Sorry to remind everyone...

I've always been jealous of these established palms, I think they make a nice feature in a garden...This is a neighbours garden...are they cabbage palms??

Anyway it shows what a lousy winter we had...they all died off after all these years and the guy's cut them down.



I lost 40 quids worth of canary palms too...they're dug up and gone now.Anyone else lost any old favourites?

 

Where I live there were mature cordylines (cabbage palms) in a lot of gardens, some 15-20ft tall and some probably 30-40 years old. Yet after the last two winters I haven't seen a live one anywhere, many people have either chopped off the dead stuff at the top to leave a bare trunk or just cut them down altogether.
A sad sight, but I suppose it just reminds us what our climate can do and what plants are truly hardy in it, even if they have survived the last 30-40 winters......!!!

 

Vale of York was hit really hard over last winter...more prolongued and even colder than the previous one. I've just moved a bit to the West, but still do a lot of gardening there...it was like driving into a 'dead zone' this Spring!
Cordylines, Phormiums, Bay trees, Melianthus, some Ceanothus, some Cistus, some Buddlejas.....the list goes on!

At least most of the ivy and privet hedges, which all lost their usually evergreen foliage, have now greened up again.

My worst personal loss was two lovely little Bay trees I had grown from cuttings and trained on a standard stem over the last ten years.

 

Well I've seen a few still alive even here in Edinburgh even now they still look unhappy...

 

Raebhoop, they are indeed 'Cabbage Palms' Cordyline australis, although not actually a palm at all. This last winter has killed many off, as they really are only hardy to about -8 and even then not for long spells. However sometimes they will regenerate from the ground.

The Canary Palms (Phoenix canariensis) are also only hardy to about -8ish and then only when reasonably big, the small ones will usually get killed from about -6, although a long spell of cold weather can kill them off even at slightly warmer minimums.

Both are fast growing, so if we avoid any serious winters for the next few years we should see some good examples again in peoples gardens.

Personally with the Phoenix canariensis I would always anticipate losing a small one, so plant it and enjoy but do accept that there is a good chance they will only last one summer.

A much hardier palm is the Trachycarpus fortunei (sometimes called a Chusan Palm or a Chinese Windmill Palm or similar, and often mislabed in garden centres as Chamaerops excelsa), they are reasonably quick growing for a palm - although not as fast as a cordyline, but will tollerate the British Climate much better.

 

Yes lots of losses this winter still chopping back and digging up some huge shrubs, lost 2 beautiful pittospurum, practically every hebe in the garden, cordylines, had 9 huge phormiums after cutting back a few are showing signs of life so fingers crossed, quite a few fish that seem'd to be frozen mid swim:-( every one of my beautiful lobelia tupa grown from seed four years ago, was over 6ft last year even survived the previous cold winter but not this, luckily collected the seed and have some babies again:-) but on the bright side only lost 1 daylily some did look a bit sad but have now recovered and getting ready to flower:-)

 

"A much hardier palm is the Trachycarpus fortunei ... they are reasonably quick growing for a palm "

Any idea how fast Tropical_Gaz? I'm growing some from seed and would be curious to know. I can keep them in the conservatory for several years if that is likely tom hurry them up :thumb:

 

I lost my palm like tree. It was almost 8 feet tall and dead as a dodo when spring came. I also lost my little bay tree and I thought I had lost my agapanthus but it looks like it is making very slow recovery.
I also had 4 agapanthus (or is it agapanthiiii ) which I have been grownign from seed just to see if I could and to see what colour the flowers would be. I lost all but 1 of those.
I also had two gum trees, both of which are dead, well one of them is dead, the other one is trying to turn itself into a bush but the top 15 feet is totally dead.

 

Once they get going you can have a good foot of trunk a year, but thats usually after they have already got to a couple of feet first.

From see you are probably looking at maybe 3-5 years to get to a planting size - although still quite small, then another 3-5 years before it gets its roots well established and starts to shoot up.

So "reasonably quick" only compares to other palms we can grow here, it will still seem slow compared to many other trees and shrubs (and tropical palms in their own habitat).

Keep them well watered and not too hot if in the conservatory as Trachycarpus are not a tropical palm, so dont like to bake the same way other more tropical (and tender) palms do.

I was given 3 seed grown plants last year from a friend who had grown dozens, they are quite small (about 3 years old), but now potted up into bigger pots, they look ok on the patio. Given a couple more years of TLC lots of water and food and they will go in the ground.

Growing palms from seed is a long term project really, if you are keen to get some in the ground sooner then consider some of the small ones places like Wilkinsons sell, for a fiver or so it can save you the first few years.

 

I'm not really in a rush. If we get a "tropical room" together then I'll buy in decent sized plants. These are growing on the off chance that in 5 years we might want to create a tropical room.

But they are a bit slower than I was expecting. No matter, they will sell on ebay in 5 years time if nothing comes of our "just maybe!" plans.

Thanks for the info :thumb:

 

I've lost a couple of old cordylines, I thought they would break away from further down the trunk, but on checking a couple of days ago the trunk appears totally dead on both.
Probably a foot or more in diameter at the base.
Another largish one appears unharmed at the moment.

Its got me thinking it might just be a disease, rather than cold alone, as mine started to deteriorate last summer.
And it was not cold enough here to kill a large cordyline last winter.

I agree, Trachycarpus is probably the best bet if you want a palm in your garden, I've got some 3 yr old seedings and they are only 8 to 12 ins high, growth seems to take off once the base has reached its adult diameter.

 

Even down here most Phoenix have died with a few exceptions.
Most Corylines have survived in tact but Phormiums have suffered badly.

 

I guess this is why, being a bit of a reluctant gardener, I'm developing a liking for Roses. The ones I look after are all in pots and the bad winters don't seem to have upset them too much. Am currently looking through the pictures in ' The Book ' for anything with *** for fully hardy, that also don't seem like too much hard work to look after!