Palms in Canada

[Banana Joe]

Salt Spring Island Exotica

[paulgila]

cool! i see a trachycarpus & possibly a butia.

where in canada is it?

[LJG]

Just taking a guess but I will need to go with Salt Spring Island Canada.

cool! i see a trachycarpus & possibly a butia.

where in canada is it?

[Banana Joe]

Here's a Butia for you. Our island lies off of the extreme south west coast of British Columbia, Canada. Cheers, Banana Joe

[Banana Joe]

Trachycarpus fortunei are everywhere on our island. Here is a pic. of me harvesting some local seeds from some.

[Banana Joe]

One of my T.fortunei, planted Feb. 1987 from a 1 gallon.

[Banana Joe]

Brahea armata on SSI

[Banana Joe]

Another SSI Butia, this one flowers and fruits. It was planted in Spring 1995 as a small 2 gallon size.

[Banana Joe]

More SSI Exotica. 1,000 miles north of Los Angeles certain palms do just fine.

[Banana Joe]

Chamaerops h. on SSI

[mari]

Brahea armata on SSI

What's up with the big sculptures? Who is the artist? Are they going in your garden? Interesting... Now for the Brahea Armata, how long has it been there and do you know what size it was when it was planted?

[Banana Joe]

That is a pic. of my good friend Lynn with her bronze sculptures she made. She has an amazing subtropical garden, full or palms and Exotica. Her Brahea was planted 3 years ago and it was a bit smaller than what you see there at the time. I also grow Brahea edulis and armata. My Brahea armata is slightly larger and my Brahea edulis I planted in the Fall of 1995. Her sculptures are displayed in our main town. Cheers, Joe

[Banana Joe]

Eucalyptus on SSI

[freakypalmguy]

Nice stuff Joe. What are you lows in the winter?

Matt

[Banana Joe]

SSI Cordylines Feb. 2008 pic.

[PalmatierMeg]

Welcome, Joe. Amazing what palms you can grow.

[realarch]

Thanks for posting, enjoyed the photos. The palms and the sculptures look great. Palms in colder climes are a popular topic and

generate a lot of interest. Nice slice of a paradise you've created.

Tim

[TikiRick]

Joe,

I was just in Vancouver and loved it!

Amazing what is growing in your part of Canada, eh!

[Kris]

Dear Joe

Lovely stills and beautiful locations,the art forms are terrefic and in winter do you expereince snow fall ?

And a warm welcome to palmtalk !

lots of love,

Kris

[paulgila]

Just taking a guess but I will need to go with Salt Spring Island Canada.

cool! i see a trachycarpus & possibly a butia.

where in canada is it?

oh yeah,i know exactly where that is....

NOT!

[joe_OC]

Brahea armata on SSI

Wow...your friend is very talented! Those are amazing statues.

[DoomsDave]

You and your firend have great gardens!

I'll bet you can also grow Chamadoreas like radicalis and metallica up there, too.

If you want to try some kings, shoot me a PM and some seeds from my bodacious specimen are yours for the asking.

That's a great Euc, too.

Mongo LIKE more picture . . . .

[LJG]

Seems like a great place. I had to Google to find it.

Just taking a guess but I will need to go with Salt Spring Island Canada.

cool! i see a trachycarpus & possibly a butia.

where in canada is it?

oh yeah,i know exactly where that is....

NOT!

[Banana Joe]

Last year winter the lowest temp. was 28 F. , Generally nothing below 20 F. I think te last time we had 19 F. was in Dec. 1998, have to look in my weather book where I record daily data. 20F. is very cold for here. Cheers, Joe

[Banana Joe]

Thanks Kris, a winter without snowfall is common here, but usually when it does snow it doesn't stick around long. The rain come quick and washes it all away. I am a regular poster on a few other Hardy Palm Forums, but I'm rather enjoying this one. So much easier to upload palmy pics, lol. Have an awesome weekend. Cheers, Joe

[Banana Joe]

Chamaedorea microspadix and radicalis grow here no problem. I have a few radicalis in my garden , planted in 1997 and never protected in thw winter. They are tough palms. I'll have to get some pics. for you of some growing in town. They are nice understory palms for T.fortunei. Cheers, Joe

[Banana Joe]

Cool! There are hoards of public palm trees in Vancouver, the west end of the city is full of palms. Planted along the roads and beach.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

I am truly amazed Joe at the variety of palms that are thriving on the island . Being from the coldest state in Australia i can relate to your situaton .

Have you tried washingtonia robusta and sabal minor in a sheltered corner 28 F av low is great for your latt !!

[surgeon83]

Last year winter the lowest temp. was 28 F.

!?!?! Oh my gosh, I thought you were going to say like 5F or something. 28 is incredible for that far north. Heck it got down to 29 where I am last winter (still have coconuts though).

Your pics are awesome. I always enjoy seeing pictures of landscapes in extremely different climates and geographies. Hope you keep active. I don't think we have any other regular visitors here from Canada.

[hulagalnz9]

so glad you stopped by. welcome to the e-palmhood joe. luuv the sculptures. to me I see easter island/marquesas influence in shape and style though much more refined details. fabulous island views. thank you.

[Peter]

Congratulations Joe! I've never been to SSP, but love that part of the country.

Peter (Canuck, now living in Socal).

[The Palm Nut]

Hi Joe,

You are the king of palms in Canada with all your efforts in transforming the landscape on not only Salt Spring Island but Victoria and Vancouver I believe. How many species of palms have you tried over the years? Message me if your after any particular species.

Cheers

Mike

[niftinfiftin]

Your garden looks amazing! Truly a labour of love I'd say. Your Butia looks very nice and healthy.

Cheers,

Nathan

[John in Andalucia]

It's a pleasure to hear about new places around the world. From your photos Joe, I'm reminded of Scotland. It looks really tranquil. Thanks for the great photos!

[PalmGuyWC]

Hi Joe,

.........and I thought I was pushing the envelope in N. Calif. Heck, it got colder in Calif. last winter than you did. My low was 25.5F this past winter. You have a beautiful setting on the water. Have you tried Jubaea or Trachycarpus wagnerianus? Trach. wag likes it cool and some do grow on the West End in Vancouver. I hear Trach. princeps is cold hardy too, but they are hard to find.

Dick

[ruskinPalms]

I love to see people pushing the envelope! Would it be possible to grow Syagrus romanzoffiana or CIDP there? Probably hybrids with Butia would do good there too. My favorite Trachy is still the Manipur variety...Those would look great there. Jubaea should definitely be tried. And if you can find a place where frost and occasional snow can be kept off fronds there, then even A. cunninghamiana might be an extreme longshot (like plant it close to some energy inefficient windows between 2 houses with some kind of overhead canopy...). Again, really neat to see such great palms that far north in North America!

[Banana Joe]

I must have 10 species in my garden. I can tell you what I see growing around our island. Sabal palmetto, S.minor, R.hystrix, Other Sabals, T.fortunei, wagnerianus, takil, manipur, princeps, hybrids, Livistona c., Chamaerops h. "Cerifera" as well, Jubaea, Butia, Brahea armata, B.edulis, Smaller Phoenix c., Chamaedorea r. and microspadix, Cycas r., etc. Lots of big Cordylines all over as well. Cheers, Joe

[Banana Joe]

She is also a landscaper as well, she creates amazing exotic gardens. Her company name is Lawns, Ponds & Fronds. Cheers, Joe

[Banana Joe]

Yo should see my Eucalyptus collection, over 2 dozen mature species, tallest are approx. 90'ft tall. I grew most from seed and planted them in the early 1990's. My tallest are the dalrympleana. I love Australian plants, Callistemon, Grevilleas, Acacia, tree ferns, etc. all grow here. There are nice big Eucs. around our island and throughoutour main town. Here is a E.globulus in this pic. planted out 15 years ago. Cheers, Joe

[Banana Joe]

I do grow CIDP but I put a big patio umbrella over it throughout the winter. There are some in town growing unprotected. The one planted in 1999 got heavily set back in a cold winter of 2006 when the min temp. dropped into the low 20's F. for a couple of night, but it is recovering. Syagrus "Silver Queen" is hardiest, but would still need protection this far north. I have seen huge Phoenix and even Syagus on the southern Oregon coast. CIDP are every where down there. Cheers, Joe