Palms in Almunecar

[medjool]

If you think Southsea has gone mad with Palm trees,just look at Google Earth for Almunecar in the Costa Tropical southern Spain the local Mayor must love Palms,not just quantity but variety too!!Sorry no link but worth a look as this town has got it right!!

[otorongo]

I lived not far from there, looks very tropical indeed. Palms, nanas, etc. all over town, very green and lush, more tropical than Mediterranean.

[Troppoz]

Well I just did a virtual tour of the waterfront and yes there are plenty of palms but Im disappointed with the lack of variety. Plenty of Washingtonias, Phoenix, Syagrus, the usual suspects...but with that climate they should be able to grow Howea, Archontophoenix, Dypsis decaryi and lutescens, Wodyetia, Bismarkia, Ravenala, Linospadix, Livistona etc etc etc, I didnt spot any of those...

Seems like a wasted opportunity to me.

[otorongo]

That part of Spain is called Costa Tropical and it's the mildest of all continental Europe, thanks to the Sierra Nevada mountains to the North. They grow bananas, avocados, cherimoyas and sugarcane commercially. Tomatoes are produced all year round there and supply Europe in the winter.

[Conifers]

Well I just did a virtual tour of the waterfront and yes there are plenty of palms but Im disappointed with the lack of variety. Plenty of Washingtonias, Phoenix, Syagrus, the usual suspects...but with that climate they should be able to grow Howea, Archontophoenix, Dypsis decaryi and lutescens, Wodyetia, Bismarkia, Ravenala, Linospadix, Livistona etc etc etc, I didnt spot any of those...

Seems like a wasted opportunity to me.

Wonder if it might be too dry for at least some of those? It is after all subtropical semi-desert, not tropical rainforest.

[Troppoz]

That part of Spain is called Costa Tropical and it's the mildest of all continental Europe, thanks to the Sierra Nevada mountains to the North. They grow bananas, avocados, cherimoyas and sugarcane commercially. Tomatoes are produced all year round there and supply Europe in the winter.

Well thats interesting because the climate statistics for Almunecar show that it has just slightly cooler winters and comparable summers to Melbourne, which is basically the coolest part of mainland Australia yet I have seen all of the above species of palm growing in Melbourne as well as hibiscus, Plumeria, Dracaena and a lot more besides. I did spot a few Dracaena draco and one Schefflera actinophylla along the Almunecar foreshore though but Id say there is a lot more potential to make it live up to its "tropical coast" moniker than what they have got. It did look very standard Mediterranean to me, nice but not outstanding...

[Troppoz]

Well I just did a virtual tour of the waterfront and yes there are plenty of palms but Im disappointed with the lack of variety. Plenty of Washingtonias, Phoenix, Syagrus, the usual suspects...but with that climate they should be able to grow Howea, Archontophoenix, Dypsis decaryi and lutescens, Wodyetia, Bismarkia, Ravenala, Linospadix, Livistona etc etc etc, I didnt spot any of those...

Seems like a wasted opportunity to me.

Wonder if it might be too dry for at least some of those? It is after all subtropical semi-desert, not tropical rainforest.

Those species all grow well in Adelaide which has a much more arid and hotter climate, Ive also seen plenty of Cyatheas of good size growing in Adelaide. Bismarkia, Dyspsis, Wodyetia, Howea and Archontophoenix grow nicely in Alice Springs, in the middle of a desert!

TBH Ive seen more tropical looking landscapes in HTUK members gardens in cold grey Britain than in that part of sunny Spain...

[Alexander]

Well I just did a virtual tour of the waterfront and yes there are plenty of palms but Im disappointed with the lack of variety. Plenty of Washingtonias, Phoenix, Syagrus, the usual suspects...but with that climate they should be able to grow Howea, Archontophoenix, Dypsis decaryi and lutescens, Wodyetia, Bismarkia, Ravenala, Linospadix, Livistona etc etc etc, I didnt spot any of those...

Seems like a wasted opportunity to me.

Wonder if it might be too dry for at least some of those? It is after all subtropical semi-desert, not tropical rainforest.

Those species all grow well in Adelaide which has a much more arid and hotter climate, Ive also seen plenty of Cyatheas of good size growing in Adelaide. Bismarkia, Dyspsis, Wodyetia, Howea and Archontophoenix grow nicely in Alice Springs, in the middle of a desert!

TBH Ive seen more tropical looking landscapes in HTUK members gardens in cold grey Britain than in that part of sunny Spain...

Well that because Britain has a great gardentradition! It has been an inspiration for many years! Whatever it is, from traditional roses all the way to tropical gardening in the UK they now how to do it. And also the great number of good gardens and collections is a proof of that.

Well in Spain there is still some work to do!

Alexander

[otorongo]

Well thats interesting because the climate statistics for Almunecar show that it has just slightly cooler winters and comparable summers to Melbourne, which is basically the coolest part of mainland Australia

No way is it cooler than Melbourne. Almunecar is at least zone 10b, frost-free, and Melbourne gets frosts. The problem is it's a bit rough and backwards down there and they don't have many weather stations. Maybe the stats are for Granada (which is inland and at an altitude, a completely different climate), it's annoying when you look up weather for the coast and it shows the weather for Granada... Google Maps does that, as do a couple of classical weather sites.

[MikeC]

Spain can't afford it I suspect, and probably very few nurseries there stock more unusual palms.

I lived in Cyprus and visited lots of garden centres there and the choice of plants is very limited, even compared to the UK in terms of exotic.

[Palmer]

Looks like a great place to open a specialist exotics nursery or a private botanical garden!
Think I’ll do the euro millions today

[Troppoz]

Well thats interesting because the climate statistics for Almunecar show that it has just slightly cooler winters and comparable summers to Melbourne, which is basically the coolest part of mainland Australia

No way is it cooler than Melbourne. Almunecar is at least zone 10b, frost-free, and Melbourne gets frosts. The problem is it's a bit rough and backwards down there and they don't have many weather stations. Maybe the stats are for Granada (which is inland and at an altitude, a completely different climate), it's annoying when you look up weather for the coast and it shows the weather for Granada... Google Maps does that, as do a couple of classical weather sites.

OK I got those figures from Wikipedia, just checked this site http://www.weather2travel.com/climate-g ... unecar.php and while it doesnt have rainfall figures yep its more akin to Perths climate than Melbournes. In which case extra shame on them They should be able to grow a huge range of palms and tropicals. Ive seen Delonix regia and Ravenala madagascarienses growing in Perth in warm microclimates. Someone even has a coconut growing in Perth.

So yep it does sound like there is a good opportunity for someone from the UK to open up a specialist palm nursery in southern Spain and teach those Spaniards how to garden tropically

[medjool]

Many of the Palms are situated by the main coastal road behind the town,mainly Washingtonias,but also,Fishtail palms and a couple of Brahea Armata,and lots of Queens! In acouple of the squares in the town lots more variety.

[Troppoz]

Medjool I checked out a garden on Avenida Europa and lo and behold saw Howeas, Archontophoenix, Livistonas, Roystoneas as well as Monstera and Dracaena. I still think they havent taken full advantage of their climate though, probably just need some inspiration...

[medjool]

Behind the Garden is a hairpin road up to the Castle loads of Palms including i think one Reclinata,look like they are wild at this location!