Letters
Chamaerops No.22, Spring Edition 1996
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American Palm Fans Respond
I reply to the letter from Craig Snell, Chamaerops 21. Although
a new member of The European Palm Society, I have, for the past
13 years been growing 'hardy exotics' in the garden. Sabal palmetto
was one of my first palm purchases about 6 years ago - a baby specimen
bought through the post from The Palm Centre, London. It went straight
out in a small pot onto the patio table for its first summer though
I pampered it for its first winter by bringing it indoors and placing
it in a cool bedroom on the windowsill. The next summer it went
out again onto the patio table but when winter came, it was on its
own! I found it a sheltered corner where it survived very well.
Being repotted about twice it had come through four winters outdoors
and I felt it was now big enough to be planted permanently in the
ground - which I did last autumn. The terrible winter we have just
had brought us many nights as low as -10°C, and not getting
above freezing during the day. On inspection this morning it had
a chunky, hairy 8" trunk with 8 very damaged, spotty brown
leaves but a lovely new leaf growing in the centre! Last year I
bought a baby specimen of Rhapidophyllum hystrix - the Needle palm
- which is still being well looked-after, it being its first winter
here. Again I shall put it out on the patio table before very long,
but if next winter threatens to be as bad as the last, I may bring
it indoors for the season. Finally, though I have never lost a Cordyline
during the past 13 years of growing them, many I had in pots, and
even 3 large mature specimens growing in the ground didn't make
it through the winter. However another 4 did come through, plus
one small one growing at the base of a large specimen. lt really
did surprise me how bad this last winter has been.
Linda Bate, Merseyside
And Again...
This is my reply to Craig Snell who looks for other members cultivating
cold hardy American palms. I grow different kinds of palms and one
of them is Sabal palmetto. It is only about 70cm (about 2ft) and
was planted at the beginning of April 1995. It grows very slowly.
Last winter was a very long one. I protected the Sabal with a plastic
cover, and the roots with leaves. So the palm was dry and sheltered
from the chilly north and east winds. There was no watering or heating;
only the sun made my little 'greenhouse a bit warmer, however, the
plant has suffered no damage. I live in a very mild area of Germany,
in the Rhine Valley and the lowest temperature we had last winter
was one night when it fell to -9°C. However, we had a total
of 60 nights and 7 days when the temperature stayed below zero Celsius.
In the other corners of my garden, the Trachycarpus do not see the
sun for the entire winter; even so they show no damage though we
had several days with freezing rain. Additionally there are 4 Trachys
only 20cm high. I completely covered them, again, no damage. My
(protected) Washingtonia filifera suffered from moisture damage
and though I had to cut off the browned leaves and I am sure it
will pull through. Last year I collected a lot of Sabal palmetto
seed in the U. S. and planted them in the garden at the beginning
of April, without heating. Six months later, in October, there were
many little Sabal palms. Some of them I moved into pots; the others
stayed where they were. These are still covered with leaves. I will
let you know how they are in due course. Many greetings to all members
from:
Bernd Schnell, Oberhausen, Germany
And Finally...
I want to give an answer to the enquiry by Craig Snell (Chamaerops
21) about American fan palms. I have a small but thriving Sabal
minor planted in summer of '92 when it had 2 leaves of 10cm. It
now has 4 more with the largest at 25cm. This little Sabal has never
suffered any damage because it is easy to cover in frosty periods.
Last winter it sustained 4 days with temperatures between -2°C
by day and -13°C by night protected only by mulch and a cardboard
box. During this same period all my other palms suffered in their
shelters because I did not use thermostatically controlled heaters
(set to 0°C) as I normally do. These other palms are Trachycarpus
fortunei. Phoenix canariensis, Jubaea chilensis, Butia capitata,
Chamaerops humilis all from 3 to 5 winters in the garden and all
between 10-150cm tall. This winter even a small Jubaea suffered,
losing its inner leaves, but the Sabal minor was untouched. The
only problem with them I think is we don't have hot enough summers
for it to produce more than two leaves annually. This winter in
our region was the coldest for 14 years with the longest period
of day-frost since records began. If anyone would like to make contact
my address is Bleichstr. 27, D-63526 Erlensee, Germany. Fax ++49
6183 900017. E-mail AvStraaten@aol.com
or 100641.506@compuserve.com.
Thanks!
Andre van Straaten
Post Winter Report #1
This winter has not been a kind one, so now that we have reached
the time of year when winter damage to exotic plants becomes apparent
I thought I'd give you an update on how my palms etc. have withstood
its ravages. The minimum air temperature in my garden was -5.4°C;
ground temperature probably in the region of -9°C; snowfall
above average, and many days of cold nor'easterly winds. All the
palms planted in the ground have weathered the winter with no signs
of damage. These are Jubaea, Butia, Trachycarpus, Chamaerops and
Trithrinax. (Alas my Brahea succumbed, not to the cold, but to being
eaten by a friend's dog). The only protectiomn given consisted of
a few handfuls of straw stuffed into their crowns. As far as the
other exotics in the garden go, there was no damage to any Eucalyptus,
Hebe, other New Zealand natives such as the small Cordyline australis
but my Acacia dealbata was badly burnt. My large variegated Phormium
tenax has survived well, though it looked very sick on the coldest
nights. The containerized plants all under my open-fronted verandah
(south facing), had to put up with blown-in snow, subzero temperatures
and frozen pots. They all survived except 4 Moroccan Phoenix dactylifera
seedlings. They are Dicksonia antarctica, Jubaea (small), Oleander,
Serenoa repens, Agaves, Trachycarpus 'sikkimensis' (seedling), Washingtonia
filifera (outer fronds killed), Sabal minor (slight damage), Norfolk
Island pine (some damage), Phoenix canariensis (5 years old), and
small New Zealand Phoenix canariensis seedlings (no damage) . These
latter palms are perhaps the most surprising, together with a Nikau
palm (Rhopalostylis sapida) which sailed through. It happily survived
against the back wall near the 'N. Z. P. C.' seedlings though under
the frond protection of the Dicksonia. I may have to revise my thoughts
about the cold-resistance of this mainland variety Nikau palm. It
shows distinct promise, even as a three-fronded youngster! All in
all, there have been no real disasters this winter, and some pleasant
surprises, and this, in about the coldest winter we are ever likely
to get here in Westcliff-on-Sea.
Charles Jackson
Post Winter Report #2
In the latest edition of Chamaerops you invited readers to write
in and state how their plants coped with the winter weather. We
live at the edge of the village of Goodleigh in North Devon in south
west England. On a very clear day we can just see the coast where
the Bristol Channel joins the Atlantic, but we are not near the
sea but many miles inland, up in the hills. Despite the fact that
we are situated on reasonably high ground we still experience considerably
warmer temperatures than the higher hills of Exmoor, just a few
miles away. We have some frost every winter but this is usually
confined to just a few nights. This last winter was different with
many frosty nights and a dusting of snow. I have noticed however
that the duration of these cold spells is much shorter than in many
other areas of Britain, and the average overall winter temperature
if much higher. This, plus the high rainfall and humidity makes
for very good growing conditions for many palms and exotics with
growth continuing, albeit slowly, throughout the winter. We moved
here from a neighbouring village in October 1987, planted some small
Trachycarpus and Phoenix canariensis and then almost gave up the
battle with the compacted heavy soil and the enormous weeds and
concentrated our efforts on mmore or less rebuilding the house.
Things remained that way for a further two years and then we began
the task of starting to create a garden and of course it had to
contain lots of palms and exotics.
The ground was so hard we had to begin planting with a pickaxe but
gradually things moved ahead and much is now semi-mature and growing
well. there are now numerous Trachycarpus between 2 and lOft tall,
dozens of Cordylines up to 12ft and branching, several Phoenix canariensis,
2 Chamaerops, one small Butia, numerous Yuccas (in flower on New
Year's Day), Hibiscus, many varieties of Phormium and Eucalyptus,
Musa basjoo, Monstera deliciosa, Acacia dealbata )'Mimosa' - 20ft
in 5 years and in full flower in mid-February.), Pomegranate, Cupressus
sempervirens (Pencil Cedar), Cyperus, Callistemon 'Bottle Brush',
Datura, Fascicularia and Opuntia cactus. At the time of writing
it is mid-February and this means that in this region it is extremely
unlikely that there will be much more in the way of frost in what
remains of the winter, so it is time to take stock of any damage
or losses. Providing winter protection is out of the question due
to the number and size of the specimens and due to the fact that
we want the garden to look nice throughout the winter; even so we
lost little.
South-westerly gales toppled a tall Eucalyptus and broke many flower-laden
branches from a Mimosa. Two tall-growing Opuntia cactus were damaged
and possibly killed due to a combination of cold and wet, The Monstera
suffered sever damage and is probably dead, but that was a gamble
anyway. Datura suffered damage but will probably recover, Musa basjoo
suffered damage to its above-ground growth but its larger 'trunks'
survived. Everything else including all the Cordylines, the Phoenix
canariensis and bright coloured Phormiums have come through without
the slightest damage and many Trachycarpus have put on extra leaves
during January and February. If we can grow these things in our
exposed inland North Devon garden, just think what could grow in
the more favoured coastal areas nearby. Yet all we see are a few
tall Trachycarpus, probably planted by the Victorians, in unsuitable
positions (ie. where their leaves get damaged by salt-laden gales)
plus Cordylines and Phormiums everywhere. Later in the year we plan
to add Cycas revoluta, Dicksonia, Olive, Citrus (lemon), and, on
a south-facing wall, Bougainvillaea, to our collection.
Rev. Geof frey Squire, Goodleigh, Devon
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