Book Review: Betrock's Essential Guide to Palms

[AlexnAtlanta]

After reading several posts on the Board about “Betrock’s Essential Guide to Palms” by David Leaser, I drove to a local Barnes and Noble to purchase the book.  In light of the quality and comprehensiveness of Betrock’s prior palm guides – and particularly Betrock’s Guide to Cold Hardy Palms – I assumed the book would have it all: the comprehensive and accurate descriptions of the prior Betrock palm guides with color photography and chapters on how to purchase, grow and care for palms. My skepticism about the book began when I first noticed that this “essential” guide to palms was little more than ½ an inch thick. Flipping through the book at the store, I quickly concluded that this book took on too many ambitious objectives and ended up excelling at none.  Here are the problems in the book, as I see them.  It took only about 5 minutes of perusing the book to find some inaccuracies.  Mr. Leaser tells his readers that Trachycarpus Martianus is hardy to 5 degrees F. Really?  That would make Martianus hardier than Trachycarpus Nanus (described next), which Leaser states, is hardy to only 7 degrees F.  (a more accurate statement).  And is Serenoa Repens really hardy to -5?  Maybe it has survived -5 degrees but I’m highly dubious.  Does Mr. Leaser honestly believe that T. latisectus is “equally cold hardy [as T. Fortunei]?”  Blatant errors in important information like cold hardiness are unforgivable and are not worthy of the Betrock name, given the accuracy of its prior guides.  The brief section on Transplanting (about one full page of text total) states that “[m]ature Sabal palms are relatively easy to transplant because the roots and the remaining soil can be almost completely removed.”  Elsewhere on this page, Mr. Leaser states that “mature Sabal palms … can withstand severe transplantation shock if the fronds are entirely removed.”  While both of those statements are technically correct, Mr. Leaser misses the nuance that should be conveyed.  Mature Sabal palms (particularly S. Palmetto) are very challenging to transplant because when the palm is dug from the field the severed roots die to the core and the palm is severely stressed by this.   The only way to have a reasonable chance of successful transplanting is to remove all of the fronds (known as a hurricane cut), and even then the mortality rate for transplanting is higher than many other genera of palms.  Another gripe I have with the book is the quality of the photographs.  While it’s nice to have a Betrock palm guide with color, true natural color would have been nice. Mr. Leaser is the author of Palm Trees, A Story in Photographs, which I also own.  In his prior book, Mr. Leaser demonstrated a talent for finding evocative settings to demonstrate the majesty, intrigue and beauty of palms.  However, as good as Leaser was in his prior book at composition, his photographs – in both books, though slightly less so in the Betrock guide – are marred by strident and unnatural hues, in my opinion suggestive of too much manipulation in the studio (perhaps not even by Mr. Leaser) by someone who feels that the natural coloration of palms or the real color of a blue sky are not not attractive enough without amping up the color to a level rarely seen in nature.  Take a look at the photo of Clinostigma Samoense on page 41 if you’re skeptical of my concern.  Alas, I was dissapointed in the lack of comprehensiveness of the palm descriptions, and the seeming randomness in what was chosen and what was omitted.  Clearly, there wasn’t enough room in this surprisingly short book to fully describe all genera.  However, I didn’t see the logic in what Leaser chose to include and what he didn’t include.  Take the section on Trachycarpus, certainly an exciting, if controversial, group of palms these days.  Where is the description of T. Princeps?  Are Waggies to small for inclusion?  Did no one tell Mr. Leaser about the current debate about the questionable authenticity of what many have thought were Takil?  To present these palms without even a sentence on current “issues” involving some of them doesn’t advance the literature on palms much. So, did I buy the book?  Of course I did.  I don’t have the willpower to pass up a book on palms.  I am a hard grader, but perhaps it was the overly ambitious title of the book (this book is hardly “essential”) that set me off.  I also suspect that this usually reliable publisher may not have checked the accuracy of the book before lending its well-regarded name to the book. Well, enough of this book review writing: I’m off to buy a Trachycarpus Martianus for my zone 7b garden.

[Jeff Searle]

Alex,

     I just recently saw this new book at the TPIE convention on Saturday here in Ft. Lauderdale. I thumbed through it and after a few, set it back. To me, I noticed it mentions  just the more common palms, of which most any other palm book already does.

Jeff

[Surf Guy]

My wife bought me this book and haven't picked it up since getting Plams of the World by David Jones. What part of Atlanta are you from. I grew up in Jonesboro and my Dad lives in Marietta. I have been in San Diego for almost 17 years and growing palms for about 6 years. Mike

[tjwalters]

Interesting.  I have neither "Betrock's Essential Guide to Palms" nor "Betrock’s Guide to Cold Hardy Palms."  I'm wondering...if the latter is highly regarded as being accurate, how the former can have such inaccuracies with regard to cold-hardiness.  I'm assuming the hardy palms were covered in both books. (?)

Speaking of books, my wife found an old copy of "Tropica" (1981, 2nd edition) on ebay that she bought for me for Christmas.  It was from Africa and apparently was owned by and avid gardener (Nancy Gardiner in Pietermaritzburg) who used to write gardening articles for publication.  Pretty cool!  

[AlexnAtlanta]

Mike, I live in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.  I've been growing palms for only about 5 years.  There are many times I yearn for the kind of palm-growing climate you have in the San Diego area.  I just arrived home from a brief vacation in Florida to find that the snow and ice (really not a lot) really did a number on one of my Butia Capitata while I was away.  Cheers.

[AlexnAtlanta]

Tom, while Betrock published both books, the authors were different.  The Meerow book (Cold Hardy Palms) contained very detailed information on most cold hardy palms.  I find the information in that book as well as Betrock's Guide to Landscape Palms to be highly accurate and informative.   I cannot explain the inaccuracies in the more recent book.  I'm not sure whether the author relied on his own "knowledge" of palms or whether he consulted with someone else, but I am surprised these things slipped by the publisher's due diligence.

[Surf Guy]

(AlexnAtlanta @ Jan. 21 2008,22:25)

QUOTE

 I've been growing palms for only about 5 years.  

What species do you grow outside? My Dad has a few R. rivulars in pots that he puts in his garage in the winter and also cycas revoluta he also brings in in the winter. He would like to plant some by his pool but with the cold winters there he hasn't put anything in the ground. Are there any places in the Atlanta area that he could buy palms that would  grow outside there. I think he could plant a T. fortunei or maybe a W. robusta with winter protection. What do you trhink? Mike

[Geoff]

I have problems with both books, too, and there are many inaccuracies as in any discussion of cold hardiness in palms... ALWAYS written by folks on the east coast who seem oblivious of what grows on the west coast and the cold hardy data out there (here).  Oh well... until someone in California with enough $$ and clout can write one of these books, this sad situation will continue indefinitely.

PS don't waste your money on T martianus in zone 7. Mine barely managed to survive here in California this last winter when it got down to 25F... ditto for T latisectus and nana.  T princeps, fortunei and wagnerianus were predictably uneffected.

[AlexnAtlanta]

Mike,  I grow the following palms outdoors in Atlanta with no or minimal protection:

-- Trachycarpus Fortunei, Nainital and Princeps

-- Sabal Minor, Palmetto, Bermudana, Mexicana and Xtexensis, Etonia, Uresana

-- Butia Capitata, Eriospatha and Yatay

-- Trithrinax Campestris

-- Needle Palm

-- Chamaerops Humilis, C. H. "Cerifera"

-- Brahea Armata

-- Serenoa Repens (green, silver and blue forms)

I grow the following with minimal winter protection (frost cloth without heat):

-- Washingtonia Filifera, Robusta

-- Chamaedorea Microspadix, Radicalis

-- Sabal Domingensis, Sabal Causiarum

-- Arenga Engleris

-- Brahea Decumbens, Moorei

-- Butyagrus (Mule Palm)

-- Rhapis Humilis, Multifidia

I grow the following with maximum winter protection (double layer of frost cloth and rope lights on very cold nights):

-- Phoenix Canariensis, Sylvestris, Rupicola, Roebellini

-- Syagrus Roman. (Queen Palm)

-- Cat Palm

-- Teddy Bear Palm

-- Old Man Palm

-- Kerriodoxa Elegans (white elephant palm)

I also grow about 7 varieties of citrus, some very hardy to cold, a couple that need some protection.  Lots of other fun stuff.