My Garden in Pyrgos...

[Kostas]

Leaning Dicksonia antarctica

Rhaphidophora decursiva

Stanhopea embreei

[Kostas]

Aechmea gamosepala heavilly tattered from cats.....

Acineta superba and Nidullarium burtchelii,Aechmea gamosepala below

[Janni]

It`s somehow scary how fast your Archontophoenix grows... and of course the washingtonia!!

[Kostas]

I cant wait to see them flower Janni or,even better,tower above the building!!! They both grow very satisfactorily for me!!!

Stanhopea embreei and Acineta superba

[Kostas]

Lepidozamia hopei

Straight trunked Dicksonia antarctica

Normanbya normanbyi

A view of the garden behind the old bakery builiding. Musa ''Brazilian Tall'' in front,Syagrus romanzoffiana next and Musa ''Orinoco'' are the biggest and most visible plants in these photos. This Syagrus romanzoffiana is the one Phoenikakias was referring to and as you can see,its already lush and green and on its way to becoming a nice big palm!

[Kostas]

Ceroxylon amazonicum

[Kostas]

Cycas micronesica(Rota)

Musa ''Orinoco'' with Syagrus romanzoffiana obstructing the view!

[Kostas]

In ground Livistona mariae with potted Musa ''Misi Luki''(the Pisang Awak one) next to it

Roystonea elata

Musa ''Pisang Ceylon''

[Kostas]

Acclimating Howea fosteriana...Its mostly acclimated now and i will be removing the shade cloth above it very soon but it needs to outgrow its burned leafs...

Dioon spinulossum flushing for a second time this year!!!

Lepidozamia hopei with damaged leafs. I dont know why,none of my other 2 L. hopei got any damage,hope it flushes again soon...

My second Castanospermum australe finally started to getting going some this year!

[Kostas]

Aechmea gamosepala

Wittrockia gigantea(waiting for it to flower to verify ID)

[Kostas]

My Ziziphus sp. tree with epiphytes! Visible in the following photos are Hohenbergia correia-araujoi,Cattleya maxima(Highland Form),Selenicereus chrysocardium,Epidendrum parkinsonianum and Stanhopea embreei

[Kostas]

Lycaste lasioglossa

Xanthosoma violaceum,Ceroxylon amazonicum and Lycaste lasioglossa

[Kostas]

Howea fosteriana and Cibotium glaucum

Potted Allocasia odora

[Kostas]

Cryosophila warcewiczii

Actinokentia divaricata

Ceratozmia miqueliana

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco)

[Kostas]

Chambeyronia macrocarpa(Hookeri)

Stangeria eriopus(Forest Form)

Lepidozamia hopei

Monstera deliciosa

[AusJude2]

Kostas, I have really enjoyed seeing the development of your garden...you have put so much effort into it. Congratulations! Have you tried any Phoenix roebelenii...they are a great small palm,also some of the smaller Philodendrons such as Xanadu or any of the smaller P bipinnatifidum such as Hope or Sarahs Way they would all add to the tropical feel.

Just be aware that the Silky Oak -Grevillea robusta will become a huge tree as with the Black Bean Castanospermum australe..I am saying this as I have found out in the past only too well what the costs are to remove a tree planted too close to buildings..it is very easy in the initial excitement to forget these things when planting out a small plant.

I look forward to seeing more updates of your lovely garden. Thank you for posting.

[Kostas]

Thank you very much for your kind comments and for your suggestions Judy! I am glad you like my garden!

From the Phoenix genus,i really like the classic,huge Phoenix canariensis which is getting wiped out from the red palm weevil here unfortunately. If i find mature specimen that are not too pricy,i may get them!

From Phillodendron,i am still not sure which one i want to go for. Thank you very very much for your suggestions though! I am currently looking into adding Maranta,possibly Maranta leuconeura,and Calathea to the understory for that extra color and tropical feeling! Hope they do well!

Thanks for the heads up about my monsters to be! I agree,its very easy to overlook final sizes when planting something as a small plant! However,I selected both species exactly for the great heights they reach and hope to see them that tall in my lifetime! The Castanospermum are close to a cement drainage canal(abandoned and not working for years,thus i am planting it) and a retaining wall behind it,which hopefully will be strong enough to hold up against the pressure of its growing trunk and roots. There are other big trees planted very close to the retaining wall on the other side so any of them could damage it if its not strong enough but it seems well made. The small,superficial fence my second Castanospermum is close too will be modified according to Castanospermum's growth as it will surely be raised eventually,while the building Grevillea is somewhat close too will also be modified if Grevillea's trunk gets fat enough to come close to it

As you can see from the many Australian plants i have,i am partial to them,mostly for their great adaptability and cold hardiness! Even the Daintree Rainforest species are cold hardy!!!

Thanks a lot Judy! You are most welcome!

Prosthechea cochleata

Aspasia lunata

[Kostas]

Stanhopea tigrina

Prosthechea cochleata and Acineta superba

[Kostas]

Aspasia lunata

[Kostas]

Leptotes bicolor

Epiphyllum oxypetalum and Stanhopea tigrina

Sedirea japonica,Aechmea fulgens var. discolor,Epiphyllum oxypetalum,Stanhopea tigrina and Canistrum seidelianum

[Kostas]

Aechmea fulgens var. discolor and Canistrum seidelianum

...along with an orchid baby(either Catasetum sp.(Trinidad) or Aspasia lunata)!

Nidullarium innocentii and Stanhopea tigrina

Canistrum seidelianum and Stanhopea tigrina

[Kostas]

Leptotes bicolor

Background view of Sedirea japonica and Aechmea fulgens var. discolor...

Leptotes bicolor and Neoregelia concentrica

[Kostas]

Sedirea japonica

Hohenbergia correia-araujoi,Epidendrum parkinsonianum and Cattleya maxima(Highland Form) which is blooming for its first time on the tree!!!

[Kostas]

[Kostas]

[Kostas]

[Kostas]

Cyclamen hederifolium flowering

[Kostas]

Ceroxylon amazonicum

Veitchia joannis

Alcantarea imperialis

Dictyosperma album var. rubrum

[Kostas]

Castanospermum australe

Remusatia vivipara

Cycas multipinnata

Ceroxylon amazonicum

[Kostas]

Dioon spinulossum

Cycas multipinnata

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco)

Dypsis lasteliana

[Kostas]

Veitchia joannis

Dioon spinulossum

Allocasia odora and Dioon spinulossum

[Kostas]

Chambeyronia macrocarpa(Hookeri)

Ceratozamia miqueliana producing its first leaf in the ground after 2+years.....

Archontophoenix alexandrae

[Kostas]

Cryosophila warcewiczii

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco) and Zamia standleyi

Female Cycas revoluta coning

[Kostas]

Archontophoenix alexandrae

Kentiopsis magnifica

[Kostas]

Howea fosteriana

Zamia standleyi

Syagrus romanzoffiana and Howea fosteriana

[Kostas]

Stangeria eriopus(Forest Form)

Callistemon laevis and Strelitzia reginae

Strelitzia reginae

Male Cycas revoluta

[Kostas]

Bismarckia nobilis(Silver)

[Kostas]

Hope you liked it!!!

[Phoenikakias]

Certainly your epiphyts look better than most of your palms, but hope dies last, keep on!

[Kostas]

I would say that the minority of my palms have cosmetic damage on them and its far from serious to the palm. Its simply that i chose to plant my shade loving palms already in their final places before my canopy trees grew enough to protect them from the hot summer sun and from any frosts. Thus,i get cosmetic damage on them pretty much annually on some when the 38C days come,but they dont mind much and i dont mind too much either as once my canopy grows some and shades them,they will look great yearround and will be a fair deal bigger already thanks to those previous years of more sun!

Most of the epiphytes are growing in good positions and are pretty content with my conditions! A few would love some more shade though and they are also waiting for my canopy trees and palms to grow...

I thought i would show you a few photos i took of some of my plants during the Christmas holidays! I didnt take as many as i would like due to working on the garden a fair deal and tying about 25 more epiphytes on my trees and planting a Schefflera actinophylla and another Monstera deliciosa(unrelated to my other one so that i can produce seeds from them!). Anyway,here are the photos!!!

Strelitzia reginae

Alcantarea imperialis(Dark Form) growing a rock...Young Livistona mariae is growing beside it!