A HINT OF SARAWAK: The 2016 Pre-Tour by David Tanswell David Tanswell, together with palm adventurers Philip Arrowsmith, Rudy Meyer, and Michael Gray, set off on a reconnoitre for the IPS 2016 pre-tour. What a great excuse to go back to Sarawak, the east Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, and check out its National Parks […]
Nursery Owner and Friends Rescue Palms from Grim Future — New South Wales by Benjamin Smith, edited by Brad McCarson Most palms existing in older gardens can face a future of uncertainty. Many properties must be cleared for construction or infrastructure purposes, leaving palms bulldozed over or sent to the chipper. Colin Wilson, Margaret Kraa, and I […]
A reconnoitre for the IPS 2016 Sarawak pretour lead to wanderings in the great forests of Borneo. What a great excuse to go back to Sarawak, the east Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, and check out its National Parks from Mulu in the north east to Kuching in the south west. Philip, Rudy, David and […]
In 2014, participants in the IPS Biennial in Miami, Florida, USA, visited some spectacular palm collections in South Florida, but one hidden gem that was not on the Biennial itinerary is the Palmetum on the University of Miami campus. The University of Miami Palmetum was established in 1999, as part of then-President Edward T. Foote […]
A Trip to the Heart of Brazil by Julie Cleaver Malzoni Together with a group of friends, my husband Eduardo and I visited the very remote Jalapão National Park in the state of Tocantins to check out all the wonders we had heard about: rivers of clean water, waterfalls, crystal clear springs, sand dunes and a tropical […]
I’m an unapologetic lover of all things palmy, and I am also both a commercial fruit grower and, as it turns out, a determined reforester. It’s a classic Hakalau, Hawaii, morning – misty light rain and warm humidity. Even standing on a ladder, I still have to crane my neck upward to check out the […]
ROOTS by Ken Johnson I have transplanted palms for a living for 30 years. It is hard to get more involved in palm roots than I have been. Here are some tricks to help you transplant by getting to know your roots better. We all know that root functions to take up water and nutrients […]
Lord Howe Island and Mt. Gower Climb by Troy Donovan ________________________ “Lord Howe Island: The paradise of the Tasman” was the title that I saw in the dusty old National Geographic from 1935 that I read as a 6yearold boy in 1977. After many years of dreaming and procrastination and growing all the Lord Howe Island palms in […]
How Poet W.S. Merwin Found Paradise by Planting Palm Trees Our co-editor, John Dransfield, who was involved in the census and naming of the palms in the Merwin Conservancy comments: This is one of the most exciting and beautiful palm gardens I have ever visited. Here are palms growing in conditions very similar to their […]
Interview: Libby Besse by Ray Hernandez In November of last year, IPS Director Kim Cyr asked me to interview Libby Besse for the online IPS newsletter. I was delighted at the opportunity to have a one-on-one meeting with one I consider to be a living legend in the palm world. Here was a name I’d held in reverence since my early palm growing days. Along […]