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Pretty impressive list of palms you are growing in southern england.
No Jubea Chilensis (Chilean Wine Palm) on your list, your climate is perfect for it, one my fave palms.
Surprised you are able to grow Washingtonia Robusta, I always thought it needs
lots of sun and warm summers.
No, I have always been put off a Jubaea by their slow growth & also their cost. There are quite a few dotted about the UK though, including some mature ones...
Yes my Washingtonia robusta was planted as a small plant 10 years ago, it has never been protected & the worst damage it has ever received is a few damaged leaves after winter (if it's cold enough)...
There are quite a few growing in milder parts of the UK (as well as the 50ft tall specimen on Tresco, Scilly)
Here is a (bad) pic of mine showing how it is trunking & some others growing in the UK: (The 3rd pic is of of one growing in the Chelsea Physic Garden in London taken in spring 2011 after the record cold spell of December 2010, showing what sort of damage they receive in colder winters)
Don't quite know how it's proof when I don't know where exactly you live in N.I, or what your nearest Met Office station is
But regardless of whether you had a frost in June or not, it still has no bearing at all on me having recorded 2 frost free winters within the last 11 years! On that same link you posted to, my nearest Met Office station, (Solent), recorded a minimum of 11C on that date, so it shows how different the climates are between here & where you are
Don't quite know how it's proof when I don't know where exactly you live in N.I, or what your nearest Met Office station is
But regardless of whether you had a frost in June or not, it still has no bearing at all on me having recorded 2 frost free winters within the last 11 years! On that same link you posted to, my nearest Met Office station, (Solent), recorded a minimum of 11C on that date, so it shows how different the climates are between here & where you are
Well my nearest weather station as of now is magilligan, which is much warmer than me. On that night i recorded a min of -0.7c.
Saying, that I can get a frost almost in July, I find it very hard to take it in that you cannot get a frost in two seperate years. Are you seriously telling me you did not get a single air frost from January to December? How is that even possible?
If it is, you definately live in a very mild climate and I think thats absolutely amazing considering your latitude. It just goes to show that variability in the British isles does exsist.
How big is your Syagrus? The Archontophoenix must have been quite a sight...didn't think any palm with a crownshaft would survive let alone trunk in England lol
My Syagrus are still small & are the 'Santa Catarina' variety. I have tried regular Queen palms before & they survive the winters just fine, but hardly grow during our cool summers, so eventually go into decline. The 'Santa Catarina' Queens are from an area with cooler summers & although they grow slow, they do actually grow here, so I'm hopeful they may be ok...
Yes I loved my Archontophoenix & was very upset when they died Depending on how this winter goes I may plant another next spring. I also had Rhopalostylis sapida & bauerii growing as well as Howea forsteriana. They all grew happily in my garden for several years until the winters of 2009/2010 & 2010/2011
Tresco on the Isles of Scilly did have mature & fruiting Archontophoenix cunninghamiana & Rhopalostylis sapida, but these were killed by -7C in 1987. They do have some decent sized Rhopalostylis again now though, from self sown seedlings that survived...
Photos below of my Archontophoenix (R.I.P) & Tresco mature Rhop & Arc from the 1980's:
Well my nearest weather station as of now is magilligan, which is much warmer than me. On that night i recorded a min of -0.7c.
Saying, that I can get a frost almost in July, I find it very hard to take it in that you cannot get a frost in two seperate years. Are you seriously telling me you did not get a single air frost from January to December? How is that even possible?
If it is, you definately live in a very mild climate and I think thats absolutely amazing considering your latitude. It just goes to show that variability in the British isles does exsist.
I generally don't record an air frost here before Christmas & after early March. That is in an average year (last winter my first & last frosts were both in February). So if we are having a particularly mild winter, like 2007 for example, then I may or may not record any frost at all. I don't get many frosts here anyway & neither do other mild parts of the UK like central London, the coasts of Devon & Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly...
Southsea, where I live, is listed as one of the 10 warmest parts of Britain. Only central London, the Scillies & the Channel Islands have a higher annual average. Though that data was from 1971-2000 figures, using the next data set (1981-2010) Southsea actually comes in with an annual average of 12C which is equally as high as the mildest places...
My Syagrus are still small & are the 'Santa Catarina' variety. I have tried regular Queen palms before & they survive the winters just fine, but hardly grow during our cool summers, so eventually go into decline. The 'Santa Catarina' Queens are from an area with cooler summers & although they grow slow, they do actually grow here, so I'm hopeful they may be ok...
Yes I loved my Archontophoenix & was very upset when they died Depending on how this winter goes I may plant another next spring. I also had Rhopalostylis sapida & bauerii growing as well as Howea forsteriana. They all grew happily in my garden for several years until the winters of 2009/2010 & 2010/2011
Tresco on the Isles of Scilly did have mature & fruiting Archontophoenix cunninghamiana & Rhopalostylis sapida, but these were killed by -7C in 1987. They do have some decent sized Rhopalostylis again now though, from self sown seedlings that survived...
Photos below of my Archontophoenix (R.I.P) & Tresco mature Rhop & Arc from the 1980's:
That is interesting about Queen Palms growing slowly during summer, or not at all. Your summer average temp is much the same as here, although you have warmer minimums/ cooler maximums. The extra sun and warmer maximums here, must make a big difference, as I would describe their growth here as anywhere from moderately fast, to rampant.
That is interesting about Queen Palms growing slowly during summer, or not at all. Your summer average temp is much the same as here, although you have warmer minimums/ cooler maximums. The extra sun and warmer maximums here, must make a big difference, as I would describe their growth here as anywhere from moderately fast, to rampant.
Yes it's annoying as we are almost warm enough to grow them, but not quite!
It is very frustrating to me as Syagrus romanzoffiana are my absolute favourite palm. I do have a small Butyagrus & a Jubutyagrus that has started to go pinnate, so hopefully if the Queens fail I can still have similar looking palms
I also find it amazing you can grow all those palms i wonder if someone lived right on the coast on Vancouver Island or in the gulf islands. Global warming has had a huge toll here
You see all these palms that you grow. Are they from thr tropics or northern regions. I wonder how a coconut palm would do in your backyard .
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On that same link you posted to, my nearest Met Office station, (Solent), recorded a minimum of 11C on that date, so it shows how different the climates are between here & where you are 
Depending on how this winter goes I may plant another next spring. 
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