Sydney, Australia Palms

[Tropic]

Hi,

I'm about to get back in the garden and thinking of putting some new palms in. I've recently noticed Foxtail and Royal palms growing around the city, and quite far inland too! I wasn't aware they grew so well down here.

Anyone on here from Sydney and have any experience growing these palms? Also what other palms can we grow here besides the usual Queens/Cocos, King/Bangalow, Canary Island, Golden Cane etc?

[Walter John]

New Caledonian palms grow nicely in the Sydney botanical gardens.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

I'm a big fan of Australia's native Livistonas. L. australis, the Cabbage Palm is native to your area, but many other species do very well too. RBG is a great place to start for ideas. I really enjoyed my trip to Australia a few years back. Looking forward to returning some time in the next couple of years.

[Daryl]

Yep, I was going to say the same thing...there are lots of little treasures growing in the Botanical Gardens there. Spend a whole day there exploring all of the little nooks and crannies and you will see a lot of interesting palms to whet your appetite. There is also an active palm society there (although they are now a 'tropical garden' society these days that still has many members who are palm growers). Look them up and you will benefit from their meetings and outings. There are several Palmtalk members from Sydney and maybe thy will chime in. Lastly, Colin Wilson (Palmtalk member Palmtreesforpleasure) has a fantastic collection down at Kiama that is very inspiring.

And, Welcome to Palmtalk from an another Aussie!

Daryl

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Welcome

I have a particular form of Rhoplalostylis Sapida " Nikau palm " that would grow well for you i could send up !

Troy

[gob1]

Have a look at the Palms for Brisbane website - they list "cold tolerant" species and I think they would ship to you also. They are a very good nursery to deal with. Also search the forum for what the Socal, Norcal and New Zealand guys are growing. If they grow there, Sydney should be OK too.

I expect where you live in Sydney will be important - on the coast will be more forgiving than inland.

I live in Melbourne - the climate here is a lot more challenging than Sydney's we are not restricted to the species you have listed. There are a couple of Bismarkia's growing in the botanical gardens!

[sleazius]

Provided you live east of Parramatta its a fairly big list of palms you could plant. However here is a list of the commonly grown palms under cultivation in Australia. If you want something more exotic you need to either grow it yourself or look a bit harder

http://www.palmsonline.com.au/flex/palm-growth-chart/4/1

[Palms4Steve]

There are heaps of palms that grow well in Sydney, depending on how cold it gets where you are and if you get any frost. Chamaedoreas do really well. Also most palms from Lord Howe Island, and New Caledonia. A lot of the Dypsis and other Madagascan palms can also grow well.

Happy gardening

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hello Tropic

Sydney botanic gardens now has about 550 species but not all of them are planted out yet, many understory species

Lots to see and lots more to come back and see after this summer plantings go in. Many, many species can grow in the Sydney region

regards

colin

[Tropic]

Thank you for the replies everyone!

I live inland, so my climate is a bit different to that at the RBG, though I'll definitely pay a visit. However despite being inland frost is not common here. But temperatures do drop bellow 10ºC / 50ºF in the middle of winter and reach 46ºC / 115ºF in summer.

And thanks for the suggestions too! Will certainly consider some of them, the Nikau and Chamaedoreas seem like good options.

Also where do you Sydneysiders buy your palms? Bunnings, Masters etc all have very limited options. Do you guys purchase everything online?

[Daryl]

Palmland used to have a good selection of species but not so many these days. You can also try Impact plants on the Central Coast. The best plants would be obtained from other local enthusiasts via swapping etc. Of course you can always bring stuff down from Queensland.

Daryl