Straight From The Harz
A special report about palm growing in Germany's
Harz Mountains, not the warmest place in the world....
Peter Goldschmidt, 38640 Goslar, Germany
Chamaerops No.32 Autumn 1998
Inspired by the many good reports of EPS members I
want to get some thoughts down on paper. As I am living in the beautiful
imperial town of Goslar, situated on the fringe of the Harz Mountains,
my palms have to cope with quite rough weather. The town lies some
250 m above sealevel, on the weather side of the Harz, which causes
much rainfall and chilly days. The hard winter of 1996/97 brought
night temperatures of minus 18û to 20û Celsius. All Araucarias that
I know to be planted outside survived the frost without any shelter.
But they have all turned brown and only the new sprouts in spring
were bright green. The decorative value on the whole was badly damaged.
Because of this I could not make up my mind whether
to plant the palms outside, especially as a heated shelter against
the winter has also to be seen from a financial viewpoint. Therefore
my collection of palms consists of tub-plants with all the well-known
disadvantages. Merely putting them outside in the spring and back
in again in the autumn is hard work. A specially converted barrow
makes it a hit easier. The winter quarters of the palms is a brick
shed which is kept at a suitable temperature of 10û Celsius. Because
of lack of space a Phoenix roebelenii, which is considered more
delicate, is placed there, too. It looks healthy, and I believe
that Phoenix roebelenii is more robust than it is described in literature.
Cycas circinalis and Cycas rumphii can cope with these temperatures,
too. A lowering of temperature to almost zero degrees for two nights,
when the heating broke down, the plants have survived without any
harm.
To improve the conditions in the winter quarter, I
installed artificial lighting. The very bright and durable NAV-lamp
has the disadvantage that palms prefer a more shady position, like
for example Rhopalostylis baueri, very quick suffered from burns.
Despite accustoming the plants to the artificial light very slowly,
I had to put up a shade. I had better experiences with the HQL de
luxe lamp. It has a proportion of yellow light and is not as intense
as the NAV. Encouraged by the reports in "Chamaerops"
I put the plants into the Winter quarters quite late. Cycas revoluta,
Butia capitata, Chamaerops and Trachycarpus stood outside in November,
with night-time temperatures of minus seven degrees, totally covered
with ice on the terrace without being harmed.
The winter was quite short, with minimum temperatures
of twelve degrees below zero. And so at the beginning of February,
I put outside the last palms that I had put inside the shed. They
stand against a protected wall. March turned out to be a disappointment.
It was colder than February. Putting the plants into new pots bad
to be delayed till April, that brought temperatures of about 10û
Celsius. But May started with summery temperatures and fortunately
it stayed like that.
Finally, I have a question: A compact Chamaerops is
being offered with the variety-name "Vulcano". I can't
get anywhere with that name and would like to find out the exact
botanical name and the origin of the plant. I hope that some palm
lover can help me!
The exact botanical name of your Chamaerops is
Chamaerops humilis The form "Volcano" is not of any botanical
significance. It is said to have originated from the Island of Vulcano,
one of the Liparian Islands north of Sicily. T.S.

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