Can anyone tell me the northern limit of palms on the west coast. How far north of Vancouver Island will they survive without any real protection ? Windmills in particular. Thanks in advanced.
North of vancouver island, not going to happen. north ON vancouver may be a better reference. I know of windmills in Nanaimo and likely Courtenay as well, not certain they would be well without winter protection though. we in the lower mainland (vancouver area) just had -10C with snow and wind to deal with, this winter may not be the cakewalk we sometimes get here...
I remember reading that Trachycarpus fortunei is being tried in Sitka (Alaska; 57°N). They are being grown even further north in western Europe, with mature specimens successful in northwest Scotland (58°N), and young plants in Tórshavn on the Faroe Islands (62°N).
Thanks for the replies. SITKA ??? Hmmm, I guess I will buy that 45 gallon fake takil (probably fortunei, but it's in N.C, so I won't know until I get it.) Another question - How tall is a 45 gal. tree ? Will it fit in my Chevy express van ? It sounds big.
"Without any real protection" ... if you speak of Trachycarpus fortunei, look at this map from Agriculture Canada. The windmill palm is hardy without protection in zone 8. So for those that thought "North of vancouver island, not going to happen.", you can reassess those thoughts. Cheers, LPN.
by that pic it looks as though you could get away with a windmill palm unprotected along the coast for a ways, even more north than vancouver island. personally, I think most palms look silly placed in most west coast gardens, although there are a few gardens that can accomodate them and look nice with other tropical stuff to boot. Sorry Joe if you are reading this :) keep on keeping on! ps, out of curiosity, if they can survive without protection, why are so many people burying them in sawdust, shavings, hay, wire cages, little mini greenhouses etc? (in the lower mainland), shouldnt they be able to leave them alone generally speaking?
When a Canadian zone map is whipped out the first point that needs to be clarified is do the zones shown equate to the USDA zones that many in the discussion will be referring to. Windmill palm has been grown in this region for a long time, winter protection should seldom be needed--although some seedlings are perhaps hybrids with other species. It looks well with other East Asian plants liking shade and moisture, as at the entrance to the VanDusen garden where it was combined with aucuba, fatsia and sarcococca to produce a pleasing scene.
Why? It maybe the they're too small and owners feel a leg up might be the right thing to do. The Windmill palm doesn't gain it's true hardiness levels until about a 15 gallon size. If they're protecting larger ones, they've perhaps been given wrong information. Nurseries and garden centers are notorious for this (oddly enough).The City of Nanaimo Parks Dept., used to erect large plywood structures 15' tall or more around some of the mature public palm plantings. They've since ceased this and the palms are thriving still. As for the statement, "I think most palms look silly placed in most west coast gardens." I think there's a point when plant material gradually begins to mingle from cool temperate to semi-tropical. I think it would be true to say that someone from a semi tropical region could equally say, Cedars look out of place with our palms. Cheers, LPN.
Pic from Copenhagen Botanic Garden, Denmark (zone 7): http://www.scanpalm.no/kobenbot01.jpg There are also three in Plovdiv, Bulgaria (zone 6/7), which survived -27.5°C in a severe spell in January 1993; apparently a special cold-hardy strain selected in the USSR back in the 1950s or 1960s (details from polarpalm.net , unfortunately this website doesn't exist any more). As far as I know, the coldest recorded for any palm anywhere in the world. Edit: http://www.polarpalm.net/ is working again
