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The hardiest of the palms. They are spectacular even as quite young plants. This one was grown from seed in 1982 and is
slowly expanding. Unfortunately it has to be lifted
and planted in a pot, but palms have compact root systems and are are quite forgiving. It has taken a long time, but I am finally ready to take it from its pot and plant it out. It hasn't grown very significantly during the potted years but it has survived. The new situation is rather windy but there is a good deep rich soil so it should get away with enthusiasm. It has grown well now it has settled, I had to add a wire guard to keep the rabbits away. There is a smaller plant nearby that they have chewed down to a stump. Trees and Shrubs online says: "T. fortunei is widespread in central and southern China, but has so long been cultivated for its fibre, and naturalises itself so readily, that its original habitat is uncertain. It is not a native of Japan, but there too it was an important economic plant, and the first seeds to reach Europe were sent from that country by Siebold to Leyden in 1830. Although the Chusan palm is perfectly hardy in the south and west of Britain, in so far as it will, when properly established, withstand a temperature of 32° F or more of frost, it likes a spot screened from the north and east winds." |
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| 25th November 2005 | ||
