Has anyone grown a Beccariophoenix Alfredii in the UK?

[Jamil Habib]

Afternoon Greetings Palm Talk Folks,

This post is aimed at folk in the British Isles and Northern Europe Zone 8 a/b, has anyone managed to successfully grow a Beccariophoenix Alfredii outdoors.

I have 4 seedlings that are a foot tall and I am pondering planting one in my garden with the plan to provide it lots of protection over the winter.

Before I embark on this zone pushing exercise has anyone managed to grow this species with protection in this zone?

[UK_Palms]

I know of a small London one that was planted outside in someone’s garden and I can confirm that it came through winter 18/19 and 19/20 absolutely fine with zero damage. However the person moved house and left it planted at the property. I have no idea how it has faired since, or whether it even survived the previous winter (20/21), which was significantly colder than the previous two winters. Unless you are right in the centre of London where the UHI is at its most extreme, I doubt they stand a chance. Even there it is zone pushing to the extreme really. I will try to find the Twitter post that has a picture of it and perhaps we could get an update on it maybe.

[Axel Amsterdam]

Hi Jamil, how are your syagrus doing?

[UK_Palms]

1 hour ago, Axel Amsterdam said:

Hi Jamil, how are your syagrus doing?

I was thinking the exact same thing after I posted my previous comment. I was going to ask about his Syagrus as well, but I forgot to type it. Hopefully his ones are doing okay.

My Queens haven't really taken damage but they have been slow as heck over the past 9 months. I'm hoping they're just putting roots down and settling in. Our spring and summer last year were terrible though, which didn't help with their growth.