Day trip to palmy Miyazaki

[Fukuoka Scott]

I have been wanting some more Arenga engleri for the garden but no one carries them here in Fukuoka (zone 9a or b depending on microclimate) so this weekend we went down to the southeast side of Kyushu, to the solid zone 10a Miyazaki. The highways are lined with lots of old skydusters and there are quite a few butia, Livistona chinensis, P. roebellini and some CIDP (all fairly common in Fukuoka too). Syagrus romanzoffiana does well in Fukuoka but inexplicably is rare there, but there are quite a few along the roadsides in Miyazaki, along with a lot of Arenga, and even an occasional Archontophoenix cunninghamiana. I hope I can get mine this big. Seeing this big palmetto at the nursery was a surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one here before but I’m certain they’d thrive here (if not naturalize). You can see a bit of damage to the S. nicolai and other plants from the freeze that pretty well nuked mine up here. One of the neat surprises was finding that the camphor trees lining the road in front of the prefectural office were all filled with all kinds of orchids. Really lovely to drive or walk through. The big true date on the grounds of the prefectural office is the tallest I’ve seen in Japan, fairly unusual here...

[necturus]

Awesome. Must be a super solid zone 10 with all the Norfolk Island pines, the huge Archontophoenix, and big orchids blooming like crazy!

[realarch]

Mercy, I miss Japan. Our last trip there was just at the beginning of the pandemic. Looks like another place to visit once allis opened up.

Thanks for the photos.

Tim

[teddytn]

@Fukuoka Scott Crazy seeing that big of a palm in a pot!!! 

[Fukuoka Scott]

13 hours ago, teddytn said:

Despite having a reputation for being sunnier on the Pacific side than on the Japan Sea side, All the palms were heavily covered with lichen, which you don't really see in Fukuoka, so I think we are rainier but actually less humid more of the time than Miyazaki. I think our freezes only get one or two degrees celsius colder than theirs but when you are talking about the difference between bottoming out at -3 vs -1 C , and a vastly different number of hours below freezing (we had 40 hours below freezing in our last major freeze, while Miyazaki's high was above freezing on all days of that event) that difference is actually pretty crucial.

https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/jp/miyazaki-shi/RJFM/date/2021-1

 

[palmfriend]

Hi Scott,

Thank you for showing these beautiful images. 

Kyushu has definitely a great variety of plants and palms to offer while being located between

Okinawa and Honshu.  I am often fascinated when watching the weather report of Kyushu (and

Okinawa) how the local temperatures differ on that island especially during the winter. 

Regarding the rain in Miyazaki - it must have been two years ago...(?) - I still remember the reports

about those endless downpours in Kyushu which caused enormous damages - the images of the

washed away steel bridge were quite shocking.

However, all the best for your garden and thank you again for posting -

Lars

 

 

 

[Fukuoka Scott]

19 hours ago, palmfriend said:

Hi Scott,

Thank you for showing these beautiful images. 

Kyushu has definitely a great variety of plants and palms to offer while being located between

Okinawa and Honshu.  I am often fascinated when watching the weather report of Kyushu (and

Okinawa) how the local temperatures differ on that island especially during the winter. 

Regarding the rain in Miyazaki - it must have been two years ago...(?) - I still remember the reports

about those endless downpours in Kyushu which caused enormous damages - the images of the

washed away steel bridge were quite shocking.

However, all the best for your garden and thank you again for posting -

Lars

 

 

 

Hi Lars,

It must be great gardening down in Okinawa - I know coconuts are borderline viable there (they seem to languish with the lack of warmth in winter though).

Yes, we do get some crazy rain events in Kyushu sometimes. I have a vacation house at 600 m elevation in the mountains here and the weather is wild up there compared to here in the city.

I have suggested moving to Miyazaki to the missus to take advantage of the milder winters but she is partial to the big city here in Fukuoka.

[BenSilver]

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