Nelran, Hmmm. Perhaps we could off-set the price of oil here in America by sending Europe a heating bill!! Allright Michael and Whis4ey, pay up!! :D
No, we take nothing for granted ... we just genuinely appreciate the benefits we receive from the Gulf :) I have palm trees in my own garden (in the North of Ireland) where we have been getting milder each year. If you visit my website you can see some of the mediterranean type varieties of plant we can now grow here - trachycarpus, cordylines,tree ferns etc. It is also quite an ideal climate for Japanese maples (to get back to the subject :)) with the exception of the quite strong winds we can have at times, and which have dessimated my new planting this past year I am still sure I don't want to visit Texas in August though ...
It is true that in the recent past, following a series of very dry summers, gardeners in the UK and Ireland were encouraged to plant 'drought resistant' species. However you guys have had a few 'normal' (i.e.: very wet and cool) summers lately and I was wondering how those mediterranean expats were appreciating having their feet wet throughout the year (not to mention the lack of sunshine). The same happened in Northern France and a lot of olive trees hastily planted by many gardeners have neded up in the compost pile. Gomero
Well, yes, I already have an "tropical "area of my backyard planted with several kind of Palm trees: "Queen" Palms, "King" palms, some "sagu" palms (really, they are zycadas, not palms) that grow very well here, except for a couple of huge "bottle" palms that were killed by cold winter. But in general the palms are doing fine, with excellent grow rate (some of them 2' -3' in one season). My problems started when I got hooked with maple addiction knowing that these beauties demand extreme care with this kind of weather. (I don't mind really, I'm enjoying them, anyway). By the way, this summer I added 22 new cultivars to my collection, most of them are dwarf cultivars. (My wife is wondering where I will plant these maples...) Nelran
Many have done OK. Even though they don't grow naturally in cool, wet summer conditions now, a lot of Mediterranean species are adapted to grow in them as they experienced them during the ice ages within the last 100,000 years. Mediterranean species like Pinus pinea and P. halepensis can grow, and produce viable seed, a long way north in Scotland, with far cooler summers than they ever get now in their native range. Olea europaea does appear to be a notable exception; maybe it only migrated (with human assistance?) into its current native area after the post-glacial climate warmed up.
Dare I say it, none of those are Mediterranean plants! Gunnera manicata from South America Trachycarpus fortunei from SW China Cordyline australis from New Zealand Dicksonia antarctica from Tasmania ;-)
That's in Ballina, Ireland. My mom's family is from there way back... Here's a link to some pics of my property. I have 22 wooded acres (9 hectares) in the hills of central Tennessee. http://picasaweb.google.com/vincent.doug/MySpread?authkey=T5v4O_5dCm4
K4, Great property, you will make many of us jealous since you are probably one of the few who has not run out of space yet, but....... have you seen the list of all cultivars that Peter Gregory has put together?, even 9 hectares will not be enough to fit them all. Gomero
That's not a big percentage of 600 plus cultivars, right? Perhaps you underestimate the meaning of "obsessive compulsive" :D
hehehe I am sure Michael is well aware that I know exactly where all of the plants originated I was trying to illustrate that these plants which now grow happily in Northern Ireland would not have survived here 20 years ago :) Sorry if I was not being politically correct ...:(
I was wondering if you'd treated the question as 'Mediterranean climate' plants? I reckon all of those would have survived no problem in Northern Ireland 20 years ago, there's specimens of three of them (not Dicksonia) much older than that in NE England and SE Scotland that I know of, and older Dicksonia in SW Scotland (and in all cases, over 30 years, so taking in the benchmark 1981/82 winter).
Hey K4, Are you planning to get all the 600+ cultivars? If you do, You will be raised to the "rank" of proudy owner of a formal "botanical (Aceretum) garden park". I know for the pics, that Njacer & Gomero (among others in this forum), already reached that mark. Good luck!! (and yes, you're right: I'm plain jealous of your big lot.. :-)) P.s. I forgot to include Whis4ey!
Michael .. yiou are absolutely right The cordylines you see were planted by myself in 1974 ... 34 years ago How time flies ......... :)
Back from a week in Provence where it was 38 C. Just a little too hot. Actually a relief to be back in Normandie, 16 and rainy. Not particularly looking forward to the temperatures in Boston next week, but a few days in Maine will fix me up! -E
Kaitain, those pictures are amazing. Thanks for posting them. It's very interesting, the extremes of climate represented in this forum. And it's bizarre to think that we're actually trying to grow some of the identical plants in all these places.
soleone week is finish!fiuu!!jm that live good in this last week in open sun, no shade in afternoon! Hondojii,Mayo sato ,Beni schichi henge,Butterfly,Fire Glow,Kasen nishiki. best maples no jm, Micranthum ,the number one very good, because native Campestre ,Opalus,Pseudoplatanus.. ciao & buon 15 august
Kaspian, You're welcome. And yes, it is indeed amazing to me that plants which came from a very specific area and climate can be grown literally around the world in such diverse circumstances. One more reason I love Acers!! Alex, Congratulations on the end to Solar Hell Week!! I'm glad you had some of your precious trees come through well. Ciao!
