A Virtual Tour of Rodrigues Island by Andy Hurwitz Rodrigues Island, part of the independent republic of Mauritius, is 110 km² and characterized by a gently sloping terrain with a maximal elevation of only 390 m. Sadly, deforestation is common throughout the archipelago. Reunion’s steep vertical challenges are clearly protective, mitigating against human encroachment. Consequently, […]
Join us for our fourth webinar with Dr. Dransfield and the Madagascar Giant Suicide Palm: A tale of tiger prawns, carbon sequestration and internet chat. Tahina spectabilis (Madagascar Giant Suicide Palm) is a species of gigantic palm that is found only in the Analalava District of northwestern Madagascar. It can grow 18 m (59 ft) tall and has leaves […]
A Virtual Tour of Mauritius Our post-Biennial trip takes us about 150 km east of Reunion Island, along a submerged ridge known as the Seychelles-Mauritius plateau, to the island nation of Mauritius. Mauritius is a volcanic island in Indian ocean. It is about 8 million years old, making it the most ancient island in the […]
The International Palm Society held it’s third free webinar last week. Thanks to the amazing support out of Colombia, over 400 people registered to listen in on The Palms of Colombia with Dr. Rodrigo Bernal – making it our most popular one yet!. Dr. Rodrigo Bernal has studied and grown palms for most of his […]
SAVING TAHINA — YOU CAN HELP PalmTalk (the public forum of the International Palm Society) is initiating a program to preserve Tahina spectabilis, an endangered palm that PalmTalk brought to the world’s attention in 2007. The discovery of this enormous, new palm generated worldwide interest, but now due to its extremely limited and fragile range in […]
The International Palm Society held it’s second free webinar last week. Over 200 people registered to listen in on The Palms of Cuba with Paul Craft. Paul Craft is a horticultural consultant with over 40 years of experience in the nursery, landscaping, and landscape design industry. Palms are his passion, having worked with over 1500 species […]
So many IPS members were looking forward to visiting Reunion Island for the 2020 IPS Biennial. The coronavirus pandemic forced us to forgo planned travel and group events, and stay-at-home orders have us longing to get outside. In lieu of a real hike in forest, we offer you this virtual hike. The islands of the […]
Last week The International Palm Society invited you to our first free webinar. Over 150 people registered to listen in as palm expert Jason Dewees presented a slide talk about designing gardens with palms, showing examples of spectacular, well-designed landscapes from Hawai’i, California, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, all beautifully photographed by Caitlin Atkinson. If you […]
Palms and Art Regretfully, this was the month we were to convene on Réunion Island for an undoubtedly memorable biennial experience. Obviously, this was not possible. Instead, we shall indulge in armchair travel through the eyes of great artists. Given that Réunion is an overseas department of France, I will dedi-cate this newsletter to French […]
Palms in Habitat – Washintonia filifera in Arizona Before this year, I had never been to the desert. Being a palm guy, I eagerly said yes to a trip with Larry Noblick to see our native Washintonia filifera in its desert habitat. I was also interested to see what the desert was all about. Besides […]