DeGroeneprins

As of the beginning of March de Groeneprins has interesting Camellias in stock:

Black Lace, 35 litre pots, 130-140 cm hoog (4,5 feet), top quality and full of buds! Price €125

Winter flowering Camellia oleifera also on sale this year!

We are kicking off 2019 with good news: The tax on plants in the Netherlands has been raised from 6% to 9%. But we’re not passing this rise on to you.

So you’re effectively better off this year at De Groene Prins!

Wrapping your plants well and using plenty of straw is important in severe to very severe frosts!

Winter can arrive suddenly and unexpectedly. Make sure you’re prepared .. protect your garden bananas with leaves and stram from autumn onwards! I try to get the little shoots safely through the winter with straw insulation, so that there is a chance of flowering next year. If moderate frost I use bubble-wrap and as soon as the leaves are brown, I add a layer of tarpaulin.
In severe frosts also protect palms by firstly binding the leaves together in a kind of pointed hat, and then insulating with reed mats or a few layers of fleece cloth.

And then keep your fingers crossed …

This autumn we sent a packaged Camellia to a client in Budapest. It took 12 days for the parcel to be delivered by the Dutch ‘Postnl’ company. So from now to reduce the risk of accidents to our precious plants we are advising foreign clients to accept deliveries by pallet only!

An old Robinia succumbed during a brief but severe storm

Autumn started with a bang here!

Camellia sinensis

The earliest Camellia to bloom is Camellia sinensis which is cultivated worldwide for the production of tea.

Foodies beware: Camillia sinensis has numerous subvarieties. Those cultivated in the mountains of Korea and Japan are hardy! And it’s nice that these plants are the first to introduce the Camellia flowering-season with white blossom and yellow stamens. Usually a frost-sensitive tea plant with larger leaves is available: Camellia sinensis var. Assamica, which doesn’t survive our cold winters planted out!

Beware! Ever more, the smaller Gunnera tinctoria is being marketed as Gunnera manicata. On this site the differences are clearly shown:
http://palmvrienden.net/gblapalmeraie/2017/07/07/gunnera-manicata-how-to-recognize-the-real-one/

At Bob Foltz’s nursery in Meeden, Holland I finally found the real manicata! This giant is getting a nice place beside the pond ..

Eucalyptus perriniana easily grows 2m (6 feet) per year if watered well during the summer

This year’s extreme drought forced us to irrigate abundantly. Many plants in the jungle garden expect generous rainfall in the summer, and if that fails, these plants are forced to rest and therefore loose a lot of leaves.

If you want to plant new plants in the garden during the summer holidays, you must irrigate them regularly! Eucalyptus trees in particular require a lot of water.

The record warmth of last May brings the fact home to us: our climate is getting warmer. This inspired me to once again plant some South American palms in the open ground:

Butia eriospatha and Jubaea chilensis

These strong feathery palms provide an even more tropical effect than the fan palms. They also grow much better in the ground than in a tub! We will protect these with tunnel arches and greenhouse foil. Insulation is achieved with bubble wrap. In a severe frost, a fan heater will keep the temperature around zero degrees.

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