My Garden in Pyrgos...

[Kostas]

A few new photos taken a little more than a week ago! Certain plants really grew in the few weeks that passed between these and the previous photos! Others are about the same.

Cycas revoluta male

Washingtonia robusta(Sonora) and male Cycas revoluta.

Just look at the size of it!

A Howea fosteriana is buried somewhere within its canopy....

[Phoenikakias]

Thank you very much for your kind comments

Phoenikakias,

I dont know how many leafs my 2 Syagrus(Arecastrum romanzoffianum is a synonym,Syagrus romanzoffiana is the valid name ) hold,havent counted them recently. The only thing i know is that they are trunking and by next year i hope to see some clean and hopefully fat trunk on them!

My Strelitzia reginae is in shade most of the day,i like its look that way with its long petiole leafs,makes it look lush and tropical and fits ok as an understory. The Calistemon laevis is there to stay,so it just has to do with whatever sun it gets! It flowers fine in shade so far,so it doesnt really need more sun,its well within its limits. Its a very resilient species here,i have seen it thriving in sun or shade and doesnt care for drought,it handles it fine! I will be adding more of them as fillers once i finish the front and side patios as they look beautiful in sun or shade

Good to hear you like how everything is looking better! They just needed their time,and still do!

Does your Strelitzia produce flowers at all or prolifically? Mine at your plant's age used to produce many flowers, which were lasting to midsummer (in decreased numbers of course) but this gave me the opportunity to cross pollinate reginae with pollen from Strelitzia caudata and produce only one viable seed, from which a plant has grown, adopted by a great fan of Strelitzia in the UK. It is kind of verification of the legendary hybrid in the Kews (reginae X nicolai). Kinda thrilling, ain't it?

Edited September 25, 2013 by Phoenikakias

[Kostas]

It does flower and produces inflorescences quite often but as I am not too interested in flowers and don't have a second S. reginae to pollinate it with,I don't keep track of when exactly it flowers and till when. I know it produces inflorescences in fall,opens them at some point and once spent it grows a second flush of them at some point. Haven't kept a diary on that though!

Alcantarea imperialis and Livistona mariae

Dypsis lastelliana

My second Washingtonia robusta(Sonora). That building is 3,5-4m easy...Not small either!

Beccariophoenix alfredii

Encephalartos concinnus

Stangeria eriopus(Forest Form)

[Kostas]

Cycas micronesica(Rota)

Sabal causiarum(or S. domingensis?) starting to get more wax on it!

Beccariophoenix alfredii

Part of the rainforest area under my Grevillea robusta...It already has the jungle look and will only get junglier with the new plantings I have done and those that will soon follow!

Another part of the rainforest area,under my Ziziphus and olive trees. Ceratozamia miqueliana,Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco),Chambeyronia macrocarpa(Hookeri),Stangeria eriopus(Forest Form) and Prestoea acuminata var. montana can be seen in the pictures

[Kostas]

Ceroxylon amazonicum

Dioon spinulossum,Codiaeum variegatum and Pritchardia schattaueri

Cycas multipinnata along with acclimating Cyphophoenix alba and Indian Mangifera indica seedling

Castanospermum australe growing vigorously! The retaining wall seen behind it is 2,5m tall,so it's probably 3,5m tall or more now

Pritchardia schattaueri

Dioon spinulossum and Alocasia odora. The Alocasia will be moved due to branching too much and not growing huge enough where it is at

[Kostas]

Cyphophoenix alba establishing well

Various bananas awaiting their planting spots to be made or found...

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco)

Cycas revoluta female

Archontophoenix alexandrae

[Kostas]

Syagrus romanzoffiana finally starting to get wider! It's already trunking since spring!

Stangeria eriopus(Forest Form)

Coccothrinax alexandrii ssp. alexandrii on its slow way to establishment... It's about the same as last time...

Bismarckia nobilis(Silver) at about 3m tall now! The previous time I took a photo of it,about half a month ago,it was only about 2m tall!!!

That was it! Hope you liked it!!!

[Phoenikakias]

I am very curious to know, why you keep post every time new pics in the same gigantic topic, which causes to frequent visitor like me (yes I am very interested in your garden project) a slow download of new pics, because all older ones on same page have to be also downloaded. You could for example open variuous topics as sequels titled like 'My garden in Pyrgos month or season and year'. I am awfully sorry but I can not follow anymore your topic but if you need any advice I am always accessible through PM.

[dalmatiansoap]

Thats impressive growth Kostas!

Bravo

[Kostas]

Phoenikakias,

I always liked photo threads to be organized and preferably 1 per garden,so that its development and the whole photo series of it are easily seen and plant growth easily tracked,by just going back like in a photo album. That is the reason i made my garden's thread that way. I do like and occasionally do separate topics for various palm species but i prefer garden updates to be in the same thread. Most of the times,a single page holds the photos of just 1-2 updates,so not too many older pictures need to be downloaded normally. And in this particular update,no older photo needs to be downloaded... The pages load fully in under 20s for me and pages i have viewed before load instantly from memory. I understand that with a slower connection it might take a while or even be a nightmare to load a page of my thread but since this is a photo thread,that is pretty obvious and unavoidable.

Even with a new thread for each season,if i just did 1-2 updates on it,the need to load older pictures as well would be exactly the same as each page holds the pictures of 1-2 updates. I think photo threads are made to watch while relaxing,just like a movie,and so loading time shouldnt be that much of a problem.

Thank you very much Ante!

Happy growing to you too!!!

[Phoenikakias]

I thought posting is not only for ... boasting but also for discussing and latter gets rather difficult in your ... soap topic, especially if one uses a tablet with a small screen. Have you over considered how many times a tablet user has to scroll down again and again to the bottom of the page before he is able to read or write just a reply. Why should he be forced to see again already seen pictures and not have the time to read and participate also to other interesting topics? Hope you do not misunderstand me, everything here is written in good will and I will surely miss this topic!

[AlekLO]

Kostas all praise .. Everything is beautiful ... I was left without a comment

[Kostas]

Phoenikakias,

I use iPad all the time,never had problems with long topics,scrolls like a charm and posting is as easy as ever. I am actually posting from iPhone right now and everything loads fast and fine! Since I don't see a problem and the majority of viewers do not complain,I don't see a reason to change something in my presentation form.

This thread is mainly for showing the plants,how they grow and fare in my garden as time passes and seasons change. I don't consider it boasting by any means as there isn't much to boast about,my garden is very young and most of the plants too small compared to most other gardens shown on PalmTalk as I raised them from very small plants. Also,as it didn't take you long to notice judging from previous comments of yours,I don't just photograph what looks good and upload it here to show ''what a great grower I am!'',I photograph pretty much everything there is in whatever condition it is...Not good for showing off but good for showing how they look now and after the particular conditions they faced... If there is something to praise,that's my climate which is warm most of the year and rainy and humid enough to allow for more luxurious growth than in many other places of Greece. As the saying goes for Helia,where Pyrgos is,"even stakes sprout there...'' It's my climate that grows my plants mostly,not I,so nothing to boast about,just enjoy the plants and share what grows here with others

I sometimes ask a few things about my plants here in this thread,usually ID's of non-palms and other minor but useful stuff, though I tend to open a separate thread if the questions are important enough or something needs a thorough discussion as this is primarily a photo thread and questions can easily be lost in it!

I certainly welcome and I am delighted to hear comments and well put advise regarding my garden!

Thank you very much Alek for your kind comment I am glad you like it!

[Zeeth]

How big are the spaces that you have to plant things in? I ask because it looks like your Sabal is already about as wide as the spot that it's planted, and that species typically has a trunk that is sometimes 1.5 meters in diameter, so it doesn't look like it will have much room to grow in the future.

[Kostas]

Thanks for the heads up Keith,I know its a little tight for the Sabal there with only 70cm planter width but I plan to widen it accordingly if/when its trunk starts getting close to the edge I can even provide 1,5m or a little more planter width if I see it needs it but I was thinking it would max out at around 1m from what I had seen. Of course, I always say "the bigger the merrier", so bring it on!!!

[Kostas]

2 weeks ago,I spent a wonderful week in Pyrgos,planting new palms and other plants,bringing my first banana bunch down from my Musa 'Kandrian' plus generally having a great time with my cousin!

Here are some photos I took while I was there!

Male Cycas revoluta and Washingtonia robusta(Sonora)

Alcantarea imperialis(Dark Form) and Livistona mariae

[Kostas]

Bismarckia nobilis(Silver)

[Kostas]

Dypsis lastelliana

Chambeyronia macrocarpa(Hookeri)

Monstera deliciosa

Hyphaene compressa I surrounded the area I ground planted it with a wooden frame as there is a short cement wall underground to the right of and wanted to keep it protected and its rootball intact when I dig out right next to the wooden frame to reach and remove the part of the short underground wall passing shallowly under the patio. Didn't have the tool at the time and wanted it ground planted now that it's still warm some. I have been growing this beauty potted for some months now!

[Kostas]

And the seed...

Washingtonia robusta(Sonora)

Beccariophoenix alfredii

[Kostas]

Plumeria rubra

Attalea colenda

Cycas micronesica(Rota)

Sabal causiarum

[Zeeth]

Nice to see that someone else has an Attalea colenda! That's a species I never hear much about. I have two and they seem to be good growers for me, I've got one that's sending out bifid leaves now and is getting pretty big, the other is doing well also. They seem to like a lot of water but can handle a bit of under watering if needed.

[Kostas]

That's great to hear Zeeth!

How old do you think your bigger one is? Mine although small seem to be growing at a decent speed. I have two in ground ones,both in moist spots but the one you see gets some noon sun too. Do they handle sun ok at this age? They haven't seen our summer sun but have seen a good deal of early fall sun. I have another three potted ones waiting for spots in the ground,I can probably accommodate 2 of them but will see!

How do they handle frost?

Thank you very much in advance!

[Zeeth]

Well they're both the same age but I got them from Christian Faulkner at different times. I think the size difference has to do with the fact that I potted the big one up to a large pot about a year and a half ago, while the one I got from Christian over the summer was in a small pot until I got it. They were probably sprouted in 2009. I'll get a picture of both this weekend and put them up so you can see how big they are. They handle sun fine in Florida, but I have no idea about your climate. There is an Attalea cohune growing in full sun in palm desert, Ca, and they're in the same genus, so I imagine that it should acclimate for you

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/30963-oases-gardens-in-the-desert/?hl=desert

As for frost, I've heard that this species is more sensitive than some, and mine have never seen frost, so I would be careful there. Whenever it gets cold at all though, they send out leaves with white stripes in them. I've never had a palm so this.

[Kostas]

Thank you very much for all these information Zeeth,very helpful!!! I will make sure there is something overhead to cut the frost. Happy growing yours!!! Hope mine do well too

Continuing with the update,here is another Beccariophoenix alfredii

Musa 'Kandrian'

And this is its bunch that has been hanging since early summer!

This is what was needed to bring the bananas down!

I harvested the bunch just before leaving Pyrgos almost 2 weeks ago. It was hanging at 5m height and the bananas weighed 12,2kg! Flesh color is orangish and taste is sweet with some acidity even when fully mature and firm texture

[Alicehunter2000]

A couple of points that might make wading through the thread easier. There is a button for going strait tothe first unread post. You can pick up where you left off. There is also the feature to allow you to go to the last page of any thread. This would allow you to skip all tthe old stuff. One thing I do find little annoying is copying a reply that has pictures ..... you end up getting the same pictures over and over within the same thread. This makes for an unnecessarily long thread. If anybody finds the need to copy a reply in their post....please take out the photos....otherwise I have followe d and e joyed this thread from the beggining..every thing looki g good

[Funkthulhu]

Love this thread!

Keep it rolling!

(Bananas!)

[Kostas]

Thank you very much for your replies and comments David and Eric I am glad you like my garden and enjoy this thread!

The area under my Grevilea robusta. Rhaphidophora decursiva is climbing its trunk and there are various epiphytes mounted on it like the Asplenium australasicum seen,Chysis laevis,Stanhopea embreei and others. Dicksonia antarctica,Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco) and Rhopalostylis baueri(Cheesemanni) are also easily seen

Wettinia maynensis!

Aechmea gamosepala can be seen at the back on a rock formation along with a Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco) to the right of it

Lepidozamia hopei

[Kostas]

Rhopalostylis baueri(Cheesemanni)

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco)

Ceroxylon amazonicum

Normanbya normanbyi...This one is older than you might think and seems like its just now starting faster growth but remains to be seen!

Musa 'Brazilian Tall'

[Kostas]

Schefflera actinophylla

Cycas micronesica(Rota)

Allagoptera caudescence(clustered leaflet form)

Dioon spinulossum at the base of Syagrus romanzoffiana

Another Rhopalostylis baueri(Cheesemanni) with a Sabal causiarum visible behind!

[Rafael]

Phoenikakias,

I always liked photo threads to be organized and preferably 1 per garden,so that its development and the whole photo series of it are easily seen and plant growth easily tracked,by just going back like in a photo album. That is the reason i made my garden's thread that way. I do like and occasionally do separate topics for various palm species but i prefer garden updates to be in the same thread. Most of the times,a single page holds the photos of just 1-2 updates,so not too many older pictures need to be downloaded normally. And in this particular update,no older photo needs to be downloaded... The pages load fully in under 20s for me and pages i have viewed before load instantly from memory. I understand that with a slower connection it might take a while or even be a nightmare to load a page of my thread but since this is a photo thread,that is pretty obvious and unavoidable.

Even with a new thread for each season,if i just did 1-2 updates on it,the need to load older pictures as well would be exactly the same as each page holds the pictures of 1-2 updates. I think photo threads are made to watch while relaxing,just like a movie,and so loading time shouldnt be that much of a problem.

Thank you very much Ante!

Happy growing to you too!!!

Kostas, it has been a pleasure to follow this topic since i am on palmtalk (2009).

Your garden is amazing and you are such a person.

And you also have so much patience!

[Kostas]

Rafael,thank you very much for your kind comments! I also love seeing the photo threads of your gardens and I am always amazed by how large plants you have there already!

Sabal causiarum

My Musa 'Tall Orinoco' which I got from a local hospital as an unknown variety,flowered somewhen this August and seems not to actually be an Orinoco as I first thought. Hope I can get a correct ID for it soon! In any case,the bunch should be ready to bring down in December!

[Funkthulhu]

Kostas, obviously I love this thread, and I also see your posts on Bananas.org.

How many Kilos of 'Nanners do you get in a year? Are all your varieties edible?

[Kostas]

Thank you very much Eric!!!

Yes,all of my varieties are edible. These are my very first bunches from my bananas so the kilos per year are not yet set,plus these bunches are from only 2 of the 6 varieties I currently have in the ground with many more to follow once I make the side patios I want. Only these 2 were big enough to flower this year and another seems that it will be ready to flower for its first time next year,but the rest need some more years. So next year,I should get at least 3 bunches. A bunch of 12kg is undersized for 'Kandrian' but i am very happy with it as it only had 4 leafs at flowering and it was the first bunch of the mat. Bunch size depends on variety too so while others can give a 40kg bunch others max at around 7 kg. My varieties should range from 30kg to around 12kg. In the not too distant future,I hope to be getting around 25bunches per year,each of which is usually good for 2 weeks and thus can offer bananas year round but this needs some good planning and more varieties in the ground. My immediate future goal is 12-20bunches per year starting 2-3years after the side patios are made

[mjff]

Beautiful garden and plants Kostas.

[Kostas]

Thank you very much Martin! I am glad you like them!

Livistona mariae

Pritchardia schattaueri

Musa 'Pisang Ceylon'

Howea fosteriana

The back corner with Howea fosteriana,Dioon spinulossum, Rhopalostylis baueri(Cheesemanni), Lepidozamia hopei,Castanospermum australe, Philodendron bipinnatifidum, Schefflera actinophylla and Xanthosoma violaceum

[Kostas]

Beccariophoenix alfredii

Cryosophila warscewiczii

Ceroxylon amazonicum

Zamia hamannii. This one rose from its ashes 1 year after a -2,5C freeze killed it to the ground

Howea fosteriana

[Kostas]

Hedyscepe canterburyana

Cibotium glaucum

New Caledonian seedling,possibly Actinokentia divaricata,older than you would think!

Another Cryosophila warscewiczii

Reinhardtia paiewonskiana

Ceratozamia miqueliana

[Ovar]

Absolutely fantastic garden! Very nicely landscaped area around the house. Totally inspired me your forest jungle!

Really beautiful!

[Zeeth]

The P. schattaueri are looking good! This is a really nice species.

[Kostas]

Thank you very much Rudolf! That jungle,rainforest look is what I crave for too! And everything is far from done,I am still planting new trees as I am missing some major shade trees I need back there(the shade you see in most areas is from deciduous trees and I need to grow some evergreen rainforest trees to replace their deciduous canopy with an evergreen one that won't let frost in in winter!!) and there are a few more palms and some cycads to be planted too along with many more aroids,ferns,bromeliads,orchids,etc to complete the look. And everything needs to grow quite a bit too before it looks like something!!!

Thanks Keith I also love the P. schattaueri's,got 3 of them in ground! Hope they pass the winter ok. They are really nice and grow fast and trouble free for me but I am little worried of how winter will affect them as I don't have enough canopy yet...

3 natives growing one within the other: Cyclamen hederifolium flowering among the leafs of Arisarum vulgare and Arum maculatum(?)

Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco)

Under leaf shot

My biggest Chambeyronia macrocarpa(Hookeri)

Prestoea acuminata and Chamaedorea tepejilote(Blanco) among others...

Veitchia joannis