Touring the Palm Gardens of Spain
Both sequel and prequel to the EPS Summer Meeting
in Spain last year. Alan & Carol began before and finished after
our trip, and saw some of Spain's other wonderful gardens, too.
Alan & Carol Hawes, 1 Napier Road, Hamworthy, Poole, BH15
4LX, UK
Chamaerops No.29 Winter 1997
Left: 'The Imperial Palm' - Huerto del Cura, Elche,
Spain
Right, above: Gunter's (by now) famous garden in Southern Spain.
Right, below: Pinya de Rosa (see text)
Our first ever trip to Spain this year was the result
of someones inspired decision to hold the EPS annual get-together
in Almunecar, on the Costa Tropical. On television, we had followed
a programme called Gardens Without Borders around Spain
and Portugal, and longed to visit some of the gardens on the east
coast of Spain which had been featured. We spend most of our holidays
in our motorcaravan, and we find it the ideal vehicle for following
our own itinerary, to our own timetable -and in great comfort! Fast
it is not, but it holds a lot of plants, and we hoped to take home
some sizeable palms, as the very best kind of souvenir. A lot of
planning was necessary to ensure that we would have time to call
in at all the most important gardens and get to Almunecar in time
for the EPS meeting.
Having crossed to Cherbourg from our home in Poole
in the south of England, we drove down the west coast of France,
then over to the Mediterranean and across the Spanish border. The
first gardens on our list were both in Blanes on the Costa Brava,
where even the sea front boasts a fine display of tall washingtonias,
livistonas and phoenix. Steep cliffs, encrusted with self-sown agaves,
rise behind the tall apartment blocks at the north end of the town
and on the top of these cliffs lies the Jardi Botanic Marimurtra.
The gardens are administered by a foundation set up by their creator
in 1954 and are an intentional centre for botanical research and
the conservation of indigenous flora. They are open daily throughout
the year, and are very popular with tourists.
Plants are generally grouped geographically, but the
overall design of the garden is interesting, and all the different
areas are attractively laid out. Only relatively small parts of
the whole garden are visible at any one time and one progresses
from desert landscapes through a tropical pergola before reaching
the temperate section. Further on down the sloping site there are
areas devoted to Australian and African plants (but they are not
as good as those on Tresco, in the Scilly Isles!). There are many
palms, with fine groups of Brahea armata, Syagrus romanzoffiana,
butia, phoenix, jubaea and washingtonia (with thick skirts of old
leaves). Numerous less common palms (usually unlabelled) were to
be seen amongst the mixed plantings. We particularly enjoyed the
many species of agaves and cycads, both in the arid areas and generally
throughout the garden. The cliff-top site really seemed to suit
them and they were generally well labelled. Unfortunately the general
public are not allowed free access to the desert areas as the paths
are narrow (and the plants very unfriendly) so we were reduced to
gazing through the telephoto lens of our camera to see interesting
plants in more detail. The best known part of the garden is the
long flight of steps leading down to a classical pavilion, which
has a spectacular view out to sea. There are no refreshment facilities
in the garden, and picnics are not allowed, so after two or three
hot and exhausting hours we were forced to emerge for a rest.
A hot Spanish afternoon is not the best time for garden-visiting,
but our schedule was tight and we had another garden to find that
day. The Jardi Botanic Tropical Pinya de Rosa is within
walking distance of Marimurtra, and is similarly positioned on a
sloping coastal site with magnificent views. This garden also gives
a high priority to research and to the acquisition and study both
of wild-collected species and those already in cultivation. It specialises
in cacti and succulents, of which it has world-class collections.
Some areas are given over to systematic plantings of many different
genera, but there are also large displays of mixed plantings where
some splendid palms vie with huge agaves and cacti for ones
attention. There is a complete and frustrating absence of labels
in this part of the garden, and we found no-one who could speak
any English. Unfortunately, they had also run out of information
leaflets in English! We could find no plan of the garden and it
was almost at the end of our visit that we accidentally came upon
the systematic beds of cacti, agaves and yuccas. Here are set out
large numbers of plants of the same species with as many different
origins as possible so that comparisons can be made between them.
Here, labelling was much better and it was fascinating to compare
their growing plants with our own and with those previously only
seen in photographs in reference books. At the exit there were plants
for sale at extremely reasonable prices and we were able to begin
our plant collecting with three fine agaves.
Next day we recommenced our drive southwards, bypassing
Barcelona. As we passed Castellon, north of Valencia. we saw clumps
of Chamaerops humilis growing wild on the hillsides, and a sign
to the desert of the palms. We were heading for the
small town of Altea, south of Valencia, because one of our guidebooks
had mentioned a cactus and sub-tropical garden near
the town.
Cactuslandia is a highly idiosyncratic
privately-owned garden on an almost vertical cliff site. It is a
comparatively small garden of steep narrow terraces which offers
not only large numbers of cacti and succulents but tropical fruit
trees, palms, exotic birds and other animals. If you can face them,
after the rest of the garden, there are large collections of shells,
minerals and fossils. The sea views are spectacular, but this is
not a garden to visit if you suffer from vertigo! The garden has
a small bar, and has plants for sale. It is a fascinating but domestic-sized
garden and one in which we felt very much at home.
From Altea it was only a short drive to Elche, south-west
of Alicante. Elche is just one huge palm grove, with about half
a million date palms. It has its origin in Phoenician times, when
the palms were cultivated and irrigated in an orderly way. The cropping
and irrigation systems were adopted by the Arabs when they ruled
the area, and were subsequently introduced throughout the rest of
the Arab world. Since the Middle Ages other crops have been grown
between the palms, benefiting from the shade and humidity. The trees
are still tended and cropped and large amounts of delicious dates
are produced. Date palms dominate the town, the streets, the parks
and even the campsite, which was by far the most beautiful we have
ever visited. Sadly, it closed down the day we left, for development
into a hotel!
We had come to Elche to visit the famous curates
garden - the Huerta del Cura. Originally the garden
produced crops of fruit and vegetables in the shade of the palms
but this century it has been developed and landscaped by its owners
so that now it contains many interesting plants, especially palms,
cycads and succulents, in an attractively-designed and colourful
setting. Especially famous is the Imperial Palm (a Phoenix dactylifera),
which has eight branches growing from a single trunk - it has to
be heavily braced to prevent it splitting apart. It was named after
the Empress Elizabeth of Austria when she visited it in 1894. There
are many other named date palms but, more recently, emphasis has
been placed on planting other species of palms in the garden and
these are mostly labelled. We saw Phoenix roebelenii and P. reclinata,
Caryota mitis, Syagrus romanzoffiana, Brahea armata, Dypsis decaryi,
sabals and howeas, plus some impressive cycads. There is a recently-planted
cactus and succulent garden and a large formal pool in a cool shady
area where one can sit and relax. Plants, drinks, other souvenirs
(and dates) are for sale near the exit and the garden is open every
day. After our visit we explored the town and found even the municipal
park to be beautifully planted and far more interesting than most
parks.
We were now within a day or two of Almunecar, about
which we knew very little, and we were keen to have some time to
explore the town before the beginning of the official meeting. We
arrived with a day to spare and were able to settle in at the campsite
and visit the Bird Park, which has some splendid palms to set off
the exotic residents. Palms have been widely planted throughout
the town, so that there are streets shaded by syagrus and traffic
islands full of caryota and Dypsis lutescens. The sea front is lined
with washingtonias and Phoenix canariensis, all carefully irrigated
at night.
We met up with the other EPS members at the evening
reception held in the attractive, floodlit garden of the Palacete
de la Najarra, where we were welcomed to the town by the mayor.
Next day we returned to the Palacete to meet our guides for the
tour of Majuelo Park, which is close by. Outside the main entrance
to the park are some tall Roystonea regia and Ptychosperma macarthurii,
while inside there is a closely planted collection which included
not only all the species we had previously seen on the trip but
many more. Most had been planted as young specimens and it was interesting
to hear from our guide, Emerencia, the history of the collection
and the lessons that have been learnt about the survival and growth
of such a wide variety of palms in the local climatic conditions.
She welcomed the views of the assembled experts of the EPS on the
identification of some of the palms - two Pseudophoenix sargentii
were correctly identified by the most expert amongst us and a group
of butias was separated by comparison of their fruits. It was especially
interesting for us to visit the park in the company of so many knowledgeable
aficionados".
The next day we visited two more impressive but widely
different palm collections. The Jardin Botanico-Historico
La Concepcion, near Malaga, is about 150 years old so the
plants have reached an amazing size - indeed, many are the largest
representatives of their species in Spain. The original plantings
of livistonas, jubaeas, syagrus, roystoneas, braheas etc. are now
being supplemented with young plants of different species such as
coccothrinax, trithrinax, veitchia and howea. Because of the luxuriance
of the growth there is a much more enclosed, shady feel to this
garden than any other we had seen in Spain.
The garden is now owned by the city of Malaga and
is run as an educational centre, with emphasis also on the conservation
of the historic garden. It is considered to be one of the most important
collections of tropical and subtropical plants in Spain and is open
every day for guided visits. Our guides were very helpful and provided
much information on the history of the collection, which is well
documented. Many of the plants are labelled with attractive
hand-painted tiles, which are also used in decorative panels showing
views of the garden. A reproduction of the tiled panel at the entrance
of La Concepcion, showing a schematic representation
of the garden, is available in poster form and also features on
the cover of the splendid guidebook.
By contrast, the private garden of Gunter Brutt is
comparatively new, but it contains an amazing collection of palm
and cycad species and varieties set amongst a beautiful collection
of flowering plants from hibiscus and bougainvillea to roses and
camellias. The location of the garden, on the side of a hill, with
views across to north Africa, allows a tremendous range of plants
to be grown. The total effect is stunning and we could not have
found a more fitting place to end our tour of the palm-gardens of
Spain.
PS. The kindness of several EPS members enabled us
to fulfil our desire to take some palms home with us. On our return
journey northwards we shared our travelling home with thirteen superb
specimens, some about six feet tall, as well as five agaves, a cycad,
two hibiscus, a bougainvillea and other tender plants. Altogether
we covered 3000 miles in three and a half weeks. We enjoyed our
trip to Spain immensely and very much hope to revisit some of these
gardens in the future.

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