"I live in south Sweden, between Gothenburg
and Botas, 148m altitude. Normal winters here are not very cold
by Swedish standards; usually the minimum is around -20¾C, and in
Gothenburg itself, perhaps a little milder, say, -15 or -16¾. In
1987 the lowest was -28¾C. Normally the snow cover is between 10
and 40cm and this occurs between November and March.
"This winter was in fact rather mild, although
February was about average. The lowest in January was -9¾C; February
had 16¾ with many days of frost but little snow, only 5-10cm.
"I grow all my palms in pots and containers.
I have had one Chamaerops outside in a pot in the ground from February
18th 1990 until January 20th 1991 with little protection. It's had
no damage despite frost day and night for many days. This has encouraged
me to try Trachycarpus in the ground this year also. But I would
hate to lose it as they are very difficult to come by in Sweden."
From Madrid, Spain, Santiago Pajaron writes:
"The weather in Spain has been colder than
in other years, especially during February. There have been some
very cold years with very low temperatures, down to -20¾C in some
places. This year was not as bad as all that, but the cold did reach
the whole country. And those low temperatures were accompanied by
a fair amount of snow even in places like Malaga, the 'Costa del
Sol' and the mountains near Seville, which is very rare. We even
saw 'Palmitos' (Chamaerops humilis) covered with snow, an unusual
and bizarre sight."
And Now, Here's The Weather...
