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robcorreia

Palm trees in cottage garden???

robcorreia
16 years ago

Hi all!

I have just moved into a new house with a huge backyard. The probelm is:

1)there are some beautiful old growth palm trees thruout the yard

2) I am big time cottage garden person! i mean, white climbing roses, witeria, hydrangeas, etc...

Please! How do I incorporate these huge tropical plants into my new cottage garden?

Comments (8)

  • garyfla_gw
    16 years ago

    Hi
    Are you new to gardening in 10?? A lot of the usual "cottage garden " plants will do very poorly . It can be done but is tough. Think tropical substitutes. Think "palm glade" or "layered jungle" lol
    As to the palms be grateful you can grow themm at all lol. There are people on the palm forum who would kill for the problem lol gary

  • Adam Harbeck
    16 years ago

    Maybe you could go for a more Mediteranean style with more warmth tolerant flowering plants like African daisies as well as roses, geraniums, bouganvilleias etc.This is so sad but I remember watching a show filmed in Spain and there were beautiful gardens filled with date palms as well as a huge variety of colourful flowering plants. They looked spectacular. Do you know what kind of palms they are ?

  • robcorreia
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Adam, I looked at pictures online and I think I have the following (several of each):
    Dioon edule - Cycad
    Prickly Cycad, Bread Tree
    King Palms
    Blue Hesper Palm
    Queen palm

    Thanks all for your replies!

  • Adam Harbeck
    16 years ago

    You're lucky! I would go for a tropical garden but If you are really into annuals you I'm sure you could incorporate them into this garden as long as the palms aren't creating to much shade. The ones you list are all fairly dry climate species (except for the kings) and would look great in a Mediteranean style garden with some flowering succulents like Aloes and Kalancoes. If you really don't want the palms I'm sure you could get a landscaper to buy them off you and dig them out. Cycads can be very expensive when they get large so you could use the profits to start your cottage garden.

  • annafl
    16 years ago

    Where are you? Are you near a botanical garden? Go see how they incorporated these palms into cottagy type looks. You will have to change your mindset about the particular plants you use if you come from a colder zone. However, we have lots of beautiful perennials you can incorporate into a cottage garden look, and cycads and palms can be beautiful in the midst of them. Try to think out of the box. It will work out great!

    Come visit us at the Florida forum for ideas and pictures.

  • bahia
    16 years ago

    I can think of a few subtropicals right off the bat that would substitute for your climbing roses, wisteria and hydrangeas and work well with the palms. For the white roses, you might try Pandorea jasminoides alba or Beaumontia grandiflora, for the wisteria you could substitute the evergreen wisteria, Milletia, or the equally lovely purple flowering Petrea volubilis or Hardenbergia violaceae or Dalechampia dioscoreifolia, and for the hydrangeas, why not try Clerodendron phillipinum. There are also tons of foliage plants that work in zone 10 conditions and are as colorful as flowers; such as Iresine bowdenii in its red and yellow/green forms, various Cannas, subtropical Iris relatives such as Iris confusus or Neomarica caerulea, and Phormiums and Astelias. Shrimp plants of various species such as Justicia carnea, J. fulvicoma, J. aurea, J. brandegeana are other long blooming shrubs that could give you a cottagey look but with subtropicals, and work well with the palms. Other flowering shrubs such as the various Tibouchinas, Odontonemas, Hamelia, Hibiscus rosa sinensis, etc could all form part of a colorful garden, and would be the envy of gardeners further north.

    It would be worth your effort to get familiar with what grows well in your new climate, rather than try to grow poorly adapted plants that fight your climate. A subtropical climate does not mean you can't garden in a particular garden style, just that you have to adjust your plant choices.

    I don't know if you are in Florida, California or the deep south, but palms fit in very well in all of these places, and can be part of a beautiful garden setting in any style.

    If you are correct about the species you have, these could be backbones of your new garden, and people would love to have mature specimens of Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, Brahea armata and Cycas revoluta or Dioone species in the garden. You might also think of adding more smaller growing palms to flesh out the garden, such as Phoenix roebellenii, Arenga engleri, Chamaedorea plumosa, Trachycarpus wagneriana, etc to repeat the forms but at a more human scale. Heliconias, Strelitzia, Tupidanthus and Schefflera, Crotons, Cordyline terminalis, etc can also help flesh out the look, and give you background foliage and color.

    You might also consider that some of our most common American garden annuals are all originally tender tropical perennials; such as Cosmos,Impatiens, Zinnias, Marigolds, Dahlias, Petunias, etc., and are all classic cottage garden plants.

  • robcorreia
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I went to the site again today and counted 4 huge (6 ft+) cycads. If they're so expensive I might as well sell just one of them and fund some other plants recommended here...Does anyone have any idea where I could sell it in or near San Diego?

  • Adam Harbeck
    16 years ago

    junglemusic?

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