“Designing with Palms” by Jason Dewees is by a San Francisco based author, who profiles garden motifs evoked by palms across the country. For instance, Chamaerops humilis suggests a Mediterranean garrigue, an ecosystem with low shrubs, including rosemary and lavender, like one might find in a Seattle landscape.
While the author’s examples do not include a garden in the Pacific Northwest, those in temperate areas do give guidance for those who wish to try these iconic plants in our climate. I found the Riverbanks Botanical Garden in Columbia, South Carolina especially instructive, perhaps because Jenks Farmer, a Master of Science graduate from the Center for Urban Horticulture in 1993, had a major role in its design.
Dewees is well aware of the practical side of a garden with palms. His copious species notes include hardiness ratings – fined tuned to the exact minimum temperature – and many cultural and aesthetic tips. On caring for Trachycarpus fortunei: “Give them an updated look by pruning off the gorilla-hairy leafbases to reveal their smooth, ringed trunks…or leave them natural and tuck epiphytes such as bromeliads, orchids, and ferns among the fibrous leafbases.”
Published in Garden Notes: Northwest Horticultural Society, Spring 2019