My Garden in Pyrgos...

[Kostas]

Rhaphidophora decursiva climbing the Grevillea and Canistropsis burchelii at its base

Lepidozamia hopei,a personal favorite!

Rhopalostylis baueri var. cheesemanni

[Kostas]

Dicksonia antarctica

Ceroxylon amazonicum

Cycas micronesica(Rota)

[Kostas]

Dioon spinulossum planted a month ago with only its main root living and 1-2 rootlets coming out of it,rest of the root system all rotten. It arrived like this unfortunately but i ground planted it anyway as i think its best to grow a root system adapted to the conditions its gonna grow at and i have had success with similar cases in the past. It does take them around 3 years before they start growing at a normal speed again though,so i wouldnt select such a specimen intentionally. Lets see when this one starts growing again and how big leafs it produces!

Rhopalostylis baueri var. cheesemani

Musa 'Orinoco'

Livistona mariae

[Kostas]

Pritchardia schattaueri

Musa 'Pisang Ceylon'

[Janni]

Very nice Kosta! I like the tropical look of the musas I hope my musas will get at least half as high as your M. ´Kandrian´.

My musa basjoo and musa sikkimensis I planted out in my parents´ garden still need to wake up properly, after the long winter and cool spring here in Germany. They are approximately 1 m high and push out their 4th leaf or so...

[Kostas]

Thank you Janni!

Bananas are nice indeed,if only they didnt get their leafs burnt in winter...They also need thinning one to three times a year which takes a good deal of time and effort. But they do look awesome as you said,when in leaf and growing and each mat should be giving me a bunch per year,so they outweigh their negatives!!!

Wish you good and fast growth with yours and to see them huge soon!!!!

Continuing with the update,here is a Hedyscepe canterburyana planted a month ago!

Howea fosteriana

[Kostas]

Looking at the back corner of the garden,from right to left we have Howea fosteriana,Rhopalostylis baueri var. cheesemani,Castanospermum australe,Lepidozamia hopei(flushing!),Schefflera actinophylla,Philodendron bipinnatifidum,Ziziphus sp.(to be removed at some point as its deciduous and plants beneath it dont like that)

Philodendron bipinnatifidum

Cryosophila warcewiczii

[Kostas]

Ceroxylon amazonicum

Howea fosteriana

Hedyscepe canterburyana

Cibotium glaucum and Prestoea acuminata var. montana

[Kostas]

A new Caledonian seedling planted more than a year ago. Didnt think this still existed till i ''rediscovered'' it a month ago,wanting to plant a Hedyscepe at that location....It seems to be doing well actually and i am very pleased i found it! Its probably an Actinokentia divaricata but dont remember for sure...

Ceratozamia miqueliana flushing for its second time this year!

[Kostas]

Chambeyronia macrocarpa(Hookeri)

Prestoea acuminata var. montana

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco)

[Kostas]

Stangeria eriopus(Forest Form)

Monstera deliciosa and Lepidozamia hopei

Werauhia sanguinolenta and Stanhopea tigrina

One of the Aspasia lunata seedlings tied 1,5years ago! The majority of them are still doing well to this day!

[Kostas]

Guzmania sanguinea with Nanodes medusae and Acineta superba

Sedirea japonica flowering!!! I cross pollinated them and i am expecting seedpods!

[Kostas]

Various epiphytes on my Olea europea tree...

View towards the olive tree...

Dictyosperma album var. rubrum,Alcantarea imperialis and Monstera deliciosa

[Kostas]

Monstera deliciosa at the base of Castanospermum australe

Castanospermum australe canopy

Ceroxylon amazonicum

[Kostas]

Philodendron bipinnatifidum and Ceroxylon amazonicum

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco)

[Kostas]

Pritchardia schattaueri

View to the olive tree

Garden floor with Chambeyronia macrocarpa(Hookeri) trying to recover from damage sustained about a year ago coupled with snail damage in winter(lost its whole newest leaf blade to them).I hope it recovers...

[Kostas]

Cyphophoenix alba!

Alocasia odora flowering. This one is always eager to flower and even made seeds last fall but has never grown huge leafs and always get snail damage in winter. I will try to alter the conditions to its likings but if it still remains 1,5m tall,i will move it.

Monstera deliciosa

[Kostas]

Cryosophila warcewiczii

A nice,self-sown Asparangus plumosus! I like it and i will leave it climb my Archontophoenix.

Cycas multipinnata

Another Cyphophoenix alba! Both of them look better than when i got them and i am very happy for that!

[Kostas]

Newly planted Pritchardia schattaueri

Pritchardia schattaueri and Codiaeum variegatum

Codiaeum variegatum. If anyone can ID what cultivar it is,please let me know!

[Kostas]

My biggest Ceroxylon amazonicum!

Archontophoenix alexandrae

[Kostas]

Its Magnolia grandiflora flowering season!

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco) under the Magnolia

Archontophoenix alexandrae got 2 new leafs and 2 more rings of trunk during the last month!

Cycas revoluta(female) flushing!

[Kostas]

Musa 'Palayamkodan' awaiting for planting spot to be made...

Various bananas,a cycad and a Coccothrinax alexandrii var. alexandrii awaiting for planting spots to be found or made...

Bismarckia nobilis(Silver)

[Kostas]

Syagrus romanzoffiana finally trunking! Its first above ground ring of trunk is partially revealed behind a split living leaf sheath! Callistemon laevis and Howea fosteriana visible beside it

These were all the photos i took and show some of the plants of the garden. They all have quite some growing to do before they look like something!

Hope you liked it!

[dalmatiansoap]

Nice progress Kostas! What happend to burned Howea? Sun?

[Kostas]

Thank you Ante! The damaged Howea's are mostly sun damaged. Even during bad winters,frost burn is pretty minimal on Howea for me and not disfiguring like sun burn is. The Howea's stand the sun fine till 35C,anything above starts burning them. Last summer they saw 40'sC a few times which is rare for Pyrgos. It was the hottest summer of the last 5years(the meteo station has only been set the 5years ago). All Howea's have grown quite a few leafs since last summer and are already looking good again,except the ones at the back as these are the newest ones and not yet established well enough in the ground. These have been extremely slow the past year but are slowly starting to gain speed now. Hopefully they will look good after one more year in the ground!

[Kostas]

Last weekend i went to Pyrgos and did some more garden work! Groundplanted my 2 Sabal domingensis(or S. causiarum,remains to be seen),transplanted a Parajubaea cocoides seedling and a Zamia standleyi,planted a Mangifera indica seedling of 'Gulab Khas' parentage as well as a Coccothrinax alexandrii var. alexandrii i had laying around too long but was still fine. So now i got 2 Coccothrinax alexandrii var. alexandrii in the ground and hopefully more will follow once i make the patios at the side of the house and front. I also did some irrigations maintenance and found at least 60% of the drippers were severely to totally clogged,which means the plants have been fending in this heat on their own...Fortunately most were fine and just a little stressed,without damage. Only the potted bananas werent too happy,especially the ones with totally clogged drippers. Should recover fine though now that i moved them in the garden,between the plants to be getting more shade,less heat and more frequent irrigation!

Things had grown surprizingly fast since last time i was there,especially the bigger ones! Here are some pictures my mother took while i was working in the garden,didnt have time for photos myself! She missed out on some recent plantings and cycad flushes but...next time!

Female Cycas revoluta with its newest finished flush!

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco) under Magnolia grandiflora

Dioon spinulossum finishing its flush and Pritchardia schattauerii showing some good growth since last time

[Kostas]

Another Dioon spinulossum flushing and another Pritchardia schattauerii next to my biggest Ceroxylon amazonicum

My biggest Ceroxylon amazonicum,now stands 1,5m tall

My biggest Monstera deliciosa next to epiphyte laden olive tree

A view behind my olive tree. The newest leaf of my Ceratozamia miqueliana is visible,quite big and wide! First perfect leaf in years,it had been flushing in winter mostly and hail was damaging its flushes,deforming them greatly

A view of the back of the garden. A little behind that red pot and to its immediate left,i planted one of the Sabal domingensis. The dark green,almost black leafs seen immediately to the left of the pot between the Grevillea robusta leafs,is the Sabal.

Grevillea robusta's trunk with Rhaphidophora decursiva climbing it! It just grew its first biggish new leaf and i am very excited! I am trying to find to find a second,unrelated plant of this species but its been quite hard so far,if you are growing it too,please pm me!

[Kostas]

Musa 'Kandrian' fruiting!

The second newly planted Sabal domingensis!

Stangeria eriopus(Forest Form)

Beccariophoenix alfredii,the angle doesnt do it justice!

My smaller Washingtonia robusta(Sonora). It just took off,no comparison with the last time really! Its leafs reach 4meters up easy now! Just crazy!

[Kostas]

Male Cycas revoluta coning in front of my Washingtonia robusta(Sonora)

Callistemon laevis,Syagrus romanzoffiana and Howea fosteriana

My seed grown Bismarckia nobilis(Silver),now taller than me!

I hope you liked it!!!

[dalmatiansoap]

Bizzy is stunning!

[George Sparkman]

Great pictures Konstantinos !

It is great to see your updates.

[Zeeth]

Great shots. Did you ever get to try a tall type coconut like you were wanting to try?

[Kostas]

Thank you very much for your comments,its always great to hear them!

Thanks Ante,its growing very fast and should get some good size on it this year. Hopefully it may start trunking in 2 more years!

Thank you very much George,i am glad you enjoy my updates! Your plants are awesome!!!

Thank you Keith,i will pass the compliments for the last photos to my mother! I still havent tried a tall type coconut in Pyrgos as i was planning to do so in my front yard which faces south and i havent gotten around to making the patios there yet. I have lots of plants waiting for those front and side patios here for quite some time! Unfortunately i have no coconut either as i lost the one i brought from Key West 2 winters ago,when i left it out too long apparently at my main home in Melissia Sudden browning and death afterwards,it probably got too cold the night prior to bringing it in for the winter or it was the consistent cool weather,dont know...Melissia are quite different from Pyrgos and get consistently cold in winter,not nice at all for a tropical palm lover or for the tropical palm itself if not brought in in time!!! Hope to move somewhere closer to the sea or to Pyrgos if possible as soon as i finish my University studies!!!!

When i finish the front and side patios and do the majority of the planting there,i will start trying tall type coconuts in some sandy areas i am gonna make there And i will probably need your help in locating them then,seems like mostly dwarfs are grown unfortunately!

[Zeeth]

Good luck making the patios! PM me when you want me to try to get you a tall type coconut, as the tree in my profile pic is a pure Jamaican tall and it's planted within 15 feet of another pure Jamaican tall, so any coconuts from them are likely to be pure. I've so far been able to get 5 viable coconuts from them, 3 a few years ago and 2 more when I went a week ago. All 3 sprouted last time, so if both coconuts sprout this time, I'll know that getting 100% germination wasn't a fluke and I can try to get some more coconuts from the tree to ship one to you. Alternatively, Hawaii has many tall types so it might be worthwhile to try sourcing one from there.

[Kostas]

Thanks a lot Keith!

[Phoenikakias]

I keep reading repeatedly in this thread about a Washingtonia robusta called additionally 'Sonora'. To tell you the truth I have google-searched briefly and found nothing about an official separate variety or provenance status within the robusta referring to Sonora. (It's just one place with natural stands beside lower Baja California). Could you please suggest some references?

[Zeeth]

I keep reading repeatedly in this thread about a Washingtonia robusta called additionally 'Sonora'. To tell you the truth I have google-searched briefly and found nothing about an official separate variety or provenance status within the robusta referring to Sonora. (It's just one place with natural stands beside lower Baja California). Could you please suggest some references?

It's a place with natural strands where filfera isn't present, so they're supposed to be more ensured that they aren't hybrids.

[Grasswing]

Hello Kostas,

I really like your garden! That Archontophoenix and Bizzy is stunning.

Are all these palms able to survive the winter in Athens without winter protection or you have to cover it?

Kindest regards

Andrew

[BS Man about Palms]

Amazing growth over the years.that canopy will help to be sure.

[sonoranfans]

Great garden kostas, nice species selection for your climate. Your canopy and windbreak will keep the placer warmer in winter, its all growing in. I will be very interested to see the future growth of your garden. Happy growing...