Solutions

Prior to attempting anything that might be construed as "constructive", we'd realised that having walked round the "Estate" a few times, there was quite a bit of attractive vegetation that was either growing wild, was left over from the days when it was a nursery or had been deliberately planted by previous occupants. This included various varieties of lavender, the usual Rosemary and Thyme etc. Margaret frequently fills vases with wild flowers she finds on site in the season.

Probably the most impressive of these was the Date Palm growing close to the house. It was of course surrounded by weeds and needed a bit of judicious pruning of some lower dead fronds. If you've never done this, let me assure you that it's an extremely hazardous occupation. "The basal leaf segments (pinnae) are modified into stiff spines. Like sharp-pointed daggers, they are a hazard when climbing into date palms to pick the fruit", apparently. I've never actually tried this but if you catch the tip of one, it's extremely painful and causes immediate swelling of the veins around the puncture site. This is also true of fronds that have been drying on the ground for a long time.With my "recycling" hat firmly in place, I spent a couple of hours on hands and knees, hand pulling the weeds from their weed barrier rooting medium (which put paid to my first pair of leather gardening gloves) and then formed a rough circle around the trunk with some bits of slate that were lying about.

I was amazed to find that the trunk was around 12 feet in circumference. The plants growing around and on the trunk are Mirabilis. What an amazing plant, and all for free.

this is the canarian palm tree, I t made me smile as I worked with many of these.
It's beauty is the perfect shape of fountain that the leaves create.
It's very slow growing but you need to cut branches every year to keep it look good.
It can be very danjerous-I remember the first time I saw someone hurt by this- oh it looked realy bad . about 20 years old preaty girl but all her had one big swallen scar.

Off course I hurt my self few times later on -but not that bad.Its actually got some microbes that lives on the leaves and infect the wounds when the sharp leaves hurt you.

I am afraid the dates are not the one that you eat.
for any more info about this plant or other in that climate I will be able and happy to answer
It is one of my favorite palms.

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Comments

Kerrie John-The garden design Co October 15, 2008 at 7:18pm

"Margaret frequently fills vases with wild flowers she finds on site in the season"

Hi Bigyin,
I find your blogs really entertaining and informative. Didn't know that they grew rice in Spain, but thinking about it, sounds logical!

Would really like to hear of Margaret's side to your endeavours and love that she fills vases with flowers she finds in season.

Kerrie (the one who looks like a load of boulders)
Andrew Fereday October 15, 2008 at 9:31pm

Hi Bigyin,

I'm not usually a big fan of palms of any sort but that date palm looks great - maybe because it's happy in its environment. You certainly wouldn't manage to grow one of those in Yorkshire.
Ofer El-hashahar October 17, 2008 at 4:39pm

this is the canarian palm tree, I t made me smile as I worked with many of these.
It's beauty is the perfect shape of fountain that the leaves create.
It's very slow growing but you need to cut branches every year to keep it look good.
It can be very danjerous-I remember the first time I saw someone hurt by this- oh it looked realy bad . about 20 years old preaty girl but all her had one big swallen scar.

Off course I hurt my self few times later on -but not that bad.Its actually got some microbes that lives on the leaves and infect the wounds when the sharp leaves hurt you.

I am afraid the dates are not the one that you eat.
for any more info about this plant or other in that climate I will be able and happy to answer
It is one of my favorite palms.