First meeting of SPF in Frejus,French Riviera

[doranakandawatta]

22nd, 23rd and 24th of may, the first assemblée générale of SPF (Société Palmophile Francophone = French-speaking countries community Palm Society) took place in Frejus, on the french Riviera, located between Cannes and Hyères les Palmiers.

Members of this young association met, shared experiences and visited parks and gardens nearby.

Private gardens like Villa Caryota and Jardin Howea impressed all visitors, and visits of the Parc Olbius-Riquier in Hyères or the parc zoologique in Lalonde-les-Maures have been very instructive.

Since we were on the Côte d'Azur, the main issue which about we talked was the pests Rhynchophorus ferrugineus and Paysandisia archon threatening all palm species on the mediterranean coast and the ways to fight against that.

The other subject, since we are on the Côte d'Azur, was the acclimatization of the species, challenging with the climate and the local conditions of soil, humidity, frost...

Acclimatization of plants on the Riviera is an old tradition, started in the XIX th century at the time foreign tourists discovered the area.

As a palm-addict under the tropics, I have been impressed by the species I saw; even a Caryota urens fruiting in Toulon!

Jardin Howea in Toulon:

Villa Caryota in Frejus:

Some other posts soon.

[samirbouag]

wow!! top

[Cindy Adair]

Lovely photos and looks like fun!

[Kim]

Some really nice palms in those photos! Great to hear that palm lovers are getting together in France! I hope you told them all about PalmTalk.

[bgl]

Philippe,

Excellent news! It's always nice to hear about new palm affiliates being formed and the enthusiasm behind them. The IPS had its Biennial in 2004 in that same area so we may have seen some of those gardens as well back then. Good luck with SPF and future meetings!

Bo-Göran