Spanish palm garden tour (spring 2025 Alicante)

[TropicalGardenSpain]

If anyone would like to see how my gardens doing this year i made a video here on youtube: 

 

 

[donalt]

excellent hard work; beautiful garden!

[SeanK]

Very Nice. Worth waiting so things could green up better.

[Mazat]

9 hours ago, TropicalGardenSpain said:

If anyone would like to see how my gardens doing this year i made a video here on youtube: 

 

 

very beautifully maintained property, very good work, Jamie.
yes, it takes patience and then the species you described, like these that are already thriving magnificently, will also come.
good video.
continue to have fun and success with your wonderful exotics.
has unfortunately never been to alicante but twice to Xàbia and only in the vicinity, so to speak.
beautiful area 😃

[TropicalGardenSpain]

14 hours ago, Mazat said:

very beautifully maintained property, very good work, Jamie.
yes, it takes patience and then the species you described, like these that are already thriving magnificently, will also come.
good video.
continue to have fun and success with your wonderful exotics.
has unfortunately never been to alicante but twice to Xàbia and only in the vicinity, so to speak.
beautiful area 😃

Thank you Mazat! We can all understand the patience watching some pf the slower growers progress but it gives a lot of pleasure and pride later. Thanks for the nice comments, if you ever pass by the area again you are more than welcome to visit. 

[Mazat]

4 hours ago, TropicalGardenSpain said:

Thank you Mazat! We can all understand the patience watching some pf the slower growers progress but it gives a lot of pleasure and pride later. Thanks for the nice comments, if you ever pass by the area again you are more than welcome to visit. 

Thank you very much for the invitation, Jamie !

Yes, I'll get in touch at that time 😄

[SHEP]

Jamie,

Thank you for taking the time to show everyone your hard work and vision.  Your garden is beautiful.  How warm do your summers get?  Are you able to purchase palms in your area, or is Florabunda your best resource?  

I use Agribond Frost Cloth for my new palms that are not established yet., I did find it today from JMI Industries in Louisiana.  Years ago, I bought a giant roll, I easily made covers for my smaller, tender or newly planted palms with a square of AgriBond cut and draped over a pvc frame.  I took three pieces of pvc pipe with 2 holes drilled in one side of each leg,  secured the top ends together with  insulated wire (like a Plains Indian tipi), spread the legs and poked into ground, or used mallet to secure.  If they are not deep enough the wind will catch them and blow them over and could damage the palm.  If you have slope, you will have to accomodate with different sized legs.  I then cut sections of Agribond with scissors, and draped over pvc frame, making sure all sides hit the ground (measure side to side over pvc legs and  I usually added 6")  and then draped over your pvc frame with palm in center and used binder clips to secure sides, and then used larger binder clips to secure the fabric to the three poles (legs).  I have been able to save smaller, tender plants and even wrapped a 8' Ravanea Glauca, which is now protected by a Phoenix Rupicola overhead.  I bought three very large 15g Parajubea torallyi microcarpa years ago.  I protected them for two years and had to use a ladder to clip the top.  They looked like Plains Indians were camping in my front yard.  They say the cloth gives you another 4-6 degrees Farenheit.  I also use large beach towels to throw over smaller, sturdier palms,  and if palm is tender then I would use a few pvc pieces pounded into ground and, then placed a sturdy stake next to palm, carefully because it is causing root disturbance, and then throw beach towels over them.  Oh yes, back then you had choices of Agribond, and mine did allow some light.  The Agribond is utilized for agriculture for row covers for plants like strawberries, to protect from frost, and I bought one that transmitted light.  I did not leave all winter, but with the tall palms I unwrapped bottom and left for a month.  It is very light and I can easily pick up a large roll.  I bought the longest width, but I may have had to buy way more than I needed.  But the roll shipped postal.  

But, I recognize that your garden is much larger than mine.  Many a night I would listen to weather at 11 pm, and then chose to go out and save the palms in the dark,  never the tall ones, but glad they developed headlamps.  I am so lucky that a have a tall husband, who happens to like me, and it was his idea of the pvc poles.

Looking forward to next years post.

Cecile

 

 

[TropicalGardenSpain]

Hi Cecile,

Thank you for the valuable information! you have great dedication to your palms! I´d love to see some photos of your garden too! Our summers are very hot and dry, at the moment every day highs are 33/34c and in July and August it will be warmer around 36c most days. I live in an area which is dry in winter and summer so we get good rains usually in Spring time and after summer but not when it's cold which I think really helps my palms. The winter lows do not worry me too much to protect the palms but maybe this year I will protect some smaller more sensitive ones so they advice will really help. I currently do something similar to you but with shade cloth for newly planted palms because the sun is so strong it burns everything. The first few years I lost so many palms that way because they would get damaged by the sun and then die slowly over winter. It seems to be working well for now so I have my fingers crossed for the new plantings this year. Here it is very difficult to source palms, we have a few local websites but the variety is not great. Most nicer specie of palms are bought in from Tenerife when there is a nicer yearly weather for growing tropicals but nothing like the selection you have in the US. I managed to do a few floribunda orders which is a real game changer but its not easy, Jeff won't post to Europe so I have to ask a friend to receive them and send to me which can be risky with customs here and the general slowness in Spain you never know if they will arrive at all. Ive been pretty lucky to now only losing 1 order from Jeff and a few from others but its a risk for now I am happy to take. 

I think this hobby must be one of the best out there, it's very healthy for us and keeps us entertained. I have a friend who is 93 and still buys palms every spring to add to his beautiful garden close by in Elche. He is an inspiration and was part of the team that created a local botanical garden here in Elche ( Huerto del cura). 

I will make a post summer video to see how the garden is growing too, I have managed to get a lipstick hybrid to take in the garden so will be interesting to see if it can survive the hot summer and then the winter 😅

[Mazat]

6 hours ago, SHEP said:

Jamie,

Thank you for taking the time to show everyone your hard work and vision.  Your garden is beautiful.  How warm do your summers get?  Are you able to purchase palms in your area, or is Florabunda your best resource?  

I use Agribond Frost Cloth for my new palms that are not established yet., I did find it today from JMI Industries in Louisiana.  Years ago, I bought a giant roll, I easily made covers for my smaller, tender or newly planted palms with a square of AgriBond cut and draped over a pvc frame.  I took three pieces of pvc pipe with 2 holes drilled in one side of each leg,  secured the top ends together with  insulated wire (like a Plains Indian tipi), spread the legs and poked into ground, or used mallet to secure.  If they are not deep enough the wind will catch them and blow them over and could damage the palm.  If you have slope, you will have to accomodate with different sized legs.  I then cut sections of Agribond with scissors, and draped over pvc frame, making sure all sides hit the ground (measure side to side over pvc legs and  I usually added 6")  and then draped over your pvc frame with palm in center and used binder clips to secure sides, and then used larger binder clips to secure the fabric to the three poles (legs).  I have been able to save smaller, tender plants and even wrapped a 8' Ravanea Glauca, which is now protected by a Phoenix Rupicola overhead.  I bought three very large 15g Parajubea torallyi microcarpa years ago.  I protected them for two years and had to use a ladder to clip the top.  They looked like Plains Indians were camping in my front yard.  They say the cloth gives you another 4-6 degrees Farenheit.  I also use large beach towels to throw over smaller, sturdier palms,  and if palm is tender then I would use a few pvc pieces pounded into ground and, then placed a sturdy stake next to palm, carefully because it is causing root disturbance, and then throw beach towels over them.  Oh yes, back then you had choices of Agribond, and mine did allow some light.  The Agribond is utilized for agriculture for row covers for plants like strawberries, to protect from frost, and I bought one that transmitted light.  I did not leave all winter, but with the tall palms I unwrapped bottom and left for a month.  It is very light and I can easily pick up a large roll.  I bought the longest width, but I may have had to buy way more than I needed.  But the roll shipped postal.  

But, I recognize that your garden is much larger than mine.  Many a night I would listen to weather at 11 pm, and then chose to go out and save the palms in the dark,  never the tall ones, but glad they developed headlamps.  I am so lucky that a have a tall husband, who happens to like me, and it was his idea of the pvc poles.

Looking forward to next years post.

Cecile

 

 

very interesting report, Cecile. thank you very much.
i also find this kind of protection possible. there are many different options and i think that since we have a different microclimate everywhere, sometimes similar, it is good to improve individually to protect our sometimes delicate exotic favorites. we had often worked with fleece as an example, but have adapted this in the balcony and added sagex to the respective now several layers of fleece to keep the cold air out better. and it works very well. we have some exotics that are divided into different usda zones than our 8a/8b.
yes, the effort is practically always worth it.

kind regards from Lake Constance Switzerland

[Mazat]

1 hour ago, TropicalGardenSpain said:

Hi Cecile,

Thank you for the valuable information! you have great dedication to your palms! I´d love to see some photos of your garden too! Our summers are very hot and dry, at the moment every day highs are 33/34c and in July and August it will be warmer around 36c most days. I live in an area which is dry in winter and summer so we get good rains usually in Spring time and after summer but not when it's cold which I think really helps my palms. The winter lows do not worry me too much to protect the palms but maybe this year I will protect some smaller more sensitive ones so they advice will really help. I currently do something similar to you but with shade cloth for newly planted palms because the sun is so strong it burns everything. The first few years I lost so many palms that way because they would get damaged by the sun and then die slowly over winter. It seems to be working well for now so I have my fingers crossed for the new plantings this year. Here it is very difficult to source palms, we have a few local websites but the variety is not great. Most nicer specie of palms are bought in from Tenerife when there is a nicer yearly weather for growing tropicals but nothing like the selection you have in the US. I managed to do a few floribunda orders which is a real game changer but its not easy, Jeff won't post to Europe so I have to ask a friend to receive them and send to me which can be risky with customs here and the general slowness in Spain you never know if they will arrive at all. Ive been pretty lucky to now only losing 1 order from Jeff and a few from others but its a risk for now I am happy to take. 

I think this hobby must be one of the best out there, it's very healthy for us and keeps us entertained. I have a friend who is 93 and still buys palms every spring to add to his beautiful garden close by in Elche. He is an inspiration and was part of the team that created a local botanical garden here in Elche ( Huerto del cura). 

I will make a post summer video to see how the garden is growing too, I have managed to get a lipstick hybrid to take in the garden so will be interesting to see if it can survive the hot summer and then the winter 😅

can only agree with you, Jamie.
young plants have a lot of trouble with the heat and sometimes really burn, so we also lost a few small palm trees, although we are in a cooler area. back when we were in the area, once at the beginning of july and once in september, i found your climate very pleasant, hot yes but not so humid.
the number of hot days, i.e. above 30 degrees celsius, has also increased considerably here, at the current location with a microclimate and partly more sheltered location anyway.
we have a very humid and humid climate, especially from late spring to late summer, which has become more subtropical than oceanic. the daily minimum temperatures differ extremely from the daily maximum temperatures here, also for comparison directly at the lake.
the winters are humid and cool here, sometimes cold.