Tropical Garden in Slovakia

[Borosbobo]

I want to show you guys this Hungarian living in Slovakia how insane he is in a good way!

He's growing Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, Bismarckia nobilis, Phoenix roebelenii, Dypsis decaryi, Latania lontaroides, Archontophoenix alexandrae, and other tropical palms and plants planted outside in his garden. 

In winter, you can see in the video how he protects them with heating cables in the ground and wrapped around the trunk and leaves. He even uses growing lights to keep them alive!

This is just insane considering that Slovakia is in Zone 6 

You can find him on Facebook as Jardín Tropical 2004!

ScreenRecording_02-18-2025 22-55-57_1.mov

[TropicsEnjoyer]

That looks better than 90% of gardens in northern florida 😂. Absolutely stunning, and obviously there’s a lot of hard work put into maintaining it. I hope to replicate such a paradise in the near future.

[happypalms]

Now that’s definitely dedication to gardening. I like it.

[Harry’s Palms]

Are the plants covered when cold climate hits or is it just the heating cables that keep the plants warm? Harry

[Janni]

I can see the dedication but also madness… and money dissolving into thin air 💸 

having said that, how many winters did the plants go through already? They look quite untouched. 

[RichardS]

His location on facebook is Dunajský Klátov, which is more like zone 8a. Zone 6 is rather in the mountains, but it's still incredibly impressive. The palms look great and some of them can't take any amount of freezing temperatures so they are propably covered for like 5 months straight. The heating costs for some of these palms must be really high.

[Borosbobo]

  On 2/19/2025 at 10:38 AM, Harry’s Palms said:

Are the plants covered when cold climate hits or is it just the heating cables that keep the plants warm? Harry

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He builds a huge green house puts heating cables and growing lights above them. And if Im not mistaking he covers them too

[Borosbobo]

  On 2/19/2025 at 12:47 PM, Janni said:

I can see the dedication but also madness… and money dissolving into thin air 💸 

having said that, how many winters did the plants go through already? They look quite untouched. 

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Most of them are 18+ years old. Some like the latania is a new plant but yeah most of them are well developed

[Borosbobo]

  On 2/19/2025 at 1:51 PM, RichardS said:

His location on facebook is Dunajský Klátov, which is more like zone 8a. Zone 6 is rather in the mountains, but it's still incredibly impressive. The palms look great and some of them can't take any amount of freezing temperatures so they are propably covered for like 5 months straight. The heating costs for some of these palms must be really high.

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Oh. Sorry about that I googled these zones and on the map I found it said zone 6. Im not really aware of how these zones are in europe

[RichardS]

  On 2/19/2025 at 4:43 PM, Borosbobo said:

Oh. Sorry about that I googled these zones and on the map I found it said zone 6. Im not really aware of how these zones are in europe

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Yeah I get it. Europe just doesn't really have a good hardiness zone map unfortunately.

[Phoenikakias]

It would probably cost cheaper if you moved to a tropical country. I know few Europeans who acquired a second or even a first home in Thailand for example.

[Las Palmas Norte]

Surreal.

[Than]

The CO2 footprint of this garden in the winter.. 😄

[Phoenikakias]

  On 2/20/2025 at 8:47 AM, Than said:

The CO2 footprint of this garden in the winter.. 😄

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Yes it sounds like hubris.

[Slifer00]

  On 2/19/2025 at 4:43 PM, Borosbobo said:

Oh. Sorry about that I googled these zones and on the map I found it said zone 6. Im not really aware of how these zones are in europe

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warmer yes but definitely not zone 8a. i would say 7a based on his location. But I still cannot believe how he has frost tender palms growing in such a climate, even despite building a literal greenhouse for each of the palms!

[RichardS]

  On 2/22/2025 at 4:34 PM, Slifer00 said:

warmer yes but definitely not zone 8a. i would say 7a based on his location. But I still cannot believe how he has frost tender palms growing in such a climate, even despite building a literal greenhouse for each of the palms!

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The last time this area has seen 7a temperatures was in january of 2011 when there was -16°C for one night followed by -11.6°C the next night which is an 8a temperature already (recorded on Bratislava airport, which is a similar enviroment). Even in January 2017 the temperatures didn't dip into the 7a range and that Januray was extreme, absolutely ridiculously cold. You could say the location is 7b if you want to be very conservative, but certainly not 7a. Maybe if you take the data from the previous century from like the 60s 70s or 80s then you might have a point, but that doesn't tell you what you can expect from an average winter in that location.

[Slifer00]

  On 2/22/2025 at 5:17 PM, RichardS said:

The last time this area has seen 7a temperatures was in january of 2011 when there was -16°C for one night followed by -11.6°C the next night which is an 8a temperature already (recorded on Bratislava airport, which is a similar enviroment). Even in January 2017 the temperatures didn't dip into the 7a range and that Januray was extreme, absolutely ridiculously cold. You could say the location is 7b if you want to be very conservative, but certainly not 7a. Maybe if you take the data from the previous century from like the 60s 70s or 80s then you might have a point, but that doesn't tell you what you can expect from an average winter in that location.

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Oh yeah you are 100% correct.... I didn't consider only using recent data. Same goes for my family hometown in Western Lithuania, according to past data is used to be 5b but now over the recent years winters are getting much milder, more like 6b. In fact, I believe this winter was the warmest on record in Lithuania, potentially even being a 7a. The coldest temp was only -14C. That being said, winter is not fully over yet. 

Even the summers in Lithuania are getting ridiculously hot..... before 1990, it would reach 30 celsius on average once every 2 or 3 years. Nowadays, every summer without fail you have multiple days above +30

[Arecaceus]

Zones are relative in any case. Always only an indicator. Espescially in Europe but yes recent maps say it's 8a. Also not far from Vienna where they grow palms and I think it's also an 8a. But those areas get more frost than other 8as for example.

Either way WOW incredible work! I'm not sure if I like it that much because of the money and energy that gets pumped into it and I think it loses its appeal when it's basically a greenhouse but who knows maybe in a couple of decades he doesn't need to protect them anymore. 😂

[Than]

  On 2/23/2025 at 5:12 PM, Arecaceus said:

Zones are relative in any case. Always only an indicator. Espescially in Europe but yes recent maps say it's 8a. Also not far from Vienna where they grow palms and I think it's also an 8a. But those areas get more frost than other 8as for example.

Either way WOW incredible work! I'm not sure if I like it that much because of the money and energy that gets pumped into it and I think it loses its appeal when it's basically a greenhouse but who knows maybe in a couple of decades he doesn't need to protect them anymore. 😂

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Correct. US zones are misleading on European soil. That's why I have written 9A in my profile although according to the zones maps and the temperatures I am 9B.

[Arecaceus]

  On 2/23/2025 at 5:21 PM, Than said:

Correct. US zones are misleading on European soil. That's why I have written 9A in my profile although according to the zones maps and the temperatures I am 9B.

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Yes and compare a west European 9a to a Mediterranean 9a...

Also in the US the USDA is an official institution that gives out these maps and here the maps differ all and come from different sources. I didn't care too much about the zones before I came on this forum and was always confused by them. Düsseldorf is always listed as 8a or 8b but I lately found out that our official met office is also using the USDA zones and from 1971-2000 put my area in zone 8b. They also keep track of yearly zones and deviations but they haven't put out new zones for 1990-2020 yet. I put 9a in my profile because the deviations make my area more of 9a and 9a are also the average lows I have measured since I started gardening in the late 2000s.

There should be a different system for Europe.

[RichardS]

  On 2/23/2025 at 12:21 PM, Slifer00 said:

Oh yeah you are 100% correct.... I didn't consider only using recent data. Same goes for my family hometown in Western Lithuania, according to past data is used to be 5b but now over the recent years winters are getting much milder, more like 6b. In fact, I believe this winter was the warmest on record in Lithuania, potentially even being a 7a. The coldest temp was only -14C. That being said, winter is not fully over yet. 

Even the summers in Lithuania are getting ridiculously hot..... before 1990, it would reach 30 celsius on average once every 2 or 3 years. Nowadays, every summer without fail you have multiple days above +30

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Exactly, I have pretty much the same experience here. Europe is the fastest warming continent and it definitely can be felt.

I have lived in Bratislava for my whole life and I remember how the winters used to be snowy and cold, with many ice days as well. In places like Petržalka or Ružinov, where there are lots of commieblocks, there are sometimes small hills that were propably left over from construction. When I was a kid we used to go slide down these hills every winter with all the snow we had. That's pretty much impossible nowadays as there is no snow for most of the winter. There are maybe like 5 days per winter when snow cover actually forms and the cover is usually not thick enough for sliding. It also immidiately starts melting and is usually gone by the next day or the one after.

Summers are also much hotter. 26°C used to be the daily high during a typical summer day, with many cooler days with storms and rain, and some days above 30°C, but not too many. Last august we had 24 days that went above 30°C and the coolest day still went above 25°C. In July and August there can be more than a week of highs exceeding 33°C and lows not dropping below 20°C uninterrupted. That would be considered unprecedented in the previous century. Trees that are considered native to this area are drying out and struggling to survive all the heat, so different trees have to be planted in the city, that are more heat and drought tolerant.

The same goes for winter lows. In the previous century, even a trachycarpus would struggle without protection. Nowadays people grow them without protection and in cities with UHI infuence there are even potted trachies that are outside for the entire winter and survive. Trachies here can also produce seeds that germinate and the seedlings survive as well. Oleanders can also now survive. I have seen many new oleanders planted in the recent years in Petržalka, and they look great all winter. This winter I have even found a potted washingtonia in Petržalka that belongs to an ice cream stand that is closed in the winter, and it was just stored outside next to the stand and it looked all right, along with potted oleanders.

This is why I prefer to use recent data. The climate has just never been changing this quickly. It will also be interesting to see what the climate here will look like in the future and what will be the new hardiness zone for different locations. Unfortunately, It will also undoubtedly bring many negatives with it as well.

  On 2/23/2025 at 5:12 PM, Arecaceus said:

Zones are relative in any case. Always only an indicator. Espescially in Europe but yes recent maps say it's 8a. Also not far from Vienna where they grow palms and I think it's also an 8a. But those areas get more frost than other 8as for example.

Either way WOW incredible work! I'm not sure if I like it that much because of the money and energy that gets pumped into it and I think it loses its appeal when it's basically a greenhouse but who knows maybe in a couple of decades he doesn't need to protect them anymore. 😂

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Yeah, it's pretty much like you said. It's only an indicator of the average lowest temperature during the winter and here are many other factors. You have zone 10a in Ireland as well as Florida, but in Florida zone 10 people grow coconuts and in Europe, coconut's can't even grow in zone 11. Just like have 8a both in norway and southern US, but these locations can't grow the same plants. 

Vienna is also 8a just like for example Neusiedl, Bratislava and all the other locations that are close. It's all the same basin and the climate is very similar between these locations. The cities have UHI infuence though, so they are a warmer zone 8 than you'd get in other locations and that's also something that these maps usually fail to capture. For example this winter was 8a for most of southwest Slovakia, with maybe some barely 8b spots, but parts of Bratislava with UHI influence were even a weak 9a. The temperatures dropped below -9°C on the bratislava airport, but places like Petržalka, the old town etc. didn't drop far below -6°C. So that's something like 8b/9a. The same would be true for Vienna and any bigger city really.

[Arecaceus]

  On 2/23/2025 at 6:06 PM, RichardS said:

Exactly, I have pretty much the same experience here. Europe is the fastest warming continent and it definitely can be felt.

I have lived in Bratislava for my whole life and I remember how the winters used to be snowy and cold, with many ice days as well. In places like Petržalka or Ružinov, where there are lots of commieblocks, there are sometimes small hills that were propably left over from construction. When I was a kid we used to go slide down these hills every winter with all the snow we had. That's pretty much impossible nowadays as there is no snow for most of the winter. There are maybe like 5 days per winter when snow cover actually forms and the cover is usually not thick enough for sliding. It also immidiately starts melting and is usually gone by the next day or the one after.

Summers are also much hotter. 26°C used to be the daily high during a typical summer day, with many cooler days with storms and rain, and some days above 30°C, but not too many. Last august we had 24 days that went above 30°C and the coolest day still went above 25°C. In July and August there can be more than a week of highs exceeding 33°C and lows not dropping below 20°C uninterrupted. That would be considered unprecedented in the previous century. Trees that are considered native to this area are drying out and struggling to survive all the heat, so different trees have to be planted in the city, that are more heat and drought tolerant.

The same goes for winter lows. In the previous century, even a trachycarpus would struggle without protection. Nowadays people grow them without protection and in cities with UHI infuence there are even potted trachies that are outside for the entire winter and survive. Trachies here can also produce seeds that germinate and the seedlings survive as well. Oleanders can also now survive. I have seen many new oleanders planted in the recent years in Petržalka, and they look great all winter. This winter I have even found a potted washingtonia in Petržalka that belongs to an ice cream stand that is closed in the winter, and it was just stored outside next to the stand and it looked all right, along with potted oleanders.

This is why I prefer to use recent data. The climate has just never been changing this quickly. It will also be interesting to see what the climate here will look like in the future and what will be the new hardiness zone for different locations. Unfortunately, It will also undoubtedly bring many negatives with it as well.

Yeah, it's pretty much like you said. It's only an indicator of the average lowest temperature during the winter and here are many other factors. You have zone 10a in Ireland as well as Florida, but in Florida zone 10 people grow coconuts and in Europe, coconut's can't even grow in zone 11. Just like have 8a both in norway and southern US, but these locations can't grow the same plants. 

Vienna is also 8a just like for example Neusiedl, Bratislava and all the other locations that are close. It's all the same basin and the climate is very similar between these locations. The cities have UHI infuence though, so they are a warmer zone 8 than you'd get in other locations and that's also something that these maps usually fail to capture. For example this winter was 8a for most of southwest Slovakia, with maybe some barely 8b spots, but parts of Bratislava with UHI influence were even a weak 9a. The temperatures dropped below -9°C on the bratislava airport, but places like Petržalka, the old town etc. didn't drop far below -6°C. So that's something like 8b/9a. The same would be true for Vienna and any bigger city really.

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Yes also the farther east the more the warming is apparent. Here we also feel it a lot but the biggest differences in warming are towards the east and north. Winters here have never been snowy or extremely cold only occasionally but the ultimate lows are becoming less severe, the summers drier and even hotter and mostly the monthly averages rise constantly. Also more heat waves during winter and so on. In my area most winters in the last 25 years have been 9a/9b with the exception of the occasional polar air blasts that make it more zone 8 and now 9 (We also had 10a winters in the recent 10 years). But zone deviations are much more crass in the colder continental parts of Germany.

Urban heat is also a big factor that is always left out. Not only that but weather stations are usually in the coldest spots possible (profusely) because there they measure the most neutral temps. I've never had measured the lowest temps im my garden that were recorded by the airport station. I've posted live data in past winters here on the forum from official professional stations like this one: 

Just for you to know the "Fairground" is just behind the airport. There is also an official station at the botanical garden. So 4 official stations but sadly only the airport recordings are available as climate data. That's why I have posted the live data (which is available) sometimes before.

[RichardS]

  On 2/23/2025 at 7:00 PM, Arecaceus said:

Yes also the farther east the more the warming is apparent. Here we also feel it a lot but the biggest differences in warming are towards the east and north. Winters here have never been snowy or extremely cold only occasionally but the ultimate lows are becoming less severe, the summers drier and even hotter and mostly the monthly averages rise constantly. Also more heat waves during winter and so on. In my area most winters in the last 25 years have been 9a/9b with the exception of the occasional polar air blasts that make it more zone 8 and now 9 (We also had 10a winters in the recent 10 years). But zone deviations are much more crass in the colder continental parts of Germany.

Urban heat is also a big factor that is always left out. Not only that but weather stations are usually in the coldest spots possible (profusely) because there they measure the most neutral temps. I've never had measured the lowest temps im my garden that were recorded by the airport station. I've posted live data in past winters here on the forum from official professional stations like this one: 

Just for you to know the "Fairground" is just behind the airport. There is also an official station at the botanical garden. So 4 official stations but sadly only the airport recordings are available as climate data. That's why I have posted the live data (which was available) sometimes.

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The warming in the northeast is more apparent like you said and it's quite important for us as the cold waves come from that direction. This February we experienced a strong cold wave, that ended like a day ago and it came from the north east. It brought the coldest temperatures for this this winter, but no especially cold airmass managed to form there in the northeast, so it wasn't as severe as it would be, if it did. 

Düsseldorf at least has a central weather station that can record the temperatures in the UHI. Bratislava doesn't have that kind of a station for some reason. There are three stations in Bratislava. The airport station being the main one. Then there is also Bratislava - Koliba, which is a station that is in a partially urbanized area above the city halfway up a small mountain. The last one is Bratislava - Mlynská dolina, which is kind of random in a valley in western mountainous parts of the city. Bratislava - Koliba has the most UHI influence, but it's still not quite there and it's also over 100m higher in altitude than the rest of the city, which makes it cooler overall and it just often has slightly different weather. If you want actual temperatures from the city, you need to rely on PWS, amateur weather stations or your own measurements, quite unfortunate.

I also watched the video that Bobosboro provided and it seems like the guy just builds a big structure over all of the plants. There are yuccas in there that don't need protection, but it's propably easier for himp to protect the whole thing, than to only protect the individual plants that need it as there are just too many. Interesting approach.

[Arecaceus]

  On 2/23/2025 at 7:48 PM, RichardS said:

The warming in the northeast is more apparent like you said and it's quite important for us as the cold waves come from that direction. This February we experienced a strong cold wave, that ended like a day ago and it came from the north east. It brought the coldest temperatures for this this winter, but no especially cold airmass managed to form there in the northeast, so it wasn't as severe as it would be, if it did. 

Düsseldorf at least has a central weather station that can record the temperatures in the UHI. Bratislava doesn't have that kind of a station for some reason. There are three stations in Bratislava. The airport station being the main one. Then there is also Bratislava - Koliba, which is a station that is in a partially urbanized area above the city halfway up a small mountain. The last one is Bratislava - Mlynská dolina, which is kind of random in a valley in western mountainous parts of the city. Bratislava - Koliba has the most UHI influence, but it's still not quite there and it's also over 100m higher in altitude than the rest of the city, which makes it cooler overall and it just often has slightly different weather. If you want actual temperatures from the city, you need to rely on PWS, amateur weather stations or your own measurements, quite unfortunate.

I also watched the video that Bobosboro provided and it seems like the guy just builds a big structure over all of the plants. There are yuccas in there that don't need protection, but it's propably easier for himp to protect the whole thing, than to only protect the individual plants that need it as there are just too many. Interesting approach.

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Yes the cold reached us here in the beginning of the week for 3 days. But since then we're in spring now. My area is protected a bit by a small mountainrange east to us. We have a river valley microclimate. And the air coming usually from the west and southwest. Bratislava sounds similar in terms of different elevations. The elevation within city limits varies by 130m-140m. The airport is also at the spot where the cold air from the mountain range flows down. There is a similar situation at Cologne/Bonn airport. The city centre weather station was only implemented in 2008 and I think it is run by the city not the official met office and the other 3 are run by a private company and none of the data is available anywhere. Only live data. So so far a bit useless.

Yeah it makes sense. He has to protect most of the garden so building a structure is probably the best way. Also this saves some energy at that scale because a green house traps warmth and doesn't radiate as much heat. Most Yuccas are very cold hardy so this makes also sense. Yuccas were very trendy here in the 70s and 80s and now are growing everywhere also as weeds on the roadside and such. I mean I somewhat like it but also don't idk. If I had the money who knows what stupid ideas I would come up with. 😂

[RichardS]

  On 2/23/2025 at 8:25 PM, Arecaceus said:

Yes the cold reached us here in the beginning of the week for 3 days. But since then we're in spring now. My area is protected a bit by a small mountainrange east to us. We have a river valley microclimate. And the air coming usually from the west and southwest. Bratislava sounds similar in terms of different elevations. The elevation within city limits varies by 130m-140m. The airport is also at the spot where the cold air from the mountain range flows down. There is a similar situation at Cologne/Bonn airport. The city centre weather station was only implemented in 2008 and I think it is run by the city not the official met office and the other 3 are run by a private company and none of the data is available anywhere. Only live data. So so far a bit useless.

Yeah it makes sense. He has to protect most of the garden so building a structure is probably the best way. Also this saves some energy at that scale because a green house traps warmth and doesn't radiate as much heat. Most Yuccas are very cold hardy so this makes also sense. Yuccas were very trendy here in the 70s and 80s and now are growing everywhere also as weeds on the roadside and such. I mean I somewhat like it but also don't idk. If I had the money who knows what stupid ideas I would come up with. 😂

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Western europe didn't get hit nearly as hard by this cold wave as the east. We got hit quite hard but still not quite as hard as Ukraine, southern Romania and the rest of eastern balkans. I checked some maps and in southern romania they apparently had close to -16°C in some spots with daytime highs well below freezing at like -4°C. Hopefully everything survived fine there. Western germany also has a lot of oceanic influence that moderates temperatures further. I have seen the pictures from Leverkusen and it looks absolutely amazing there. I would love to see something similar here. There was a similar project done in Bad Deutsch Altenburg, Austria, but only to a smaller extent. https://pannonia-palmen.at/images/flyer/folder-exotentage.pdf

I found the place on google maps and there are many yuccas near the gate of his property, those are most likely unprotected as these are everywhere here as well. It's the Yucca Gloriosa I think. I prefer the Yucca Aloifolia in terms of looks, which is rarely planted here unfortunately, but gloriosa is fine as well. Although it often gets planted here and then doesn't get pruned or cleaned and weeds just grow all over it. Ends up looking like this:

His yuccas look very good though:

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.0336936,17.6857011,3a,41.9y,52.22h,85.87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sFllrANYu9NfWOoJ2mSYzOg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D4.132123031315771%26panoid%3DFllrANYu9NfWOoJ2mSYzOg%26yaw%3D52.22403308656913!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDIxOS4xIKXMDSoJLDEwMjExNDUzSAFQAw%3D%3D

[SeanK]

  On 2/19/2025 at 4:51 PM, RichardS said:

Yeah I get it. Europe just doesn't really have a good hardiness zone map unfortunately.

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It's tough when there are many changes in altitude in a geographic area 

[Arecaceus]

  On 2/23/2025 at 9:01 PM, RichardS said:

Western europe didn't get hit nearly as hard by this cold wave as the east. We got hit quite hard but still not quite as hard as Ukraine, southern Romania and the rest of eastern balkans. I checked some maps and in southern romania they apparently had close to -16°C in some spots with daytime highs well below freezing at like -4°C. Hopefully everything survived fine there. Western germany also has a lot of oceanic influence that moderates temperatures further. I have seen the pictures from Leverkusen and it looks absolutely amazing there. I would love to see something similar here. There was a similar project done in Bad Deutsch Altenburg, Austria, but only to a smaller extent. https://pannonia-palmen.at/images/flyer/folder-exotentage.pdf

I found the place on google maps and there are many yuccas near the gate of his property, those are most likely unprotected as these are everywhere here as well. It's the Yucca Gloriosa I think. I prefer the Yucca Aloifolia in terms of looks, which is rarely planted here unfortunately, but gloriosa is fine as well. Although it often gets planted here and then doesn't get pruned or cleaned and weeds just grow all over it. Ends up looking like this:

His yuccas look very good though:

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.0336936,17.6857011,3a,41.9y,52.22h,85.87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sFllrANYu9NfWOoJ2mSYzOg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D4.132123031315771%26panoid%3DFllrANYu9NfWOoJ2mSYzOg%26yaw%3D52.22403308656913!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDIxOS4xIKXMDSoJLDEwMjExNDUzSAFQAw%3D%3D

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No that's true I had a low of -3,3°C the coldest in the area was around -5/6 I think and sunny weather with daytime temps well above freezing. Friday was 18-20°C already and the weekend 16-17°C here. I just saw pictures of Trabzon Turkey and even Istanbul with lots of snow and very very cold temperatures. Always a risk in the eastern continental parts of Eurasia. And yes also true espescially here we have an Atlantic climate mostly.

Very cool! Sadly the interest in public palm planting is limited. Though our city council has at least planted Trachys before and they also made a "controversial" Yucca planting at crossroads many years ago.:


Controversial because many thought it was ugly. Espescially because of the tires. But I think it was a cool idea and it looks good. Most people call them palms even though they are Yuccas.

The way that clump on your picture looks is exactly how those weed Yucca clumps look here at the roadside.

This mansion is impressive looks very luxurious and he seems to live very very rural out in the fields which makes this spot probably pretty cold.

[Arecaceus]

  On 2/23/2025 at 9:52 PM, SeanK said:

It's tough when there are many changes in altitude in a geographic area 

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And coastlines...

[RichardS]

  On 2/23/2025 at 10:00 PM, Arecaceus said:

No that's true I had a low of -3,3°C the coldest in the area was around -5/6 I think and sunny weather with daytime temps well above freezing. Friday was 18-20°C already and the weekend 16-17°C here. I just saw pictures of Trabzon Turkey and even Istanbul with lots of snow and very very cold temperatures. Always a risk in the eastern continental parts of Eurasia. And yes also true espescially here we have an Atlantic climate mostly.

Very cool! Sadly the interest in public palm planting is limited. Though our city council has at least planted Trachys before and they also made a "controversial" Yucca planting at crossroads many years ago.:


Controversial because many thought it was ugly. Espescially because of the tires. But I think it was a cool idea and it looks good. Most people call them palms even though they are Yuccas.

The way that clump on your picture looks is exactly how those weed Yucca clumps look here at the roadside.

This mansion is impressive looks very luxurious and he seems to live very very rural out in the fields which makes this spot probably pretty cold.

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Damn -5/-6°C. I thought you had like -2 during this event, but it seems like you're about right. No 18°C for us unfortunately, 11°C tommorow for Bratislava and 6/7°C today. We did have 17°C this January though, that felt pretty good at least. Istanbul is more east, kind of where the cold airmass went, so yeah, pretty cold there. Western georgia as well. Batumi got a ton of snow.

Public planting of palms here is limited as well. Palms are basically only planted in people's yards and other private property with few exceptions, the city only plants classic trees and that's about it. They also don't want people planting trees and large shrubs on the land that belongs to the city, because there is a lot of underground infrastructure running everywhere and large plants could damage it. I guess someone could figure it out with them for a project like the one in Leverkusen. I have however seen two trachies planted in planted in Petržalka and also many trees like pinus pinea, that aren't the kind of thing that the city would plant, so it seems like this "rule" gets broken rather often, or they just ask the city about it and they give the green light for planting. It is possible one way or another though. The intersection with those yuccas looks good though. I wouldn't have added the tires either, but the yuccas look great.

  On 2/23/2025 at 9:52 PM, SeanK said:

It's tough when there are many changes in altitude in a geographic area 

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Exactly, and also things like coastlines, cities and stuff like that. Most of those maps aren't detailed enough to show that. They also often just use very old data. https://www.plantmaps.com/ is one that I see often being used, but it has a lot of errors and it's just very wierd overall in my opinion.

[Arecaceus]

  On 2/23/2025 at 10:32 PM, RichardS said:

Damn -5/-6°C. I thought you had like -2 during this event, but it seems like you're about right. No 18°C for us unfortunately, 11°C tommorow for Bratislava and 6/7°C today. We did have 17°C this January though, that felt pretty good at least. Istanbul is more east, kind of where the cold airmass went, so yeah, pretty cold there. Western georgia as well. Batumi got a ton of snow.

Public planting of palms here is limited as well. Palms are basically only planted in people's yards and other private property with few exceptions, the city only plants classic trees and that's about it. They also don't want people planting trees and large shrubs on the land that belongs to the city, because there is a lot of underground infrastructure running everywhere and large plants could damage it. I guess someone could figure it out with them for a project like the one in Leverkusen. I have however seen two trachies planted in planted in Petržalka and also many trees like pinus pinea, that aren't the kind of thing that the city would plant, so it seems like this "rule" gets broken rather often, or they just ask the city about it and they give the green light for planting. It is possible one way or another though. The intersection with those yuccas looks good though. I wouldn't have added the tires either, but the yuccas look great.

Exactly, and also things like coastlines, cities and stuff like that. Most of those maps aren't detailed enough to show that. They also often just use very old data. https://www.plantmaps.com/ is one that I see often being used, but it has a lot of errors and it's just very wierd overall in my opinion.

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Yes one night was only -1/-2°C and I recorded something around -0°C to -1°C but two other nights under clear skies were very cold. -3,3°C was my absolute minimum but at airports -5/-6°C. But only shortly just before sunrise. Most of the night -2/-3.

Yes I know. In recent years a lot of trees in the city die because of heat and drought. We had water restrictions before and the city also encourages citizens to take care of the city trees by watering them so that they don't die. They also install even more of those pipes that let water get deeper into the roots but still many trees die. And they already start to replace them... with what? Yes the same exact standard trees. Idk what they're thinking but I think the most obvious thing to do would be replacement with more drought resistant trees. But nope. Those trees also won't live long because they have little chances to get setteled in before it gets too dry. And most plants the city puts into the ground are not native either. They were all exotic at some point. Mostly from Asia. I sometimes wonder what's going on in their heads. If trees already struggle now what to they think will happen in the upcoming years?! It also looks ugly when half dead trees linger on to life the whole summer season.

Planting restrictions exist here as well but I think nobody really cares. There are maximum heights for plants. Regulation for how far trees have to be away from public walkways, fire codes, rules against invasive plants and restrictions on when you're allowed to prune or fell a tree/plant because of birds nesting and such. But everybody basically just does what they want. 😂

[RichardS]

  On 2/23/2025 at 11:05 PM, Arecaceus said:

Yes one night was only -1/-2°C and I recorded something around -0°C to -1°C but two other nights under clear skies were very cold. -3,3°C was my absolute minimum but at airports -5/-6°C. But only shortly just before sunrise. Most of the night -2/-3.

Yes I know. In recent years a lot of trees in the city die because of heat and drought. We had water restrictions before and the city also encourages citizens to take care of the city trees by watering them so that they don't die. They also install even more of those pipes that let water get deeper into the roots but still many trees die. And they already start to replace them... with what? Yes the same exact standard trees. Idk what they're thinking but I think the most obvious thing to do would be replacement with more drought resistant trees. But nope. Those trees also won't live long because they have little chances to get setteled in before it gets too dry. And most plants the city puts into the ground are not native either. They were all exotic at some point. Mostly from Asia. I sometimes wonder what's going on in their heads. If trees already struggle now what to they think will happen in the upcoming years?! It also looks ugly when half dead trees linger on to life the whole summer season.

Planting restrictions exist here as well but I think nobody really cares. There are maximum heights for plants. Regulation for how far trees have to be away from public walkways, fire codes, rules against invasive plants and restrictions on when you're allowed to prune or fell a tree/plant because of birds nesting and such. But everybody basically just does what they want. 😂

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Here at least the city tries to bring more subtropical, drought and heat tolerant species that will have a better chance of surviving, unlike some native trees that struggle. Even some of those new trees dry out sometimes as the care for them after planting isn't perfect, but when they get established they look better than some of the native ones that start to lose their leaves in august from all the heat and low precipitation.

The restrictions for planting in the city is just what I read off of the city's website and I don't really know how it works in practice. They either consult it with the city or they just do whatever they want as well. When I think about it, there are many so many trees and big shrubs planted by residents that they propably just do whatever they want and the city doesn't care as long as it doesn't interfere with anything. Would be interesting to see what would happen if someone just randomly lined a small street or a parking lot with palms. It would look out of place for sure.

[Arecaceus]

  On 2/23/2025 at 11:31 PM, RichardS said:

Here at least the city tries to bring more subtropical, drought and heat tolerant species that will have a better chance of surviving, unlike some native trees that struggle. Even some of those new trees dry out sometimes as the care for them after planting isn't perfect, but when they get established they look better than some of the native ones that start to lose their leaves in august from all the heat and low precipitation.

The restrictions for planting in the city is just what I read off of the city's website and I don't really know how it works in practice. They either consult it with the city or they just do whatever they want as well. When I think about it, there are many so many trees and big shrubs planted by residents that they propably just do whatever they want and the city doesn't care as long as it doesn't interfere with anything. Would be interesting to see what would happen if someone just randomly lined a small street or a parking lot with palms. It would look out of place for sure.

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At least that is something! I wish they would do that here. But the department is underfunded anyway and they will have to change things someday. Plants will die and they will have to do something about it.

That would be quite cool actually. 😂 I wouldn't wonder if nobody follows the rules as this is almost impossible. In big European cities there is no space to follow those rules. You couldn't plant anything in some places if you'd follow the rules.

[peachy]

It is a lovely garden and almost miraculous when one considers the location. A few people have mentioned the cost of maintaining the plants. I say spend your money on what makes you happy.

Peachy