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Speaking of palm trees, I finally live in a climate worthy of them.
When driving my houseboat to the pumpout station, I noticed a few stands of palms and some isolated examples growing randomly in the bush on the riverside. Lots of palms in this town When I get back I will take some pics and post them while drinking beer.
There are probably thousands of CIDPs in London, but most of them are young so only 10-15' tall. For some reason people have only recently discovered that they grow well in our climate. There are a couple in people's gardens just a few mins from my house, and most garden centres will stock them. When I was on my way to the nature reserve where I took the pictures on Saturday, I also discovered a couple of 10-15' tall banana trees.
Yeah, tbh I'm not as impressed with banana plants. They grow all over the place around here and get really tall every year. Then in winter they bite the dust.
I'm more a fan of palms like Phoenix palms. They look very tropical and elegant with a full crown. The taller the better. Eventually the ones in Leeds and London will get big it just takes time as those are slow growing palms. Washies (robusta) are much faster growing and get real tall fast. They should plant those around London. I'm not a fan of deciduous trees at all. For the greenery you get in summer doesn't pay off with the dead look in winter. Seems everyone loves Autumn color and plant them all over. I was surprised to see so many in Barcelona. I wouldn't plant one deciduous tree in a climate like Barcelona if I lived there lol.
The 'average' minimum midwinter temperature in the Scilly Isles is 6 degrees centigrade, frost is very rare there, the same can be said of Cornwall in general, the SW corner of England benefits massively from the Gulf Stream, its because of this that tropical palms can be grown down there, its not because of great heat but because of lack of cold. Palm trees can be grown across the whole of the South coast and in London but its Cornwall that benefits the most from the Gulf Stream because its a (relatively) narrow strip of land surrounded by warm sea breezes (well warm compared to other places on the same latitude).
The 'average' minimum midwinter temperature in the Scilly Isles is 6 degrees centigrade, frost is very rare there, the same can be said of Cornwall in general, the SW corner of England benefits massively from the Gulf Stream, its because of this that tropical palms can be grown down there, its not because of great heat but because of lack of cold. Palm trees can be grown across the whole of the South coast and in London but its Cornwall that benefits the most from the Gulf Stream because its a (relatively) narrow strip of land surrounded by warm sea breezes (well warm compared to other places on the same latitude).
It's certainly mild for it's latitude, allowing a big range of plants to grow. Norfolk Pines aren't really possible for the mainland though. Even the Scilly Isles lost a mature specimen to cold.
It's certainly mild for it's latitude, allowing a big range of plants to grow. Norfolk Pines aren't really possible for the mainland though. Even the Scilly Isles lost a mature specimen to cold.
If they can take -5c then they will grow in Cornwall and places like Portsmouth or inner London, where it never gets that cold. During the record breaking 2010/11 winter, it didn't get below -4c in Central London.
If they can take -5c then they will grow in Cornwall and places like Portsmouth or inner London, where it never gets that cold. During the record breaking 2010/11 winter, it didn't get below -4c in Central London.
There doesn't seem to be much evidence of that though. A couple of pictures of small ones on the south coast, and that's about it.
There might be other factors as well - UK garden forums talk of damage below about -2, with extensive damage below -3C. Those temperatures are common here, but I've never seen any damage. They might need warmer winter averages, to grow like they do on the Scilly Isles.
Biggest one in NZ, is just short of 200ft - that's a big NIP.
There doesn't seem to be much evidence of that though. A couple of pictures of small ones on the south coast, and that's about it.
There might be other factors as well - UK garden forums talk of damage below about -2, with extensive damage below -3C. Those temperatures are common here, but I've never seen any damage. They might need warmer winter averages, to grow like they do on the Scilly Isles.
Biggest one in NZ, is just short of 200ft - that's a big NIP.
Maybe something to do with moisture in the soil? Most of the mild areas away from Cornwall tend to have clay soil, which is a swamp between Nov-Mar and harder than concrete between Apr-Oct.
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When I get back I will take some pics and post them while drinking beer.
