Happy new yrs everyone!

This is something I've been meaning to for a while and thought this would be a good way of documenting my progress; and sharing my garden with you all.

Have been in my house now for about 18 months now. Garden was a total mess. Literally nothing worth keeping, though a few of the small trees have remained for now just as a temporary canopy till things grow through. Some others, like the giant 25m high mango and ficus trees that towered over the house I have removed. So we pretty much had a blank canvas to work with, all the palms and other plants in the garden have been planted some time over the past 18 months. Some as recently a yesterday

A lot of the palms I have grown from seed myself in recent years, others have been growing patiently in pots and have traveled with me all over the country, waiting for their chance to finally get into the ground and do their thing.

Will be doing this every year as a new yrs tradition from now on, cruising round the garden snapping a few pics of the place and plants, and seeing how it evolves.

Enjoy.

Cairns, and the tropics in general don't have 4 seasons as such like else where.

We have the wet and the dry, and with that in mind I have designed the garden to showcase the two. Out the front of the house is the dry garden. Ultimately this garden is, or once established, will be totally self sufficient in regards to its water needs, relying and receiving only what falls from the sky.

The area of Cairns we live in is only a few minutes from the beach. The soil is little more than sand, which is perfect for desert or dry land tropicals. So I have used alot of different cycads from Madagascar and South Africa, which both have similar climates to mine. Plus numerous agave, aloe, yucca, pandanus and of course palms.

Many of the palms I have used and intend to use in the future are not what would typically be classed as dry or drought hardy palms, though have found them to do well in such an environment.

A few Dypsis hovomantsina. There are four of these planted in this garden, three in half a days full sun and one that cops it all day.

Hoping after this wet season they will really start to kick away.

Other Dypsis I've used in the dry garden are a pair of D. carlsmithii, several D. onilahensis, and a D. decaryi hybrid thats proving to be really interesting.

A few pics of the decaryi hybrid.

As well as a few Chamaedorea species such as several metalica and adscendens, is also this pair of unknown Chamaedorea species, unknown to me at least. if anyone can id them, feel free to let me know. In the second pic is a small Aphaines minima and a suprisingly dry hardy Astrocaryum alatum.

To the left of the house near the hybrid decaryi is a pair of Hyophorbe verschaffeltii.

As younger plants they had very different colouration. One very orangy through the crown and petioles and the other quiet dark and purpley. Interesting to how they develop one they start trunking.

Well thats the dry done and this has taken longer than I first thought so will have to call it for a night.

Tomorrow will start on the backyard

Very nice everything!

Loved the decarii hybrid colour!

Keep us updated.

Happy new year!

All those rocks and a ute too....now Ben thats just showing off.

Peachy

Wow, amazing. Way to go! Congratulations.

I'm liking it! Good progress on a nice piece of property. Good thinking for the 'wet', and 'dry' areas. Makes so much sense. Are you on city water or a bore?

So this is my backyard. Most the palms and other plants I have growing back here are need regular watering, protection from the elements, or are planted out to one day form my canopy.

This is the part of the garden that has seen the most work to get it to this stage. Primarily as alot of the plants have more demanding requirements than the dry garden, but also cos this is where i spend most of my time.

Have had to bring in a lot of compost, mulch etc to transform the sandy soil into something more nutrient rich and suitable for this garden.

Anyway, I wont go on boring you if you have any questions your welcome to ask. Lets see some palms

This is the part of the garden just in front of the car port, first pic look out onto some of the garden, second looking back in. The plants in the pots in the second pic are not meant to be there, just sitting there till they go out.

Here I have a little Chamaedorea tenella grove, a couple of Hetrospathe minor, and a few tiny Cocothrinax sp that are over a decade old and I am still uncertain of the species, though tend to do well as an understory in partial sun, along with different small cycads, Zamia boliviana, and other foliage stuff.

Few pics of my C. tenella grove setting seed nicely, tallest plant is up over 1.5m now, and bronzey new H. minor leaf.

Round the corner of the car port is more of a storage/nursery area where I have the bulk of my plants that still wait patiently in pots for their turn to get into the ground, plus as a germination/propagation area, but have just recently plant a few things out.

This is a little Dypsis malcomberi, that has been painfully slow for along time but has only recently started to move.

Im not opening up the debate regarding C.tenella and C. geomnoformis being the same thing, I see them as two very different species with good reason and grow them specerately as such. This is a couple of pics my C. geomnoformis grove.

In the same little garden bed as the malcomberi and geomnoformis is this Licuala orbicularis. Am hoping to get a few more from a friend that has a couple I can trade with.

On the other side the path was is Calyptrocalyx sp. Yamu Tumune, one of several Neoveitchia storckii, that will one day help form canopy, and this slightly sun burned Dypsis pulchella.

As the garden goes further into a more protected area I have a pair of Dypsis remotiflora and several large variegated Raphis.

Like with the D. pulchella, through out the property I plant lower growing, clumping palms around the boundry to help screen out.

Both green and silver Joeys are scattered through the understory, with a nearby Satranala decussilvae, that with time, then a bit more time, will ever so slowly form over the top of them.

Ok I better hurry this along.

In the back corner are several more variegated Raphis, a pair of Heterospathe philipenensis, a really cool little Physokentia, Dypsis prestoniana and what I believe to be Dypsis mooreii.

Thats going to have to do for now,things to do.

Heaps more to come.......

This part of the garden is being reserved for furure under story plantings.

Along the fence line it is difficult to see at this stage, but there are V. splendida, Raphis laosensis, Licuala elegans, Chuniophoenix nanna, Reinhardtia simplex, bla bla bla.... anyway theres some nice stuff there that will look good in time. Oh and a big marcoted Yellow Rambutan. Love those things! Have another one in the orchard but can never have to many of them.

This part has one of my Dypsis sp. Dark Mealybug, amongst others.

There are two Mealybug planted where that will one day act as a pair of columns either side of a path framing the way to the pool.

Others are Arenga hookeriana, a dwarf Raphis species with really fine leaves, and Loxococos rupicola.

One of the fine leaf dwarf Raphis sp. If anyone knows the species would love to know.

And the Loxococos thats starting to kick away. Nice palm, is holding a dusky blue colouration to the newer sun hardened leaves.

Alcantherea rubra with more of the tiny Cocothrinax sp. and Copernicia cowellii, that has less leaves than its seen birthdays. Both so slow No fear of these guys growing up and blocking my view! Unbelievable.

The other Dypsis sp. Dark mealybug I refered to earlier in the foreground with one of three small newly planted Dypsis tsaravoasira, planted in the lawn in the background. Second pics a close up of the tsaravoasira

Great start to an amazing garden !

I Can only imagine the growth you will get up there !

Did you have a satakentia in your collection ?

Troy

Hey guys, thanks to all of you for your feedback.

And for Tim, to answer your question we are on town water here.

For Troy, I do have a Satakentia, or perhaps did Had five that I planted in my chicken pen, but the chickens took a liking to them and have one left, slowly they stripped all the leaves bare. Bit of a shame, but for all the good they do, clearly out weighs the loss of a few nice palms. If you can, every garden should have a few chickens!

Heres a pic of the chicken pen I have in my orchard.

Kinda hard to make out but its in behind the giant bamboo gate thats covered with passionfruit vine.

The other two images are just a few pics of the orchard which will one day provide us with all my fav tropical fruit

Might as well work back round from the orchard while on the subject.

Not alot of palms planted in here, a few Licuala ramsyi and a variegated Normanmbya to keep with the native Qld fel, and a few Phoenicophorium.

View looking back towards the pool from the orchard.

These are my two Pelegodoxa. First one is the small seed Vanuatu form, second is South Pacific form.

So many variations in the two, planted them near enough to each other that their differences would be highlighted.

As time goes on I imaging the different physical characteristics of the two should become all the more obvious.

Going to be cool to watch.

Terrible pic but under there is a BIG old dypsis sp. covered over by costus. See if by next year it's pushed it out of the way with a few big new leaves.

The idea is for this part of the garden to one day for a 'rainforest corridor', of sorts, deviding up the garden betwen the pool/house and the orchard.

As things grow and the canopy is formed, I want to be able to look up into it and have alot of colour. So I have used palms like Dypsis pilulifera,last pic, Dypsis sambrianensis, second pic, Euterpe edulis orange crownshaft and espiritosantanensis, among other things to really add to the effect.

Further along is Carpoxylon, a struggling little Dypsis that was bought as pilulifera, but now believe it to be malcomberi. Any of you Dypsis nuts feel free to disagree. But I'm happy to just watch it grow and time will tell. Third pic is of another pilulifera with a really cool Big Pandanus labrinthicus in the background that is leaping out of the ground. I germinated it from seed only a few years back and its already taller than me.

Existing pathway to the pool, on the left a grove of Chambeyronia macrocarpa, with a pair of Licuala elegans, the be st Dwarf Betelnut I've seen, Drymophloeus Serak Bekau, newly planted Dypsis tsaravoasira and a bunch of other foliage/flower plants. To the right are several Hyophorbe largenticaulis, surrounding a young Dypsis sp. white petiole seedling that will hopefully one day replace the Huge Carp thats there at the moment. Oh and Dypsis psammophyla, thats just flowered for the first time and is holdinf onto some seed! But cant fit all the images on so will be on the next

Inside the pool area was for the most part all paved. And you cant plant palms in pavers!

I wanted to create a pool with garden right the way up the the edge of the pool, so it looked like a little rock pool in a jungle stream, shaded by the canopy above. So clearly the pavers had to go! At least the back half. On eitherside of the waterfall are a pair of Kerriodoxa, that will spill over and at the same time framing the waterfall. The second image is to the left of the pool as you walk in the gate.

In the garden to the left is my variegated Pritchardia pacifica, Attalea allenii and Chambeyronia houailou among other things...

Garden that runs around the right of the pool to the back.

One of many Licuala grandis, and a few little Chamaedorea tuerckheimii, looking very pale from too much sun.

Iguanura sp.,another little potato chip, Asterogyne martiana in the middle and a Arenga hookeriana back against the fence. And Areca sp. Halmahera, have a few planted back there. Has a bright goldish yellow crownshaft and stilts from 1m up the trunk apparently. pretty cool

So last but not least, thought I would finish with a few reds. Clumping form of Areca vestiaria red, solitary form of A. vestiaria red, with new frond opening up. And not a palm I know but nice new flush of growth on Browniopsis.

Well, I'm done. I think that will do me for this year. Love to hear your feed back and if you have any questions I can help with feel free.

Hope you have enjoyed the brief tour of my garden in its early years.

Bigger and better next year!

Ben

So I have used alot of different cycads from Madagascar and South Africa, which both have similar climates to mine.

G'day Ben.

Good to see another North Queenslander here!

Out of interest, what cycads have you got in (any pic's)? I could make out a few Dioon, but not much else... I'm

always interested to see how they go here, as not many people are growing them (assuming you have some of the dessert blue cape encephalartos).

Cheers,

Kurt

Oh, and also, you garden looks awesome too! A lot of work has gone into it if that's 18 months worth! Wow. Congrats.

Very nice garden with some impressive palms and plants.

Wonderful garden! Envious of the climate you have and the growth rates you are getting.

Great collection and landscaping!