Hardy Tropicals UK

Saw this palm today, wonder how hardy it is? St. James' Park is one of the mildest of London parks.



There are also some CIDPs behind it, a bit crammed...

Looks like a Phoenix Roebellini?

It is roebelenii. Noticed this from another series of pics taken at St James' Park a while ago. Obviously put in as bedding last year and not lifted for the winter.

Short-lived light frosts will do no harm to one of these if hardened off. There has been no frost this winter thus far that would touch that. It would be nice to see it come through unscathed and grow on next year. However, that Acanthus growing next door might have swamped it by then.

GREVILLE wrote:However, that Acanthus growing next door might have swamped it by then.

Sneak along with a pair of clippers?

yes roebelenii, I wouldnt be surprised if these survive in central London. I noticed one in a large stone pot against a housewall in Kensington which looked like it had been there for some years.

Cheers. It's nice to see such exotic palms in public parks!

That part of London is so mild that maybe it was meant as a permanent planting. In the infamous Dec 2010 freeze it only got down to somewhere between -4 - -3C.
The palm is planted under something evergreen if I remember correctly.

Wouldn't look as good as that if last December was like 2010.

Arent't there more roebs in tubs in central London? Here it is a quite popular plant to put outside during summer and a lot of people just leave them outside during winter.

I know a couple of larger ones around here which look healthy at the moment. Normally they wouldnt stand a chance ofcourse, but we had only around -2C/-2,5C.

Yes P. roebelenii... During a normal winter in central London they should be fine, as I had them growing happily in my Southsea garden for several years (two even flowered) but the cold winters of 2009 & 2010 killed them, with an absolute minimum of -2.5C

Very nice to see a good Phoenix roebelinni growing in London. Not that difficult this winter of course, but still.