Subtropical paradise in Alexandria

16 years ago

These photos are not from my own garden but are from the private garden of a friend who lives in Alexandria, Virginia. He has been growing hardy palms and other subtropical plants in the location for about 15 years. He has used a combination of hardy and tender plants to produce a wonderfully tropical-looking yard. Here are just a few of the highlights; see link below for more photos.

Hardy palms including needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix) and windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei):

The windmill palm is one of the oldest and largest in the area, about 15 years old with about 8 feet of trunk:

Another hardy palm, Sabal minor and a big trunked yucca catching the setting sun:

A view of the back yard:

Miscellaneous tropical flowers:

See link for more photos!

Here is a link that might be useful: more photos

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Comments (6)

aceshobby91
16 years ago
Wow! Does he have any baby palms? That perhaps he could generously pass on to someone who wants to grow palms? :)

~N
babywatson
16 years ago
Alexandria is in a generous pocket climate that shields it from the harshest winds in the winter, Out in Manassas, I may be zone 7, but Alexandria is a solid zone 8. You can grow windmill palms around VA (they are hardy to zone 7). It looks like he has cannas also but they may have to be dug up and stored every year. In our case, not because of the cold, but the damp gets to them and they rot.
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JohnnieB
Original Author
16 years ago
Babywatson, I know several people who leave their cannas in the ground in DC and northern Virginia and have no problem with them overwintering; I see them coming up around the city every spring where they seem to have survived from the previous year. The one I see in the city has bright green leaves and small yellow flowers; not sure what its proper name is.

Although I live in the city, I've tried several different cultivars and have never had such luck; every year I leave a few out, and they never survive. Maybe some are just hardier than others.
babywatson
16 years ago
I always have to dig mine up. I have had many gardeners tell me that they should overwinter in our climate but for me they just don't. I guessed it was because of our wet, clay soil. I wish I knew the secret to overwintering them here.
nightbloomincereus 7A noVA
16 years ago
There is a clump of cannas at George Mason's main campus in Fairfax City which seems to be perrenial. It overwintered every year I attended. Given how sheltered it was and the slope of the bed that may be their secret.
dancinglemons
16 years ago
Not sure but if those cannas were planted by a landscaping company they are probably under SEVERAL inches of mulch. That is how I have seen them survive the winter in this area. Every spring the landscape company comes out and piles on 5-6 more inches of mulch - and this is on top of any leaf mulch that is left over from the fall. Just a thought as I can see no other way they would survive.

DL