2002 Biennial and Post Tour |
KATHERINE MAIDMAN Fairchild Tropical Garden 10901 Old Cutler Road Coral Gables (Miami), Florida 33156 USA |
| From the French Riviera to Spain and Italy, this biennial and post tour featured the many different palms in cultivation in southern European gardens and nurseries and, of course, Chamaerops humilis in the wild. | Reprinted with permission
to post on palms.org from the Vol.
47, No 1, Palms (formerly Principes), Journal of
the International Palm Society© 2003 The International Palm Society,
|
| Our hosts for the biennial meeting, the Association Fous de
Palmiers, planned an exciting itinerary with lectures from a diverse slate
of palm experts. The meeting was based in Hyères les Palmiers, a city
renowned for its gardens and parks, and included a visit to Parc Olbius
Riquier. The botanical garden, a former plant introduction site, has a palm
collection that includes venerable specimens of Jubaea chilensis (Fig.
1) and Washingtonia filifera (Back Cover). Our group enjoyed seeing familiar palms used in spectacular ways in private and public gardens. The Villa Thuret featured fantastic specimens of Chamaerops humilis, which, judging from their large size, must be of great age (Fig. 2). Those people not attending the post tour visited Villa Menton, a stone’s throw from the Mediterranean Sea. The garden blends collections of palms, conifers and subtropical exotic plants in an charming naturalist way (Fig. 3). At Jardin du Rayol-Canodel, a garden dedicated to plants of Mediterranean climates worldwide, the group caught glimpses of beautiful Rhopalostylis sapida (Fig. 4) growing in a wet, sheltered depression. We also marveled at an ancient cork oak, Australian banksias, and pines overarching a rugged Mediterranean coastline. The group also visited two large palm nurseries and were pleased to see the commercial response to the growing interest in palms in southern France. Attendees of the post tour went on to Elche, Spain and the Huerto del Cura, a garden in the midst of Elche’s date palm grove intended for contemplation of both plants and works of art (Fig. 5). The palm collection includes Trithrinax campestris (Fig. 6) and other species that are well suited to the dry climate of this region. The group hiked to wild Chamaerops humilis in the foothills of Parque Regional de Calbanque in Cartagena, Spain (Fig. 7). After Spain, the group continued to Corsica and Sicily, where we toured private and public gardens, and then on to Rome and Naples. The Orto Botanico of Naples was a particularly fascinating garden, as it grows a large number of interesting palms, alongside conifers, cycads and succulents. While in France, the group visited a botanical garden in the making, the new Jardin du Palmier (Garden of the Palm Tree) in development on Porquerolles Island. Horace Hobbs, IPS President gamely undertook the planting of a Sabal bermudana to commemorate the IPS visit (Fig. 8). We look forward to watching the developments in this brand new palm collection and to visiting that 2003 Biennial Sabal again someday soon. |
1. Jubaea chilensis at Parc Olbius Riquier. (Photo: S. Zona)
2. IPS members enjoy the shade of an
ancient Chamaerops, Villa Thouret, France.
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3. The group prepares to explore the garden
at Villa Menton, France (Photo: S. Zona).
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4. Rhopalostylis sapida in a
sheltered spot at Jardin du Rayol-Canodel, France.
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5. Phoenix dactylifera, in the
garden Huerto del Cura in Elche, Spain.
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6. Trithrinax campestris at Huerto
del Cura, Elche, Spain.
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7. IPS members climb a hill to see wild
Chamaerops in Cartegena, Spain.
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8. IPS President Horace Hobbs plants a
Sabal bermudana to commemorate the IPS visit to the new Jardin du Palmier,
France.
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