Parking lot Trachy

[Dave-Vero]

Happy palm by the Koryuji temple parking lot in Kyoto, 2 weeks ago.  It even seems to like the vines clambering around on it.  Quite a few Trachycarpus in Kyoto and Tokyo were heavily pruned.  I didn't try hard enough to relocate what I think is a big Sabal causiarum or something similar on Gojo-Dori, a main east-west street.

[quaman58]

Dave, nice picture! A happy looking one indeed. I was given a couple 5 gal. plants several years ago, when I first became infected with this madness. Although I sometimes wish that I'd saved the planting area for more "desirable"species, they are now both about 6 ft. tall and very, very attractive. They fit right into the overall "jungle tropic" theme along with their less common (and more expensive) cousins.....

Thanks for sharing!

Bret

[DoomsDave]

Itaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

You lucky expletive, you get to go to Japan, and I have stay in Guada La Habra all the time . .. .

How far north is Kyoto?  If my memory serves, it's on the Big Island (o'Japan), Honshu . . .

Right?

dave

[iwan]

Very nice Trachy.  One of the nicest ones I have ever seen was at the University of Washington Arboretum in Seattle.  It was 15-20' tall and had nice retained leaves on at least half of the trunk.  I wish it was possible to keep >20 leaves here before they brown out (or are over pruned).

[Dave-Vero]

Kyoto's climate has to be a marvel, if you don't mind hot, soggy summers.  Some temple gardens have little patches of Rhapis to hide things or soften odd corners.  If you look at the leaves on that Trachy, it was obviously adding stem at a rapid rate.  I've seen big southern magnolias in both Kyoto and Tokyo.  Camphor trees (not very hardy).  Sweetgum trees (which are quite hardy).  The red lily Lycoris radiata was flowering on a dike in a small rice field (it's not used in gardens).  Sasanqua camellias everywhere.  My best guess is that Kyoto might be comparable to Macon, Georgia with much more snow, but without the severe cold snaps.

Kyoto is a fairly feasible tourist destination--good seasonal air fares to Osaka and Nagoya and the locals are accustomed to international tourists.  Plenty of great, cheap food.  I was in a small tour group of Portlanders.  Portland has a LOT of interest in cultivating close ties with Japan.  I suspect those clever Oregonians may even be profiting from what seems to be a Japanese fad for buying large jars of blueberry jelly.

[Zac in NC]

That is a great looking Trachy. Thanks for sharing the pic of it.

Zac