"Of course, temperatures down here in Corsica
are much less damaging than exactly the same temperatures in Northern
Europe, and this fact should always be born in mind when making
comparisons. Here, the December mean temperature was 3¾C below average
and January's was 1.5¾ below average. Thus, most of the plants were
dormant when the cold snap of February occurred.
"The night temperature on the 7th went down
to -1.5¾ (mildest spot) and to -5¾ (coldest spot) which is actually
about the same as I recorded in '84/85. The rest of the week was
warmer with no frost but then the next week we had another cold
spell with frost and a weekly mean temperature of 0¾ in the coldest
part of the garden. As a result, the most tender palms: Ptychosperma,
Hyophorbe, Neodypsis, Caryota etc., had their leaves burnt. However,
all the others showed no damage and are already growing away nicely."
Thomas Baumgartner, from Austria:
"Austria is used to quite cold winters due
to its continental, and in higher parts, alpine climate. As an example,
the average statistics for the Vienna region (one of the milder
areas) tell of about 82 (lays of frost, night lows of -10¾, and
46 days of snow cover of 30-40cm.
"In common with most of Europe, the last two
winters were quite mild, but this year it was unusually cold with
lows down to -17¾ in Vienna during February. Fortunately this cold
period did not last long, and conditions soon normalized.
"As you can imagine, this is not the ideal
climate for growing palms out of doors, and the few attempts that
have been made have been unsuccessful. In this country, we palm
enthusiasts have to content ourselves with potted specimens kept
outside during the warmer months, and brought in during the winter"
And Now, Here's The Weather...
