Phoenix roebelenii

[garyiryna]

On ebay, someone is selling this palm, and says they have been growing outside in england for the last 10 years, can that be true? are they a hardy palm? or what temp can they take? they are a really nice palm, and i have one in a pot outside, can i leave it out or should it be brought inside? it is about 5 feet tall with nice big trunk. when i bought it, some of the fonds were slightly brown, the garden center said, if you can, pull the fonds out that are brown, new ones should grow, is that right? or will my lovely roebelenii die? Are anyone growing these? anyone have seedlings? and are these palms slow growers? what time in the year should this palm be growing new fronds?

gary

[Neofolis]

It depends where they are in England and how sheltered the garden is, etc. roebeleniis will take down to about -4°C/25°F in the UK, once they have reached trunking size, providing they are otherwise healthy. They have a better chance in the ground rather than in pots and should be well mulched through the winter months at least. They won't require any supplemental watering or feeding during the dormant period, even if it hasn't rained for weeks, assuming they are well mulched. Either way, unless you live on the relatively frost free Devon or Cornwall coast or have a good Heat Island advantage they won't be easy, but definitely possible.

[GARYnNAT]

Hmmm fraid I have to disagree there, in a mild Cornish sheltered garden with no frost maybe but elsewhere no chance, I have lost several in years gone by when left outside for winter. the one I have now came as a freebie from Mark at Todds Botanics after it got damaged fronds kept overwinter frost free in a poly tunel but at temps down to -2c.
I gave my brother in law a large one in september last year as he was just getting into exotics and i really had no room for it, he kept it on his patio right against the house wall and covered in a couple of old duvets on a wigwam frame when the temps dropped.... it is toast dead as the proverbial doornail. Mark Hall gave several very large ones away from where he used to work but i am sure that the ones that people left out as they were to large to do anything else with never made it either, hopefully these people will chip in. My advice is if you want a pristine plant then you need to bring it into at least a green house that is kept above freezing and ideally in a heated conservatory or the house

Gary

[MarkD]

There's a specimen at Lamorran, alive but just, scruffy and looking sorry. That's in a sheltered spot in a Cornish garden, minimum +1.5C

[AndyC]

The label on the ones that B&Q were selling last year claimed that they are 'fully hardy'. Yeah, I fell for it . Fortunately I was put right before last winter came along and I brought it inside. Even inside at a minumum of 5C it virtually stopped growing for five months.

[lucienc]

I bought one of the £8.98 "fully hardy" B&Q ones, knowing the same as the rest. And put it in the front garden to see what it would do. It's survived the winter mostly still green, and sending out new fronds.

My trunked one lived in the poly tunnel and greenhouse and died (doesn't look like its coming back). I think though it dried out too much rather than got too cold.

Lucien

[palmking]

I've killed one outside a few years ago and bought one of the B&Q ones recently again as it was dirt cheap £8.99.

Even so - I won't be likely to overwinter it outside. I really love these palms but even at this price i'll be bringing it into my porch over winter. ( I keep my bougainvillea and Brazilian Jasmine(Mandevilla Hybrid) in there too).

The whole point of these palms is they are popular because they are so attractive and a winter outside anywhere in the UK won't leave it in best condition at the very least!

Paul M

[Neofolis]

The problem is keeping them healthy in our climate. Many people find that they will survive one or two winters, then die. My father-in-law had one that survived for three seasons outside and it wasn't even in the ground, but each year most of the foliage would turn brown and each year new foliage would replace it, until last year no new foliage. As I said, without being in the best climates the UK has to offer, they won't be easy. Even in the best climates, they will require a lot of care. It may be that the person on eBay has a particularly favourable microclimate in a very mild location, but as most people on here have confirmed, very few people would be able to keep them alive. Did the eBay seller mention whether they received any winter protection of not? I know someone in New York who is growing roebelenii outside, but he has to take great protection measures in winter, to the point that they may as well not be outside any more.

[garyiryna]

I guess in winter it needs to be wrapped if temp more than -1 out of wind, next to a wall, under canopy, in light but not direct sunlight and we might have a chance. Is it true that the roebelenii is the same hardeness as the kentia palm?

Gary

[musa_monkey]

oh dear i bought a nice one a while ago from bandq given the label said fully hardy quite where i am going to put it in winter is a tad bothersome. Can you get away with a garage or will the lack of light do it in?

[Neofolis]

Gary, Kentias are supposed to be hardy to -4°C/25°F, but they wouldn't take temperatures that low in the UK, because of our winters being so long, cool and in most areas damp. The kind of places where Kentias have survived those sort of temperatures are areas of Florida, California and other southern US states, where the frosts are short lived and often followed by reasonable heat within a day or two.

I'm not sure how long palms can survive in a garage, but when they are dormant they can survive for a reasonable length of time. They often do strange things afterwards like producing a leaf with no pigment. As our temperatures are rarely sub-zero all day, you could bring it outside for some time each day to reduce the impact of the low light. If it is only in the garage during the coldest spells, it probably has a better chance than trying to face the temperatures outside.

[Dave Brown]

I have a P.roebelenii from the Palm Center in 1991, now about 8 feet tall. I'd had my eye on them since 1976, when I saw one for the fist time in a florist window in Wigmore Street W1. It was about 4 feet tall, and was £450 I used to go and look at it every lunchtime, but unfortunately it was sold, and they didn't get any more.

My big one stays out most of the year, only being brought in on 24th Jan 2007 several hours before the snow. I has gone below zero on occasion without problem, but cannot handle the sun after being under cover for a couple of months.

I also bought an £8.98 one from B & Q last year, and this does seem altogether tougher. It got left out under the canopy of a Choisya ternata by mistake and temps dropped to -1.7C and it did not bat an eyelid. It then spent all winter under the covered bit which dropped to -2C on several occasions, again, not batting an eyelid.

It is now out in full sun, you guessed it .... not batting an eyelid (no leaf burn)

The big one to the right of the glen

Gary, I tried Kentia, and they survive, but with such leaf damage, they vitually don't grow at all the next year, and die the following winter. If you are going to try and grow things that are so marginal they will get damaged by frost every winter, then you need something that will romp away in our summer to replace the damaged leaves. Washingtonia for instance. To me there seems little point in saying "yes it survived" but looks an absolute mess.

[Neofolis]

The other problem with any Phoenix palm is that you can't rule out the possibility that you have a hybrid. However, if that that means it survives and it still looks good, not a problem.

[nicebutdim]

On ebay, someone is selling this palm, and says they have been growing outside in england for the last 10 years, can that be true? are they a hardy palm? or what temp can they take? they are a really nice palm, and i have one in a pot outside, can i leave it out or should it be brought inside? it is about 5 feet tall with nice big trunk. when i bought it, some of the fonds were slightly brown, the garden center said, if you can, pull the fonds out that are brown, new ones should grow, is that right? or will my lovely roebelenii die? Are anyone growing these? anyone have seedlings? and are these palms slow growers? what time in the year should this palm be growing new fronds?

gary

In the last twenty years I've had three.one lasted 15 years and looking leggy,I put it outside under shelter needless to say it died.Last year I bought two at B&Q one is kept in a conservatory out of the sun and it looks great.The other was put outside after splitting it apart as it was a clump of three,this also snuffed it.
My indian neighbour had a beautiful one one the outside of the house two years ago ,this didn't make it through the winter,which wasn't that bad.
So it's a mixed bag ,you may be lucky and you may not,I have seen these abroad in Oz under fierce sun and they look ok,try that here and the leaves don't seem to take it.

[Dave Brown]

NBD,

They don't seem to accustomise very well if you put an indoor grown one outside, it will lose all it's leaves to burn in the sun, then it grows very slowly as there is no energy production, but any leaves it grows in full sun will take full sun. It is adaptable in that it can grow in heavy shade and in full tropical sun, but the leaves themselves cannot adapt well. That is why I leave mine out as long as possible, and only bring it in when cold enough not to grow.... well that is the theory, it is a bit too big to lug in and out every day, so some growth occurs under cover, and it always burns.