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I'm guessing summers here are warm enough for King Palms because there are a few gardens in my area where they are growing. We don't get much frost at all, infact the last major frost was in 2005 I believe. Since then any frost has been light and only one or twice a year.
I believe that coconut palm can grow on.the immediate coast of Southern California cuz it never gets to freezing but they need extensive watering due to ZERO RAIN for six months a year- coconut palms are native to tropical climates with lots of warm rain and Los Angeles is arid but temperate.
Adrianna, coconuts on the SoCal coast never last long-with the exception of one in Newport Beach-because the temperatures are simply never warm enough, except in summer. The cold ocean current off of SoCal makes the conditions foggy and windy much of the time, so the coconut doesn't get enough sun. It is also so dry, and much of the time (winter-spring consecutively), daytime temperatures do not get warm enough to support the palm. In addition, nighttime temperatures are chilly all-year round. Any coconut able to survive will be very slow-growing and won't produce any fruit.
I believe that coconut palm can grow on.the immediate coast of Southern California cuz it never gets to freezing but they need extensive watering due to ZERO RAIN for six months a year- coconut palms are native to tropical climates with lots of warm rain and Los Angeles is arid but temperate.
Coconut palms need average soil temperatures above 60F, or the roots die. As long as the soil temp stays above 60F, doesn't really matter if summer temps hover between 63 and 70 all year long. They will probably grow really slowly, but they won't die.
LA in winter the soil temps drop below 60F. Same for San Diego.
I'm guessing summers here are warm enough for King Palms because there are a few gardens in my area where they are growing. We don't get much frost at all, infact the last major frost was in 2005 I believe. Since then any frost has been light and only one or twice a year.
this is just near my place
Great photo. I never thought Victoria could look like that.
The palms look very thin, as if being slightly choked. I notice that it is because of average temps and palms are correspondingly stouter in Newcastle and more so in Brisbane.
Yes those palms are Archontophoenix, probably cunninghamiana the 'Bangalow Palm'. Archontophoenix alexandrae, the 'King Palm' are almost identical except they have silver undersides to the fronds. King palms are slightly more tender too, although they can be easily grown in LA...
Bangalow palms grow very easily in Melbourne, as long as they are kept well watered, a friend of mine has some huge ones in his garden in Wantirna...
I also had a few Bangalow palms growing in my garden for several years, until they were killed by the cold winter of 2010. A mature specimen grew on Tresco too until 1987, so they are very tolerant of cool weather & can take a couple of degrees of frost...
Adrianna, coconuts on the SoCal coast never last long-with the exception of one in Newport Beach-because the temperatures are simply never warm enough, except in summer. The cold ocean current off of SoCal makes the conditions foggy and windy much of the time, so the coconut doesn't get enough sun. It is also so dry, and much of the time (winter-spring consecutively), daytime temperatures do not get warm enough to support the palm. In addition, nighttime temperatures are chilly all-year round. Any coconut able to survive will be very slow-growing and won't produce any fruit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tom77falcons
Coconut palms need average soil temperatures above 60F, or the roots die. As long as the soil temp stays above 60F, doesn't really matter if summer temps hover between 63 and 70 all year long. They will probably grow really slowly, but they won't die.
LA in winter the soil temps drop below 60F. Same for San Diego.
From what I understand (I no expert, though) your both correct:
Not only is the ground too cold in southern Califorina in winter, but winter days are too cold for them to ever do well. I've seen coconut palms for years in southern Florida, and we have one at our home north of Miami. Once you get far enough north, around Jupiter, where daytime highs fall below 75 F....you see far less conconut palms. The winter highs in both LA and San diego are only in the mid 60's....and the normal lows at night in the upper 40's F, too cold for coconut to last long.
There is one in Newport Beach, CA (has been in the news before), but it is stunnted (only about 10 feet tall) and will never fruit of course. Healthy coconuts look like this, I took these in FT. Lauderdale this last year, some of them were close to 80 - 100 feet tall abnd they all had 20 to 25 coconuts on them:
Last edited by wavehunter007; 04-24-2013 at 07:49 AM..
Great photo. I never thought Victoria could look like that.
The palms look very thin, as if being slightly choked. I notice that it is because of average temps and palms are correspondingly stouter in Newcastle and more so in Brisbane.
It's possible to grow many palm species in Melbourne and parts of Vic with warm enough summers and minimal frost. Queen palms are common everywhere.
Here's a few scenes from Mildura clearly showing these bangalow palms. It's a semi arid region and gets frost a few times in winter but days are quite mild (average July high about 16C) and summers are hot and sunny.
and a huge collection of Queen Palms
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