Palms in New Sealand?

[Exotic Life]

Hi,

On a dutch forum is a discussion on, about if there palms growing on that two islands and if the southern island more palsm are growing then the northern.

Can somebody tell me about the palms that are growing there? With species? Does somebody got pictures from the palms there?

[Bennz]

Wow, a big question!

Having a temperate climate we grow mainly temperate palms. Probably the most common throughout the country are Rhopalostylis (native), Archontophoenix, Phoenix, Washingtonia, Syagrus rom. and Trachycarpus.

I think the easiest answer is that anything commonly grown in Southern California can also be found in NZ, anything marginal in SoCal is not here at all.

The diversity of possible palm plantings decreases from Auckland/Northland (34S) as you go south. By the time you hoit the far south, Trachycarpus fortunei is about the only common palm, although there are examples of Archontophoenix, Howea, Parajubaea, Ceroxylon etc in sheltered locations at least as far as 45S.

At 39.5S, I am focusing on Rhopalostylis, Archontophoenix, Howea, Hedyscepe, Laccospadix, some Dypsis (baronnii, onihalensis, decipiens), Ceroxylon and Parajubaea. I tend to prefer large plantings of one or two species to the 'botanical garden look'.

Hope this helps.

[PalmGuyWC]

Ben,

Sometimes I feel very palm limited in N. Calif, but yet I still have a nice palm collection. You live in a very unique climate where palms can be grown that don't grow in many places. I like the idea of mass plantings of one species.

As common as Washingtonias are in Calif., I've seen them planted in mass, and they make quite a statement. In "motel row" in San Diego there is a large  hotel with nothing but Washingtonias and it's really quite spectacular. I bet your mass plantings of Parajubaeas will be mind blowing. What about Jubaeas? I bet they would grow for you.

Curious, can't some of the exotic palms be grown at the extream northern tip of New Zealand? I know it's warmer there so property must be expensive there.

Dick

[Bennz]

G'day Dick,

While the extreme northern tip of NZ is the warmest overall, this is moderated to some extent by mild summers. Napier about 45kms from here is only 0.7C colder on average than Kerikeri, 12 hours drive further north. The only plants I cant grow in my frost-free site at 39.5S compared to a far north site are the plants that need very mild winters. Realistically with palms the choice of plants that are going to do well in NZ are usually more limited by summer heat than winter cold, and given that the summer heat accumulation is similar here to the far north, the presence or absence of frost becomes often the most important factor. The north also has far higher humidity, which often makes a difference.

Having said that, the only Roystonea I have seen growing in NZ (apart form my newly planted specimen) is in Kerikeri, and there are a lot of palms there that are not common elsewhere. And the only cavendish banana plantation is just north of Kaitaia... you get the idea.  

Property prices are higher in parts of the far north, but the whole area is a little backward, and some of it is very cheap. The Northland penninsula is very insular, it is surrounded by ocean, and by Auckland City to the south. It is almost like an island, where going south is almost a different country. It takes 2 hours to drive from Whangarei to Auckland, and often longer than that to get through the Auckland traffic.

[PalmGuyWC]

Thanks for the info., Ben.  You mentioned about a year ago you had a large number of Parajubaeas germinating and that you planned to plant them in a valley in mass.  How is that project coming along?

Dick

[Bennz]

(PalmGuyWC @ Mar. 27 2008,06:10)

QUOTE

Thanks for the info., Ben.  You mentioned about a year ago you had a large number of Parajubaeas germinating and that you planned to plant them in a valley in mass.  How is that project coming along?

Dick

What I actually said was that i have a large number of Parajubaea seeds which are beginning to germinate, which I intend to mass plant, which is unfortunately not quite the same. After a small initial flush of germination at about 12 month, the rest are still mainly sitting. I'm not worried, I've had Parajubaeas take 9 years to germinate before, so 18 months is still early days!

Yes the project is still on, but waiting for enough palms to germinate before I start. I hope I live long enough to see the results. I've got the same idea with Ceroxylons for another area, this time mass planted into a gulley and allow regeneration of native rainforest around them. I have a little under 1000 Ceroxylon seedlings (mainly quindiuense), so it should be pretty impressive one day too.

[PalmGuyWC]

Ben,

That should be spectacular with an area for Parajubaeas and one for Ceroxylons. There are several different species of Ceroxylons growing in the San Francisco bay area, but you could probably count each species growing in the area on one hand. C. quindiuense is probably the fastest and the eaisest to grow in the Bay Area. You should have the perfect climate for them and plenty of moisture too.

Dick

[Alicehunter2000]

I've traveled to the tip (Cape Reanga? Lookout) Where the Tasman Sea meets the South Pacific. I can vouch for the area being somewhat isolated (beautiful). There are places where you can drive on the beach for miles and miles and not see another person.

[Walter John]

Archontophoenix ? Which species ?

[Bennz]

(Wal @ Mar. 27 2008,15:54)

QUOTE

Archontophoenix ? Which species ?

A. cunninghamiana is most common, A. purpurea is most desired, A. alexandrae fairly common. The others are all here, but not sure how well they are doing yet. A. maxima growing well for me in nursery.

A. purpurea

[Tyrone]

Those A purpurea are incredible Ben. They sure like the cooler temps. I've found here in Perth that you give them a bit of fullsun which then becomes shade, heaps of humus and lots of moisture, then off they go.

Are you growing any Hedyscepe, or Leppidorachis?

I'm amazed by the Nikau palm. I had a few including some Chathams that I'd germinated, and admittedly they are in full shade, but as seedlings they've seen temps as high as 45C, and they kept powering along without any negative effect. I did keep them wet through the whole ordeal which may have helped, but I didn't lose one. Rhopies LOVE moisture. They're a pretty palm IMO. I love the NZ palms.  

regards

Tyrone

[Bennz]

(Tyrone @ Mar. 27 2008,19:43)

QUOTE

Those A purpurea are incredible Ben. They sure like the cooler temps. I've found here in Perth that you give them a bit of fullsun which then becomes shade, heaps of humus and lots of moisture, then off they go.

Are you growing any Hedyscepe, or Leppidorachis?

Alas, those purpureas are not mine. They are at Russell Franshams place, a little north of Whangarei. Mine are very much smaller...

I collected both those LHI mountain palm seed on Mt Gower in 1999, but the Leppies just did not perform at all. I think only one even germinated, and then promptly died. Hedyscepe has also been very disappointing for me. Most of the seed i collected was from right on the summit, and I am wondering if perhaps a little lower down might have been better. One of the locals told me a thermometer he had up there had maxed at 22C, which is not real warm. There seemed to be a very distinct starting point for both species.  There was a Hedy. hanging out over the edge with heaps of seeds on it. I remember looking down over the edge to the sea 880m below and seeing Hedy leaves down to only a very definite point. Seeds MUST have fallen lower than that point by simple gravity, but there were no palms down there. I'm thinking that even in such a small population as the LHI mountain palms, there might be distinct provenance types, with varying climatic preferences.

[Tyrone]

I'm surprised by that Ben. I thought that your climate would be ideal. I've got about 15 seedlings(Hedyscepe) and one in the ground all in deep shade and they've kept growing right through summer even though we had many days in the 40C range and one up to 45C. Leppidorachis are a different story. I had a few seedlings and for the first year brought them inside into the airconditioning in summer and they grew fine. However one year I forgot about them and found there decomposed bodies when cleaning the area out. Even still I would have thought that you'd grow that one too. Do you have a distinct dry season?

regards

Tyrone

[Alicehunter2000]

(Tyrone @ Mar. 28 2008,00:28)

QUOTE

However one year I forgot about them and found there decomposed bodies when cleaning the area out.

Yes, those decomposing bodies alway presented somewhat of a challenge for me as well.  ???  ::  

I always find adding more coffee grounds helps......smells better.  :laugh:

[Tyrone]

(Alicehunter2000 @ Mar. 28 2008,07:53)

QUOTE

Yes, those decomposing bodies alway presented somewhat of a challenge for me as well.  ???  ::  

I always find adding more coffee grounds helps......smells better.  :laugh:

Your scary comments suit your Avatar really well.      ???

regards

Tyrone

[Exotic Life]

Great info, thanks!

Robbin

[Walter John]

Excellent info, thanks Ben.