct 2004, second one taken in August 2008.

post-213-1227728311_thumb.jpg

post-213-1227728337_thumb.jpg

Lardos, Greece ( Island of Rhodes ) 10B

1.9 km from Mediterannean Sea

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Nice to see more palms from Greek gardens!

Thanks mlovecan.

island Vis, adriatic sea, Croatia. Zone 9b/10a

Temperature low last winter: -0.9°C/30.4 F

Temperature low this winter: -0.3°C/31.5 F

-Creating my own little palm heaven-

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Kostas,

Lots of hard work, sweat, and pain ahead of you there... But, it will be very rewarding once it is all done. Take lots of pics to document the progress.

Joe

I concur!

I emphasize that it will be glorious . . . .

Post the pics, and it'll be like going on vacation without going, which why we'll all really want to go . . . .

Let's keep our forum fun and friendly.

Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or lost profits or revenue, claims by third parties or for other similar costs, or any special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of my opinion or the use of this data. The accuracy or reliability of the data is not guaranteed or warranted in any way and I disclaim liability of any kind whatsoever, including, without limitation, liability for quality, performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arising out of the use, or inability to use my data. Other terms may apply.

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Don't know who your source is for an Archonto in the UK but you may find a better price ( and cheaper shipping ) from one of these guys ( all in Germany ):

Palmeperpaket.de , Palms.de , Palmscenter.de

Kostas i agree with this.

And for purpurea seeds have a look here on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-LIVE-SEEDS-Purple-...p3286.m20.l1116

http://cgi.ebay.com/TEN-Purple-King-Palm-T...%3A1|240%3A1318

I don't know the seller and if the seeds are fresh (which in my experience is very important with archonto species) but try sending him a message if you're registered on ebay.

Also try ortanique.com , they have seeds at the moment (although not marked as "new") and they have 6" seedlings.

Edited by Pivi

island Vis, adriatic sea, Croatia. Zone 9b/10a

Temperature low last winter: -0.9°C/30.4 F

Temperature low this winter: -0.3°C/31.5 F

-Creating my own little palm heaven-

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Thank you very much for your replys! :)

Thanks a lot for the info and the photos mlovecan! :)

The photo document of Archontophoenix cunninghamiana growth is great!Thanks a lot!!! :) Nice to see a part of your garden too!

Thats promising info about the Dypsis,although i think you dont get as low tempratures in Rhodes as Pyrgos gets...I guess i will have to see...D. baronii seems like a sure grow for me though!

Didnt knew A. purpurea had problems with heat...Sun,ok if its very small but heat too? I hope that in a humid place like Pyrgos,it wont have serious problems with that...But if it does,what are foggers made for? :lol:

I expect my Kentia burn a bit their first winter too,but i think this may not be entirely by cold but also from adjusting to sun or maybe drying wind in cold tempratures...I am very happy to hear you consider Christmass as a good period to plant Kentia!It funny if you think of it,planting a cold tender palm in winter but if you say they like this weather better,then i guess it should be...Its good to have palms that grow better in winter too,to have something to see grow better and be happy about it!As i have Parajubaea cocoides in Melissia for example which grow the best in fall :)

My source for the big Archontophoenix alexandrae is The Palm Centre :) Will check out the other shops you say too! :)

Thank you very much Dave for your positive spirit! :)

I am glad you enjoy the photo updates so much! :) Will do soon when i go and do some more work! Most likely next weekend...

Hi Pivi!

I will check out the links you gave me although i may wait a bit till RPS has them again...I have had very good experience with it and it sells only habitat collected pure seeds,unless it states otherwise...I dont have any experience with Ortanique yet but i hear good comments about it too and may try it at some point...We'll see... :) If it was sending cycad seeds(Encephalartos,Ceratozamia...)to Europe,i would surely had already tried it!

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Kostas,

BTW...Palmeperpaket and RPS are under the same ownership ( Tobias Spanner ) so if you you have confidence in Tobias' seeds you will like his palms.

I was very fortunate to be have some spare time on a recent business trip to Munich - headed straight for Palmeperpaket for some early Christmas presents for myself!

Palmcentre in UK is owned by Robin Gibbons - a good mate of Tobias:

http://www.palmsociety.org/public/english/...erops/035.shtml

Regards

Maurice

Lardos, Greece ( Island of Rhodes ) 10B

1.9 km from Mediterannean Sea

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Thank you very much for the info Maurice! :)

I knew that,i have done extensive reading on the RPS website and also got my first packet of seeds i bought from RPS,from England,from The Palm Centre,with their logo on the packet!Thats how i first became aware of this site...As for palmsperpacket,when i saw that url you posted i immediately thought:''this must be Toby's...''So i will definetely check it out too! :)

Btw,the owner of The Palm Centre is Martin Gibbons from what i know,not Robin...

Thanks for the link! :)

Edited by Kostas

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Kostas,

I see you have a great canvas to begin with!! It looks just like so many places I have have seen in Southern California. (Low rainfall, Mediterranean temps) Please keep us posted!!

BS Man

Zone 10a at best after 2007 AND 2013, on SW facing hill, 1 1/2 miles from coast in Oceanside, CA. 30-98 degrees, and 45-80deg. about 95% of the time.

"The great workman of nature is time."   ,  "Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience."

-George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon-

I do some experiments and learning in my garden with palms so you don't have to experience the pain! Look at my old threads to find various observations and tips!

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Thank you very much BS Man! :)

I am happy you see a lot of potential in this place!Yeap,it looks Californish and there are quite a few houses just outside Pyrgos with huge Washingtonia robusta that i always admire :drool: Rainfall and humidity is good there though,in Pyrgos we may even get the odd rain in summer too and as for humidity,it stays pretty high yearround at more than 60%,even in summer most of the times :) And during the night,80-90% is the usual humidity we get :)

Will do :)

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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  • 1 month later...

Time for an update! :)

I was in Pirgos(while searching i found out that it is spelled that way in Google Earth,something that messes with its spelling in Greek though but anyway,if thats its correct name,i shall be writting it that way from now on! :) )the past 10days and so,as you can understand,much has been going on with my garden there! :)

The patios are now almost ready but still,not fully ready,as i wanted them be due to the heavy rains we have been getting for weeks now withg only 1-2 days a week rain-free and suitable for working ouside :( Anyway,the stone decoration is completed in all the patios but almost complete in a few areas near them...The brick lining of 2 of the patios is done while the third one's is pending...So no planting for me yet in the patios,while i though they would be completed during my stay and so i had brought my Syagrus romanzoffiana with me to plant...Still in pot though unfortunately and rellying on the rain to water it(its quite reliable at this time of the year though :lol: )

Here are a few pictures of the patios as they look now :)

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And here is my Syagrus romanzoffiana in Pirgos,waiting for its planting! :)

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''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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the stone work looks incredible! it really adds alot.keep us updated on plantings,cant wait to see how it turns out! :)

the "prince of snarkness."

 

still "warning-free."

 

san diego,california,left coast.

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I am happy you like it the dwed abides! :) I like the look it gives too! :)

More updates are coming shortly,as i describe and post the photos :)

On my stay there,i did a lot of work cleaning the garden next to the old bakery,which will be the rainforest area of my garden!I hand picked every single plastic material i found(expossed of course,i dont know what else i may find if i dig but beleve me,i dont want to know after all this cleaning :lol: )and filled half a bag and another bag at 3/4 :blink: Then i proceeded and handpicked/shoveled a big percentage of the scrap cement and other building materials that were thrown there by the workers from the outside renovation i did to the old bakery building so that it wont have to be done latter when i will have palms close by...After a lot of work with the shovel and with a heavy tool for breaking things(cement in my case,one of my uncles,who owns an appartment at the same building with my house in Pirgos,had though of doing me a favour placing all the scrap cement left from the jobs at the foots of the second house ''for saving on cement i woukd use latter''....Who said i would use cement,its plants i want!!!!So i broke large cement pieces that were as thick as 10cm in some areas but fortunately the ground under them was hollow from a tunnel an animal must have digged and so the heavy tool broke it with ease :) Here are the bags of scrap i ended up with from my cleaning...There are three more bags that arent visible in this photo...

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As i had though that things would be ready for planting,soon after i arrived i went searching the nurseries for the plants(including palms :drool: ) i wanted to buy!I went to 4 nurseries and a shop belonging to one of the nurseries to find the best plants of the species i wanted,with the exception of some of plants i found a perfect specieman of in which case i bought at sight(a good example is my Grevillea robusta :) ).As Jeff had asked,i had my camera ready when approaching the nurseries and took photos of their entrances trying to illustrate all the facillities they have...Unfortunately i mostly have only one picture of each nursery,only of the entrance i i had to be on the look for the plants i wanted and try to judge sizes,condition,etc,something i havent done much lately as i haa a long time to buy a plant :unsure: But i grow palms from seed all the time now and personally prefer it to buying plants,especially small ones, as i can be sure for the purity of the seed buying it from a good and reputable dealer(RPS).

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Ok,so,first,i went to a nursery close to a another piece of land i own just outside Pirgos...

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This nursery has resonably extensive greenhouses(along with shade by painting the top i think) and a few unusual plants and trees,not all of which well grown though...It uses pure clay soil for much of the stuff which in plants like Strelitzia show up as deficiencies...Resonably knowledgable for a Greek nursery and willing to search the names and order plants.Lots of Cycas revoluta but all had unusually thin although tall(max 70cm) trunks :blink: Cant explain it in any other way except soil/nutrient shortage as they were in pots barely larger in diametre that their trunks but water was plenty and most had moss on their trunks.I bought my Grevillea robusta(soil composed mostly of peat) from there as i was lucky enough to find a biggish(2 meters+) one that was in a batch on plants that they forgot to top chop! :) So i bought it at first sight as every plant i had found till then was top chopped at 2meters or something more...Unfortunately i bought a 4 trunked Strelitzia reginae(pure clay soil) from there too as my dad liked it :blink: and i though i would do him a favour as i am anyway planting this so that they have something flowering to see :lol: If i was to go for a Strelitzia i would go for S. nicolai for sure :drool:

The second nursery i went was just outside Pyrgos too but from the opposite side of the city...Unfortunately i dont have a whole entrance photo of this nursery but i do have a few photos of its front 1/3...Here they are!

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This nursery has a small but heated greenhouse with shade from the painted top in which in winter it keeps mostly Bougainvillea and large Howea fosteriana,the ones showed you in my previous update :) It uses better soil i think but show some of the Howea burned from fertilizer and thats why i didnt bought my Howea from them.They had a nice selection of Cycas revoluta but highly overprized for Pyrgos standards...Their trees arent very well cared for and most have broken brances/tops or other damages...The trees have clay soil in many cases...It had the tallest Trachycarpus fortunei from any nursery in Pirgos and a good selection of them and so i selected and bought by Trachycarpus from there :) They are in pure clay soil but seem to thrive for now and have fat roots coming out of their pots! :)

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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The third nursery i visited was the one in Korakochori,where i bought my Magnolia grandiflora i show you in my previous update :) To reach this nursery,you just have to keep your eyes in the extensive greenhouse facilities you see from far away and steer accordingly as there are no signs for this one :lol: You turn left to a small street and all this area belongs to the nursery...Unfortunately i didnt took any good photos of the drive from that street down as for some reason i didnt opened my camera fast enough...So i just took one not so enlightening photo of from the drive,trying to show you the greenhouses but dont know if you can make out anything from it... :unsure:

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Another photo of a very small part of the greenhouses...The area behing the greenhouses is used for growing up palms,Phoenix canariensis and Washingtonia(i think mostly robusta which is the most common in Pirgos but really dont remember well) mostly and also some pot planted in ground Cycas revoluta...The property ends just before the house you see...

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Also took a photo of its tree arrangement,showing some of the variety of big trees it has...These sit on the left,in front of the greenhouses as you enter...

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This nursery as i already said,has extensive greenhouse facilities with shade from a painted top which i think are heated...It has a very good selection of a few but big tropical plants,including 2,5meter tall Plumeria :drool: and largish Howea fosteriana :drool: This nursery uses mostly peat and peat based as soil for its plants...The only drawback would be that there are some neglected and seriously underwatered plants here and there but most are fine and top looking :) Its washingtonias are the worst looking ones i have seen here though :blink: From this nursery i returned home with a largish triple Howea fosteriana! :drool:

The fourth nursery i went is within the city limits.Unfortunately i have no photo of this nursery at all...Most of the area is covered with shadecloth but at the back there is some full sun space.It has no greenhouse facilities but there is a small building with indoor plants.Most of the plants of this nursery look good and seem healthy and there are a few exceptional speciemen of some too! :) Its had a very nice S. reginae too which i may buy although and plant instead of the other i bought :) However,of the species i wanted,except the Stretzia,it didnt had any exceptional specieman,if at all,of the rest of the species i wanted...

And fifth is the shop i told you about which is a retail shop of the nursery in korakochori,inside Pirgos...It had two large,nice at first sight Cycas revoluta but not so after a few good looks of their trunks...There were bulges on the trunk here and there which made the trunk look a bit weird and not so attractive to my eyes...Didnt had anything else i wanted and the nursery itself has much better speciemen to offer than these...Unfortunately i dont have any photo of this shop either...

''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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And now lets see the new plants! :)

Strelitzia reginae

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Grevillea robusta

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And now the palms...

Trachycarpus fortunei... :)

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''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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...and Howea fosteriana :drool: I bought them as a trio and managed to split them up :) It was very difficult...I initially thought of barerooting first and then untaggling the roots,as i did with my Livistona but with these it soon became obvious that it cant be done...There were lots of roots in the soil and all thin,very few thick roots,making the too numerous to bareroot easily...And when i finally reached 10cm inside,i found their old root mass,before a repot they had some time ago from what it seems and that old root mass was completely woody and could not be barerooted or for the matter,you couldnt even pass a stick through it :unsure: So i decided to split the whole root mass in three by carving 3 canals to the root mass to the core...This prooved undoable too due to the woody inner root mass....So i took drastic measure and out came a knife...It cutted trough the new roots fine but the old ones still possed a big problem,it couldnt cut them ,at least not to the core of the rootmass...So,i came up with an idea:use an axe to seperate them! :lol: As funny as it seems,it prooved to be the easiest and safest for the plants way as long as you pay attention to never tough the trunk base/leaves :) I pressed the axe hard in the canals and after few hassle,i managed to cut to the center with it!Then twist right,twist left,and the first canal is ready and open to the center!I putted the axe between the trunks too,but not touching them and with care,didnt even bruised them at all!Repeated for the second canal and got my first Howea with one third of the rootball :) The same was done fr the other two :) So here they are,planted individually in their own pots of about the same size and a little bigger than the original pot they were grown all together...I placed them under Ziziphus canopy,which is deciduous,but the place is dark and humid enough that they should not burn,ever...Enjoy!!! :drool:

Kentia 1...

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Kentia 2...

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''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Kentia 3...

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And a last beautyfull in my opinion picture of Kentia 1&2,Ziziphus tree and Vitis vinifera together,making a jungle like look :drool:

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All the above pictures were taken in dusk,while raining well and thats why some are somewhat blurry or not well focused...I wish the leaf shive and droplets droping from the leaves were caught in the photo...

And now an update on the existing plants... :)

Magnolia grandiflora

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''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Yucca...Can you tell which species maybe? :)

The in ground one...I trimmed all the shoots it produced from the trunk as it was going to be very bushy and it didnt had the look i like in Yucca...I hope the prun marks dissappear soon...My mother removed the dead leaved and some green ones too(bad habit...)and had the rest of the leaves ''manicured'' as they had damage by fire and had large burn marks on them...

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The potted ones of which i plan on planting one...

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The branches that i prunned of my Yucca,along with a large branch of a Yucca stump i removed,were planted along my fence in the land next to mine(the one i am free to use :) ) so that i will have something green and good looking to see from my neighboring property too!I hope they take root soon! :) Here is one of the planted branches!

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Just a day before leaving for Athens,and with a good amount of rain,a worker i had called a day before to clear an area from cement,came!!! :blink: He widened the planting area along the walkway on the right side of the old bakery building by 20 cm,making it a total of 75cm wide and suitable for palm planting!He also broke an old cement fence line,the brick lining of a patio that will cahnge position and shape and also an old pit for water usage counter.Anyway,he did a great and job and very fast!Here are the results of his work! :)

Looking the walkway from the front...These bags are filled with just a few of the cement removed...

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''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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Close up...

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Looking the walkway from the back...

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...and while there lets see the back from the old bakery too...If you search for the Howea well in this photo,you will find them! :)

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''To try,is to risk failure.......To not try,is to guarantee it''

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