Palms in northern mediterranean - 1450 ft a.s.l.

[LivistonaFan 36]

Hello,

I planted the following palms in an olive grove:

• Butia eriospatha
• Chamaerops humilis var. 'cerifera'
• Jubaea Chilensis
• Livistona Chinensis 
• Phoenix Canariensis
• Rhapis excelsa

more will be planted in the next years, but primarily I have to check the cold hardiness zone (I will install a weather station soon to check the winter lows). I hope the lows in the coldest winters will at least be >18 fahrenheit 

Edited September 8, 2018 by LivistonaFan

[LivistonaFan 36]

 

sorry, but I don't have better pictures for the Butia.

The Livistona had to lose its highest frond, because otherwise it would have been very difficult to transport it.

The soil is almost pure loam and very profound. At first I thought that it was impossible to dig deep holes, because the soil was bone-dry but with a little water it was almost easy. Later on I will add some bark mulch.

 

Which do you think is the most likely to survive longterm and  which the least?

Edited September 8, 2018 by LivistonaFan

[dalmatiansoap 261]

Depends on exact location. In my area Raphis and Livistona would be the most in danger. I lost few "bullet proof" palms for my zone due to wind after cold spell and on the other side I have few survivalists that will never gave them a chance.

[TexasColdHardyPalms 2,411]

Rhapis is the most fragile of the group. Livistona will burn but is EXTREMELY bud hardy. They'll take single digits and come back. 

[Neil C 419]

Well your soil looks good so thats a start. How wet are your winters? Your Chamaerops should be the hardiest if your winters are not too wet. I'm afraid I don't fancy your Raphis chances but I hope I'm wrong. Cudos to you for having a go.

Regards Neil

[Pal Meir 4,667]

Your Chamaerops argentea doesn’t look good; why don’t you plant a normal Chamaerops which doesn't mind even wet winters? — The soil seems to be alkaline limestone (carbonate) if I am right. That can cause other problems with Butia and Jubaea. Did you measure the pH?

[LivistonaFan 36]

@Neil C Of course, winters are wetter than summers, which is the definition of this type of climate. But it rains considerably less in winter than for example the croatian coast down to the greek city Patras ( I quickly checked some climate charts). Furthermore the most precipation is in October and November which shouldn't hurt the palms to much. I hope the wall which is SW/W-facing helps the Rhapis in cold winter days.

@Pal Meir I just like blue or silver palms very much and it would be a nice contrast to the others. If it dies I can replace it with a normal Chamaerops anyway as they are not that expensive. I think it was greenhouse grown because the leaves burned within two days after I received it. My cheap ph soil meter claimed that the ph is just above seven (very slightly), but I don't know if I can trust it.

[LivistonaFan 36]

a soil map marks it as borderline between brown soils and lithosols/ alluvial soils

[Cikas 346]

Chamaerops cerifera does not mind at all our humid winters here in Dubrovnik (Croatia). We have 1064 mm of rain per year. Most of that in late fall, winter and early spring. Our summers are hot and dry. 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Cikas

[Cikas 346]

Here is mine Chamaerops cerifera.

 

[LivistonaFan 36]

@Cikas Very nice! How old is it? ( How long have I to wait to see my cerifera as big as yours?)

Edited September 11, 2018 by LivistonaFan

[Cikas 346]

56 minutes ago, LivistonaFan said:

@Cikas Very nice! How old is it? ( How long have I to wait to see my cerifera as big as yours?)

It is planted 4+ years ago (I think). 

[LivistonaFan 36]

Small Update:

after more than three weeks without much rain, it rained a lot in the last week:

• Rhapis got accidentally removed by a neighbor (maybe I will try another one next year)
• Phoenix fried a lot of its oldest (greenhouse-grown) fronds, but the new spear seems O.K.
• Butia seems ok (two spears browned off) and actively growing
• the two yellow fronds of the Livistona Chinensis turned brown 
• the Chamaerops Cerifera defoliated completely, but its center spear seems alright
• I planted a Chamaerops humilis 'vulcano ( I know that isn't very clever that late in the year)

[LivistonaFan 36]

 

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by LivistonaFan

[LivistonaFan 36]

I just acquired three new palms which might be quite marginal for the location. After I know how low the temperature went this winter I will decide whether they stay in pots or go in the ground.

They aren`t rare palms but nonetheless quite exciting for me:

 

• Rhapis humilis (as a substitution for the R. excelsa + supposed to be more cold hardy ; quite difficult to find in Germany)

• Arenga Engleri (it is possible that I already have one, but it is uncertain)
• Acoelorrhape wrightii:
• 
• all together under artificial lights (Sabal uresana in the front left is finally recovering(after 6 months))
• 

[LivistonaFan 36]

Almost exactly one year later after the first post, most palms do not thrive (yet), but except for the Chamaerops humilis Cerifera all survived this year. They were just sporadically irrigated during their first summer, insufficient in a Mediterranean climate, but it was the only possible way.

First, some stats (data from December 1st to August 20th) to understand the new habitat of the palms :

[The "weather station" is north-facing (+never sees the sun) + it is relatively exposed to wind etc and not in proximity to any shelter/heated building--> I think it should be pretty accurate]

Winter was not too bad considering the location's latitude and altitude, but nonetheless cool/cold. 

• 22 days below 50°F/10°C high temperature (4 in Dec/16 in Jan/2 in Feb)
• lowest high temperature: 45.5°F/7.5°C (measured in Jan.)
• 16 nights below 35°F/1.7°C (3 in Dec/13 in Jan/0 in Feb)
• ultimate low: 30.2°F/-1°C (measured in Jan.)

--- > January is far colder than December and February. There is an extreme uniformity temperature-wise (so many nights fell below 35°F but none below 30°F)

summer was/is relatively cool for a Mediterranean climate with considerably lower night temperatures than the immediate coast:

• 24 nights above 68°F
• highest low temperature: 76°F/24.4°C
• 29 days high temperatures above 90°F/32.2°C (I was too lazy to count all above 86°F which were much more)
• ultimate high: 101.6°F/38.7°C

Jubaea Chilensis is clearly the winner in terms of drought tolerance (it got 11 leaves cut, half of them were still green)

Phoenix Canariensis comes second (lost a few leaves, but has restarted its growth)

I removed it however and it will stay in a pot in Germany because of the hazard of the RPW (I know Jubaea is endangered as well, but I just want to see it getting big one day. I will replace the Phoenix Canariensis with a Parajubaea Microcarpa next spring.

Third place is a tie between Livistona Chinensis and Butia Eriospatha

 

The Livistona lost all its leaves at some point in mid-summer (I guess it was due to its high evaporation of the palmate leaves and the comparatively small roots). But it has started to regrow strongly since then.

The Butia has not lost all of its leaves, but the spear dried up (I guess because of the drought). A new healthier spear is coming though.

Last Places are the two Chamaerops (which should have been the most adapted palms climate-wise)

The Chamaerops humilis 'Vulcano got mowed over (but still alive)

And the Cerifera passed away. As I promised, I will replace it with a standard green Chamaerops.

New palms:

I planted four of my Washingtonia filiferas (most likely not true filiferas):

I planted three of them with exactly 1.15 Meters space between them (I know it is tight, but I guess it should work)

The fourth Washingtonia filifera is planted solitary, later on I will plant on each side one of my two Washingtonia robustas (of course with some distance)

In the future, I will try to plant more exciting palms, but none of them have the right size yet.

I could also imagine a Dypsis Decipiens in a more protected spot, but I am not able to find one to buy