Some pictures from the garden

[Exotic Life]

Hi,

It has been a while since I posted pictures from the garden on this forum. The last few winters has been horrible in northwest Europe with the results that I lost a lot wich was to margin for my area. Well to margin for those winters with a lot cold records has been broken. This winter is the complete other way with no frost at all so far. Maybe this is the start to a new period of our mild winters.

I am re-building the garden more stable now with more hardy plants and less experiments, as I think it doesn't going to take that long before I move away. Well, enough talk, just some pictures from palms that did surive with or without protection.

Garden entrance

Trachycarpus fortunei and wagnerianus are still the best palms here to grow because they are very hardy and fast growers. This one is the fastest with mostly 20-30cm trunc growth and 1000's of seeds every year.

Waggie

Other very easy palms to grow even with the last four winters is Chamaerops and his varieties. Three different varieties growing in the garden and are happy in this side of Holland.




Little T.princeps wich is happy but quite slow at this stage.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Exotic Life

[Exotic Life]

Parajubaea TvT wich is still in container, very slow grower with 2-3 leafes a year. I almost decide to put in the ground but after the last few winters I am happy that I did not otherwise I defitenely lost it.

Trachycarpus Sp. Kumaon

Trachycarpus Latisectus

Trachycarpus martianus

[Exotic Life]

Palms that had a good protection and still alive and growing like mad again. Washingtonia is here very similair to Trachycarpus.



Just after winter

Just before winter when I always give the washy a haircut, otherwise it would be to big if it needs protection.

Seasonal stuff/border, not palmy

Edited February 7, 2014 by Exotic Life

[Tassie_Troy1971]

very nice Robin

The palms looks perfect and it's hard to believe you live in Holland !

[Shirleypalmpaws]

Whoa! I googled Steenbergen…..and wow!! Beautiful, just an amazingly beautiful job you've done, ExoticLife!

[Exotic Life]

Thank you both!

Whoa! I googled Steenbergen…..and wow!! Beautiful, just an amazingly beautiful job you've done, ExoticLife!

Clicked the link but Steenbergen is not near Amsterdam, but way more south, southwest of the country but still Holland.

[Gileno Machado]

Very nice, Robin. Trachys all looking lovely and everything else.

[Exotic Life]

Very nice, Robin. Trachys all looking lovely and everything else.

Thanks Gileno.

Will post some more in the next few days.

[Rafael]

Very very nice! Wont you try brahea and sabal?

[Sutter Bob]

Great work!

Inspiring me to try more Trachycarpus here.

I wonder if you could get a mule to grow there.

[David in Berkeley]

Great looking tropical palmy garden, and a great job with hardscape designto support the mood also. Do you ever consider stripping the trunks on your Trachycarpus fortunei? Beautiful garden, Robin!

[Exotic Life]

Very very nice! Wont you try brahea and sabal?

Had Sabal minor in the garden some years ago, however after each winter the leafes were trashed because our winterstorms. Sabal growth here is slow, so I decided to dug it up and gave it away. Brahea Armata did a good job in the recent cold winters on several places in Holland and UK with just a head cover. The garden is still from my parents, and proberly I will go on my own soon. I am "rebuilding" the garden to a more stable one with less work. However, if I want to try and plant more palms Brahea or Sabal would be my first choises.

Great work!

Inspiring me to try more Trachycarpus here.

I wonder if you could get a mule to grow there.

Trachycarpus fortunei and also wagnerianus are very easy here. Specially fortunei is self-seeding as well, even the birds use the seeds and I have seen popping them up everywhere. I think Mule palm would grow here well, but would like to start with a bigger one then the young plants that I have now. It needs proberly some protection during the colder events though.

Great looking tropical palmy garden, and a great job with hardscape designto support the mood also. Do you ever consider stripping the trunks on your Trachycarpus fortunei? Beautiful garden, Robin!

Thank you David. If I am not wrong I have seen beautifull pictures from garden on a website from you as well.

I like the stripping form, however only when the palms have some trunc height. So yes, I consider stripping one of my palms but did not decided with one yet as only two have their trunc height for stripping.

[Peter Pacific]

Nice job Robin. I like the garden entrance playing with height and color.

[Exotic Life]

Thanks Peter.

Will try to make some new actual pictures soon and post them over here.

[Exotic Life]

Spring have been really mild and sunny so far, and after a frost free winter garden is really exploding. Thought I would share some palm flowers, very common but always nice to see that during a warm spring day.

Phoenix canariensis has been the first

Trachycarpus males and females were flowering together (pictures are from different moments) and just finished.

[Exotic Life]

Chamaerops is coming along nicely at the moment with flowers on several truncs.

Not a palm, but I hope this Magnolia grandiflora variety will flowering this year...

[Jimhardy]

Everything looks really healthy Robbin!

Good looking Waggy too....

[Exotic Life]

Talking about the waggie.. Got this picture sent from back home. Since I am living/travelling in Australia for a few months now i am missing the whole growing season in Holland. Loads of trachycarpus seedlings growing as well

Arrived in sunny but coolisch Melbourne this morning. They say melbourne is the most European looking city in Australia. Of course they still can grow more then we do but I saw the first "european" looking like Trachycarpus fortunei during my afternoon walk. Nice thick trunk with a big crown of healthy leaves.

No waggies in Australia so far..

Edited September 10, 2014 by Exotic Life

[Rafael]

I understand you, like you i am working outside (in Azores), since last sunday.

Looking forward to an exhaustive compilation of Melbourne's palms pics

[Tropicgardener]

Great to see some photos of your gorgeous garden Robbin, great to hear that you are still enjoying your time down under............. You will have to come back to the tropical Whitsundays again

[Kostas]

Very beautiful Robin,the tropical look is starting to pass along even better now that the Trachycarpus,Phoenix and Washingtonia have good size on them! Hope they grow to maturity for you and survive to grow tall and impressive

Do you have photos of male and female Trachycarpus fortunei inflorescences? How to easily tell them apart without examining the flowers in a stereoscope to check? Mine are giving me a hard time and only produce a handful of viable-looking seeds at best and thousands of duds(they grow great though,upwards of 30cm of trunk per year). Mine both are female mostly but Trachycarpus are polygamo-monoecious,not truly dioecious,so they can produce both inflorescence types and mixed inflorescences i think but many times function as dioecious.

[Pip]

What a wonderful garden you have created. Enjoy Melbourne I've always found that city fun to visit

[Palm crazy]

NIce pictures really like the first one, makes you want to explore more of your beautiful garden. Looks like your 5 degrees warmer than me since I can’t grow some of your exotic palms. Good Job!

[Exotic Life]

Thanks everyone.
When I going back home I will take some fresh pictures if possible because when I come home winter is around the corner.

I understand you, like you i am working outside (in Azores), since last sunday.

Looking forward to an exhaustive compilation of Melbourne's palms pics

I am travelling along the whole east coast of Australia, from the tropical north to the colder south. Made loads off pictures on my way, which I can share when I got home again.

Very beautiful Robin,the tropical look is starting to pass along even better now that the Trachycarpus,Phoenix and Washingtonia have good size on them! Hope they grow to maturity for you and survive to grow tall and impressive

Do you have photos of male and female Trachycarpus fortunei inflorescences? How to easily tell them apart without examining the flowers in a stereoscope to check? Mine are giving me a hard time and only produce a handful of viable-looking seeds at best and thousands of duds(they grow great though,upwards of 30cm of trunk per year). Mine both are female mostly but Trachycarpus are polygamo-monoecious,not truly dioecious,so they can produce both inflorescence types and mixed inflorescences i think but many times function as dioecious.

Thanks Kostas. Yeah, I am happy as well that most of the palms are getting some good sizes now. Trachycarpus and Chamaerops species aren't a problem over here, but Phoenix and Washingtonia do always need some sort of protection. Hoping on more winters like the last one where I did not recorded a single frost.

I should have better pictures of that yes, however I am travelling trough australia. I going to have a look if I uploaded some pictures somewhere. Male flowers are yellow where the female flowers are more green. Female flowers are also more upright growing compared the male flowers. Mine Trachycarpus fortunei are all in flowering stage now, two of the are male and two of them are female.

[Exotic Life]

Great to see some photos of your gorgeous garden Robbin, great to hear that you are still enjoying your time down under............. You will have to come back to the tropical Whitsundays again

Yeah, still enjoying it, even I had some cooler weeks. Lucky spring is turning some nice comfortable temperatures down south as well. I would love to come back to the whitsundays area, as it is one of best parts from this trip. Don't think it is going to happen this time, but I definitely coming back to Australia again, maybe even sooner then I expect now.

If you ever visit the German guy again, please show him some pictures... proberly he will be amazed just like I did, lol

Edited September 14, 2014 by Exotic Life

[Kostas]

Thank you Robin

Trachycarpus flower for you this late in the season? Mine flower late spring,now they have almost ripe seeds(ok,duds...)

[Exotic Life]

Thank you Robin

Trachycarpus flower for you this late in the season? Mine flower late spring,now they have almost ripe seeds(ok,duds...)

They are mostly flowering in April, depending on how much cold they get during winter. This year they were very early because there was no winter at all.

Note that this pictures are posted in february this year and they are from last year.

Seeds are mostly ripe enough for harvesting in January/February.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Exotic Life

[Kostas]

Here they always flower in a relatively narrow time frame,about the same time each year without multiple flowering events. Seeds on Trachycarpus that set viable seeds here are ripe and have turned color by October/November. Funny how climate affects them!