Editorial
Martin Gibbons, c/o The Palm Centre
mail@palmsociety.org
This is the first time I have found myself writing
the editorial for the Spring issue in October! Im not going
to offer a lot of excuses for its late arrival, other than to say
that, unfortunately, Chamaerops has to take second place to the
running of the nursery. This year has been our busiest ever, and
the magazine has had to take a back seat. I will try to get the
following issues out in double quick time and may even be up to
date before the end of the year.
One way members can assist greatly is by seeing that
articles need the minimum of work doing to them after receipt. Ideally
they should be on disc, or emailed through. Otherwise they should
be typed, so save the bother of laboriously typing them out. Please
try to provide good photographs to illustrate your piece, and dont
forget your name and address, especially if you want your photos
to be returned. If these points are borne in mind, then the assembling
of our journal is much easier, and consequently faster. If youre
in any doubt about writing an article, please do give me a ring,
Id be very happy to talk you through it...
Now then, that competition! On the cover of the last
issue was a photograph of two mystery hardy palms growing in the
wild. We had quite a few replies to the contest, lots of people
got one right but not the other. Quite a few readers got both wrong.
More than one person thought they were Trachycarpus fortunei and
Chamaerops humilis. Not so! The competition was won by Mario Staehler
of Oberstein, Germany, who guessed correctly that they were Sabal
minor and Rhapidophyllum hystrix. The photograph incidentally was
taken in Florida, as you may have guessed. Well done Mario, well
see about your prize straight away. And thank you to everyone else
who took part.
The Biennial Meeting of the International Palm Society
this year took place in Bangkok, Thailand, necessitating a trip
to that wonderful country by your editor. It was very well attended,
and although I didnt get to participate in all the events
and activities, it was well worth the visit. One of the highlights
of the week was a stay at Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens, near Pattaya.
It is a tropical paradise where, instead of one of these and
one of those, palms are planted out in groups of 20 or 30
or even more. Its quite mind blowing to wander round this
huge estate and see all these palms planted out and thriving in
such mass plantings. The man responsible is Mr. Kampon Tansacha,
and he has achieved something of a miracle with his wonderful tropical
garden. If youre ever in Thailand, dont miss!
While we were in the area, it only required a quick
flight to take us up to Kalimpong in Indias West Bengal, for
a walk down Memory Lane. Kalimpong, as you will know
through my frequent writings, is home to so many wonderful temperate
palms, principally I guess, Trachycarpus latisectus. However, those
with a liking for the bizarre will be interested to know of another
wonderful palm recently found there. Called Plectocomia himalayana,
it is a member of that great family of rattans (canes),
whose cousins are used in the manufacture of cane furniture. You
may know that these amazing palms climb high up into the tree tops
with the aid of modified leaf or leaf sheath extensions which are
armed with backward facing hooks. Our Plectocomia is no exception,
and grows up to some 80 feet (25m) into the tree tops. The difference
is that while most rattans are tropical, this one grows at high
altitude (over 2000m) and gets frosted every winter! That makes
it a most exciting contender for the temperate garden, just imagine,
a hardy climbing palm, snaking up into your sycamore tree! Plants
will be available soon.
While in Kalimpong, it was a great pleasure to stay
once again with our friend there, Ganesh Mani Pradhan, and his family.
If you like you can make a virtual visit there by checking
out his website at www.palms.org/ads/gmps.com,
and if you fancy an unusual palmy holiday, youll be most welcome
there.
Talking of the Internet and since more and more members
are joining it every week, we now have a new website and different
addresses. Visit us at www.palmsociety.org
and send emails as follows. For letters, articles and general info.
please use mail@palmsociety.org; for membership information use
mail@palmsociety.org; our German members should use mail@palmsociety.org;
and finally our webmaster and designer can be reached at webmaster@palmsociety.org.
For those not on the net, the above will appear as so much gibberish
and can safely be ignored. M.G.

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02-02-23 - 12:33GMT
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What's New? |
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New palm book |
Date: 24-05-2004 |

An Encyclopedia
of Cultivated Palms
by Robert Lee Riffle, Paul Craft. |
 |
New: Issue 48 |
Date: 24-05-2004 |
Chamaerops
48
has been published in the Members Area. |
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Archive complete! |
Date: 03-12-2002 |
All Chamaerops issues can now be found in the archive:
More than 350 articles are on-line! |
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Issues 13 to 16 |
Date: 28-08-2002 |
Chamaerops mags 13,
14,
15
and 16
have been added to the members area. More than 250 articles are now online! |
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42 as free pdf-file |
Date: 05-08-2002 |
Free
Download! Chamaerops No. 42 can be downloaded for free to intruduce the new layout and size to
our visitors |
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Issues 17 to 20 |
Date: 23-07-2002 |
Chamaerops mags 17,
18,
19
and 20
have been added to the members area. Now 218 articles online! |
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Book List |
Date: 28-05-2001 |
Take
a look at our brand new Book List edited by Carolyn Strudwick |
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New Book |
Date: 25-01-2001 |
'Palmen
in Mitteleuropa'
by Mario Stähler
This german book tells you all about how to cultivate your palms in Central Europe. more... |
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