Washingtonia

[derrick]

My little washy started to grow finaly i was thinking of digging it up.All leaves and spear went brown in march all but the centre.About then i removed shelter for more air flow.And now i have the start of a new leaf .

[Las Palmas Norte]

Perfect ... looks like you (and your Washingtonia) have it made.

[Simba]

My couple of Washingtonia are in pots, and to over winter them, I wrapped them in fleece, covered them from the rain, and dragged them to a protected area in my garden.
It's paid dividends too, because they are both looking good and producing large new leaves.

My next door neighbour, has a very small washy planted out, gave it absolutely no protection, and it got frazzled.

But....looked over his fence this morning, and he has a new leaf pushing through..!!

Maybe, these Washingtonia are hardier and more resilient than I expected.

[Dave Brown]

My big one as you may recall had a clear plastic parasol as a rain/snow shelter, but had to remove it in early March due to high winds. Then we got -4.1C on 8th March which frazzled all the leaf tips. Also the 4 leaves that have grown so far all have some damage, so although I have a nice crown of leaves, unlike last spring, the damage will take a lot longer to grow out.

[Alexander]

My big one as you may recall had a clear plastic parasol as a rain/snow shelter, but had to remove it in early March due to high winds. Then we got -4.1C on 8th March which frazzled all the leaf tips. Also the 4 leaves that have grown so far all have some damage, so although I have a nice crown of leaves, unlike last spring, the damage will take a lot longer to grow out.

So your Washingtonia survived last winter? Well what they need is HOT, HOT, and more HOT weather.

And as long ass it stays cold, here in The Hague are we had only 3 days of 20 degrees or warmer. I guess in most of the UK its not much differend. Well London had some hot weather this week.

I saw a couple of pictures of those palms in a garden in Dallas on another forum. It got - 8 there last winter but now its arround 35 during the day. The hot sun burns them back into life very quickly.

Here in the some parts of The Netherlands still groundfrost. And its 29 of May now...
Next Tuesday is the start of the metereological summer. Well in 3 months autumn nocks on the door...

Alexander

[derrick]

Are be lucky if i get 2 leaves im going artificial no watering and ever green.

[Nathan]

Are those the ones in West Quay?

My Washingtonia survived winter too Alexander & they don't need hot weather to grow fast for me, just plenty of water & mild-warmish temps get them moving fast...

[derrick]

Yeh Nathan i think its West Quay.

[eddie]

Mine survived winter. And they are growing again. I don't think they'll ever get near the size wich they reach in warmer climates. I hope they will grow to two or three meters or so some day in the future.

[Dave Brown]

Here is mine.

Alexander, yes you need heat for maximum growth, but Washingtonia does quite well in many parts of the UK in summer. I have been monitoring temperatures anf growth over the last 3 months. See graph.... clearly 30C will give very fast growth but much cooler temps do give growth

[Alexander]

Dave,

A very good result! I had expected that this cold winter would have killed them. So they are a better option it seems then a Phoenix canariensis_CIDP.

Alexander

[Dave Brown]

Dave,

A very good result! I had expected that this cold winter would have killed them. So they are a better option it seems then a Phoenix canariensis_CIDP.

Alexander

I wouldn't go that far Alexander My Washingtonia is in the best microclimate I have, sheltered from north and east winds and baked in summer. I suspect a Phoenix canariensis_CIDP would survive there as well. Just the microclimate is not big enough to 2 large palms

[redsquirrel]

dug ours out today,boy was that hard work getting it out of the hole.think we found out why it was non-performing too.the only living roots went down about a foot and a bit,below that,everything was rotten where it was sitting in a huge puddle of water.filled it in a bit and stuck the big Dicksonia antarctica in its place.wanted to plant my dasy quad there but its far too wet so will have to build a raised bed for that one

[Nigel Fear]

I've got a Washy in a black sack waiting for it's departure to the 'the next life'' too, the top is poking out the sack with a plastic bottle on it in the vain hope that it;ll re-sprout but I doubt it.

I've got a Phoenix too which really ought to have it;s last rights read to it but the lower leaves are still green even though theres a gaping hole where the spear should be.

I,m thinking of putting a treefern in that spot too, but might use a Trachycarpus yet.

[bev]

shame about the washy darren, but that fern makes a lovely replacement

cheers

lee