The Palmetum going forward

[Carlo Morici]

Dear friends,

This will be a pictorial thread so I will start with a brief announcement.

The new unofficial website in English is ready:

http://www.pacsoa.org.au/places/SantaCruz/index.html

There you will find all the fresh information that I will not repeat here.

Here are few words to introduce the incoming pictures. In 2007, the Palmetum de Santa Cruz de Tenerife resurrected in many ways and I directed different works, from April 2007 until present. Thanks to the Government of the Canary Islands and the City Hall of Santa Cruz, we replaced the largest part of the watering system and planted about five hectares (12 acres) of new gardens. We put 58 new palm species in the ground and >100 species from other plant families, including lots of plants that had been waiting in pots or containers for up to ten years. They will hopefully be lush trees at a next IPS biennial in the Canary Islands.

Carlo, Tenerife

THE SOUTHERN SLOPES

In April 2007 we started working on the southern slopes of the hill: the windless and sunny side of the mountain, facing the Atlantic Ocean. It is a steep space of about 4 hectares (10 acres) that had never been landscaped before.

In early 2007 the Southern slopes looked so:

So, in May-July, we coated the slope with >1.000 trucks of fertile soil.

[Carlo Morici]

We opened two roads on this side of the hill and lengthened an existing one on the opposite side.

I selected some plants that really needed to be planted in the ground. They spent 10 years in their pot in the most abandoned of our nurseries.

Hyphaene coriacea

Pritchardia thurstonii, in April 2007

An “after” picture of Oct 2007

[Carlo Morici]

The new soil was then covered with a mat of coconut fibers (and straw and nylon). This coat self-destroys after about 1 year, but it prevents erosion, it acts as a thin mulching and favours establishment in many ways.

And installed irrigation

[Carlo Morici]

SW corner of the hill

Slope below the New Caledonian section (before, Jun 07)

Slope below the New Caledonian section (after, Jul 07)

[Carlo Morici]

Slope by the Philippines-Borneo section (before, Jul 07)

Same, about 3 months later, in November 2007        

I felt we needed something special and formal for the lower part of the Southern slope. We planted a 176 m line of the Malgasy baobab, Adansonia grandidieri, at a distance of 22 m  They are the thin sticks you can see, fading in the distance. This was in Jul 07.

There is a larger one that we planted seven years ago, thriving on the top of the hill. Will they ever become as large as the eccentric huge trees in Madagascar?

[Carlo Morici]

While I was taking care of the botanical side, other major works were going on on the hill. The old shelter of the watering system was demolished and a moved to a new building close by. Here are the engineers: José Timón and Ismael Pazo, discussing about how to move the hearth of the watering system to a new building.

  Is there anything they can rescue here? ???

Alonso, was the head of workers of the building company.

[Carlo Morici]

This was the old quarantine shadehouse, damaged by landslides, wind and abandonment.

It was demolished during the works and here is the resulting empty space, that one day might be used to build some restaurant or public area.

[Carlo Morici]

An older part of the Palmetum up on the flat surface: Arenga pinnata, Livistona rotundifolia, Veitchia arecina, Arenga engleri, planted in 1997-1998 by Carlos Simón.

Livistona mariae, planted in Sep 07 on the upper NW slope, a windy corner facing the oil refinery. Now they are leafy again, just  three months later.

[Carlo Morici]

20 WORKERS FOR 5 MONTHS

Since June 07 to Nov 07, we got a team of 20 people (4 technicians and 16 gardeners) for 5 months. We fixed most irrigation problems, restored the outdoor nursery and planted hundreds of palms and trees of different species.. Here are some pictures of newly planted species, intermingled with some images of earlier plantings.

These are some new plantings in the Malgasy section.

Beccariophoenix sp., Planted in Sep 07

I call this las casetas, the “small houses” in Spanish, or the “camping tent”, in Canarian talk

I ordered 120 casetas to protect small plants. Money will soon finish again and will not be able to plant any more plants in the next one or two years, so I had to rush in some seedlings too.

A mature Dypsis leptocheilos, planted by Carlos in 1997, I think,

Time to go. I promise more pictures later

Carlo

[deezpalms]

Great documentary Carlo! Looks like it has a bright future!! Keep us posted!

[paulgila]

nice to see the progress!

[kylecawazafla]

Wow! Incredible photos! I can't believe how much changed in Post number 5!

[Carlo Morici]

Thank you, guys! Here are a few more:

The old outdoors nursery just restored in Aug-Sep

Potted plants, waiting to be planted

Ants by the base of an old Ravenea rivularis

More later tonight.

Carlo

[Jeff Searle]

Carlo,

      Boy, alot of work and planting is being done. You must be excited to see things moving forward. But, there's no mention or a decision yet made on having the next biennial there. From what I know, Brazil is also wanting to be the host for 2010 as well. Thanks for the update.

Jeff

[Peter]

Congratulations Carlo, looks like you'll be leaving quite a legacy.

[Kris]

Dear Carlo's  

iam very happy to see that life is put back into that lovely garden & it appears to be located in the heart of the main city ? and i can see how much human beings can create for the future generations to admire what has been put in those grounds today...

I must say carlo's that you are going to live in those gardens forever !   i think you get my point.

fentastic stills & the clarity & illustrations were very clear enough..

Wish you all the best...

thanks & love,

Kris  

[Carlo Morici]

Thnk you Jeff, Peter and Kris,

These are plantings for the far future. I hope to live enough to see the araucarias 30 m tall, and the baobabs fat enough.

I let the decision for a biennial to the boards of directors. There is enough to show on 2010 but if it takes more time to happen, then the trees will be taller.

Carlo

[Carlo Morici]

THE CARIBBEAN SECTION

This is simply the best at the Palmetum. All the West Indian palms in the following pictures are from documented collections in habitat and the section is the largest on the hill.

Coccothrinax moaensis, Planted in Oct 2007

Behind, Coccothrinax salvatioris and the Eastern Cuban form of Copernicia rigida, both planted in 2001

Coccothrinax salvatoris

Roystonea lenis

Hemithrinax compacta. The uncommon species with compact infructescences. Planted in 2001

[Carlo Morici]

Sabal palmetto (self-sown plant from trees grown at the Palmetum and collected in Florida as mature specimens around 1996)

Clavija domingensis a Dominican tree in the family Teophrastaceae Planted Jul 07

Roystonea regia, one of them was cut in Oct 07 because it was decaying

Plumeria emarginata from Cuba, planted in 2001.

[Carlo Morici]

Pseudophoenix vinifera, Planted in 2005

Coccothrinax borhidiana planted in 2000

More Caribbean section under development down this road, through the grove of Coccothrinax proctorii from Grand Cayman, planted in 2001.  Behind , on the right some Acrocomia aculeata, the formerly called A. quisqueyana, from the Dominican Republic.

Coccothrinax proctorii, transplanted in Sep 07.

[Carlo Morici]

Sep 07, A week later here we planted seven Coccothrinax macroglossa, collected in Minas, Camaguey. e

More space to be organized. Part of the dismantled old nursery being freed for planting more Caribbean palms.

[Carlo Morici]

While we were working on “new things”, pople of the permanent staff were keeping up mantainance, here is the staff unloadingg the trimming machine to chop a mountain of mulching.

Back to the 5 months-gardeners, This Attalea was planted in a bad site, and we had in the group some skilled worker with stones, especially one lady from Northern Anaga.

This was in July and it actually worked because the plant is now in much better conditions.

[SubTropicRay]

Wonderful progress.

[Carlo Morici]

Start of the New Guinean section

New Guinea in July, with the abandoned pond-tank.

We planted wind screening plants along this ugly border.

Such as coconut trees, Thespesia populnea, Barringtonia asiatica and this: Windscreen with Talipariti tiliaceum tricolor, formerly Hibiscus, behind are the thespesias. These were planted in Jul 07 and the picture was taken in mid November.

[Carlo Morici]

Areca catechu and Salacca sp. planted in Nov 07

Hopefully three more A.catechu will join later close to this old specimen.

Salacca sp.

[Carlo Morici]

NEW CALEDONIA

I posted a thread about New Caledonian plants grown at the P. Visit this to see more:  

http://palmtalk.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboar...t=ST;f=4;t=8745

Chambeyronia macrocarpa, Houailou form. Planted in Jul 07.

Chambeyronia macrocarpa, the “hookeri” from Ba. Planted in Oct 07

Xanthostemon sp. (Ericaceae) from New Caledonia, Planted in 2002.

[Dave-Vero]

Congratulations on making such good use of what must have been generous funding.  Watering systems are expensive, and hardly anyone gets to to prepare and plant 5 hectares!

The photos of stonework were especially interesting.  The walls look well-built.  

It's my understanding that the Palmetum was already one of the world's best palm collections before this burst of activity.   Even though it'll take years for the Palmetum to look its best, it would be very instructive to learn how the big project was designed and executed, and how the nursery had so many valuable palms ready to plant, despite its difficult history.

[Carlo Morici]

Dave, there are great stone workers on the islands. On the other hand, the Palmetum follows a natural garden style, so the master plan is to build as less walls as possible to give a natural feeling. More boulders and less walls.

There still were gems in the nurseries. During the years of neglect I scattered the rare plants in different nurseries, to save at least a few per accession.  Thousands of Coccothrinax died but they were too many to die all. Most of the new plantations are survivors from the Palmetum collection, a truck full of plants came from the Canarian Agriculture Research Center (ICIA). We also have a crew of palm enthusiasts and nurserymen on the islands that provided some pearls.

To learn about the Palmetum and how we got to the present point, visit the link I posted at the very start of this thread. Or check the article published in PALMS in 2001, here: http://www.palms.org/palmsjournal/2001/palmetum.htm

Also use "SEARCH" in Palmtalk to find various old posts about the Palmetum, droughts, mature gardens, etc.

Carlo

[Jeff Searle]

Carlo,

     I really enjoyed seeing the Coccothrinax borhidiana planted. beautiful looking. So I started wondering, from what part of the world do you feel like the palms that would be represented from there, will do best? Is your climate most like the Carribean area? And will you continue to plant and grow large growing shade trees to then underplant with tropicals such as Licuala, Calyptrocalyx, Pinangas,etc.?

Jeff

[Carlo Morici]

The climate here is Subtropical Oceanic, with winter rainfall. It is more like a northern version of Hawaii, located at 28 N, rather than like anywhere in the Caribbean. We lack the summer rains, the hurricanes, and the hot sea causing hot nights; we have the cooling trade winds, a cooling ocean and the "pinapple rain".

The palmetum is drier and hotter than average because it is on the sea, and on the So.Coast. And the southern slopes of the Palmetum are its hottest part. Cocos bears fruits and Pelagodoxa goes ahead, this is not everywhere on the islands. I even think we shall try a lipstick palm. On the other hand it lacks the cool humid nights so typical of other locations on the island, so many palms do not “break the pot” despite of the warmer temperatures.

Caribbean palms do better than others here, but I believe it is because most need full sun and are very resistant to the white flies (except the acrocomias!!). Our best looking palms are always the ones with tough leaves, from the Subtropics or the "outer" Tropics, such as Latania, Pritchardia, Livistona, Washingtonia, Wodyetia, Borassus, Hyophorbe, Bismarckia and the Caribbean crew. But then you know - Who knows! - Areca macrocalyx and Arenga westerhoutii are long-time winners here.

And, yes, we planted a lot of large evergreen canopy trees and we still need more, for the sections of New Guinea and Madagascar. We almost run out of potted plants, we need to sow more seeds for the future.

Carlo

[Carlo Morici]

Here I go again. The Octagon

July 07  These parts of the octagon were empty, because everything died during the past years of neglect. I wish I had some Lodoicea to sow!

Anthurium clavigerum, Rooted cuttings planted in Oct 07, at the base of the cecropia trees. The first cutting of this plant was given by Paul Drummond in 1997. It’s Paul’s plant in the Palmetum.

Duabanga grandiflora (Sonneratiaceae), with white flies

[Carlo Morici]

MELANESIA

Pandanus pyriformis, 10 years old from seed, planted in 2000

A veitchia on a slope. Roots on one side.

Neoveitchia storckii, planted in Oct 07

[Carlo Morici]

This was in October, sowing some seeds at the Public Gardens’ nursery. Here are the large seeds of Borassus flabellifer from India.  Kris Knows!

Four in 200 mm pipes, 1 in a 45 cm pot and 1 in the ground.

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hi Carlo

What a fantastic sight, such a huge change in a year, you and the gardens supporters are giving the world a great legacy,

looking forward to visiting again, It would be a wonderful place for the 2010 conference

regards

colin

[kylecawazafla]

I can't believe all the progress that has been made since August!

[calyptrocalyx&licuala freck]

Hi Carlo,

What a wonderful job you guys have done,My Hat goes off to you,

And all involved,    Keep up the great work.

Best Wishes Mikey.

[Walter John]

Simply wonderful to see this under construction, one question though, the Australian section is located where exactly ?  

[Carlo Morici]

Thank you all for your lovely words. And a special applause to the Australian "rat pack" (applause), that is contributing documented seed collections for the future.

The australian section is here, East of the octagon:

And looks like that, here is about 1/4 of it:

It is quite small and the collection is not too exciting. My favourites are Livistona fulva, L.lanuginosa, L.decora, Corypha utan and Wodyetia. It is a very good area because it is located in the hearth of the park, therefore it is sheltered from the wind. This year I planted some Livistona nasmophila, L.nitida and L.mariae in the slopes, because I did not want to waist such a good growing area for tough palms that can also thrive on the ever-empty slopes. All we planted in 2007 is three Macrozamia communis (sorry, off-topic families )

[Carlo Morici]

The Southern slopes, seen from the South, June 2007

Cocos nucifera, just planted, in Nov 07, alter ten year in a pot. A first shade in a new area. Hopefully some Heterospathe negrosensis will join below

Corypha umbraculifera, planted in Nov 07, close to the entrance, by the public road.  I tink the citizens should “feel” the palms even befote entering into the gardens. If this goes ahead, they will see a majestic Corypha from the road, something uncommon in the Canary Islands.

Calamus erectus, planted in Jul 07. These grew very fast during the following months.

[Dave-Vero]

The Palmetum shows up well on Google Earth, along with the pool/beach park, the "Recinto Ferial" (conference center), and the famous Auditorium (whose swooping roof is visible in the photo of the Palmetum taken from the south).  

The latest groups of photos are really interesting.  Hopefully, the Palmetum will be able to operate like Eric Schmidt at Leu Gardens in Orlando, who's developed an excellent collection over a number of years by using the propagation facility at the garden.