It's not all gloom and adieu to the warmer weather when packing up plants for the winter. One of the little benefits of doing so is you get the chance to inspect the plants one by one as you do so (as long as it's not a rushed affair). You get to inspect them and see how well they have performed from the past growing season and how they are doing just before they get stashed away for the winter.
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| Sorry birds, you're off to a warmer but sunless place for the winter! |
Or simply you get the chance to admire them!
Such was when we finally moved this palm to its home and position for the winter (in the jungle hut).
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| Parajubaea torallyi var. microcarpa |
This particular palm is Parajubaea torallyi var. microcarpa. You can read more about this coconut lookalike on this page. Although this palm grows in high altitude areas in parts of South America and has a good degree of cold and frost tolerance, it is still unsuitable for permanent planting in our garden without extra protection. It is a good candidate however for planting in the milder parts of the country like in the coastal west and Central London.
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| With Gaz for scale |
The jungle hut is now full of plants, although I didn't take a photo at the end. Everything tucked up ready for winter, with plenty of natural light and insulated walls to keep the heat in.
Mark :)
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
Does the palm get any pest problems over the winter?
ReplyDeleteIf you're only getting a chance to admire a potted plant when you're putting it away for the winter, some might say that you have too many potted plants, or maybe your garden is too jungly! :)
We get to admire it in the summer too Alan but yes, it has too many eye candy competitors (or summer just gets too busy to stop and stare too often, typical!).
DeleteI do always enjoy how much bigger and fuller some plants have gotten when I move them in. That palm is really cool - yet another species I had never even heard about!
ReplyDeleteIt's still a relatively obscure palm here although a few have tried it outside here pre winter 2010. I won't be surprised if I start seeing this in milder parts of the UK in the following years.
DeleteWhen you start packing your plants away I always feel like we take our palms so much for granted - just plant and forget. In fact we have palms that self-seed and have to be pulled out like weeds. Packing things away for Winter is a good way of re-evaluating the garden each year though.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Missy :) Trachycarpus fortunei can self seed here which is good
DeleteMy inspection of plants usually leads to a culling prior to packing stuff in the greenhouse. I have this bad habit of buying multiples of plants that do well and that I like. How can you pack half a dozen Ensete maurelii in a greenhouse without rejecting a couple of the weak ones.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind you buying multiples Don, thank you! :))
DeleteIt's a handsome palm, and I love your birds!
ReplyDeleteIt is Amy :)
DeleteWow really nice palm. Will it stay bent at the top when you take it outside in the Spring? Love those birds.
ReplyDeleteHi Candice, it was already like that when we took it in. It'll probably bend even more next year :)
DeleteThat's an impressive looking plant! And spoilt in its winter environment, very chic winter quarters.
ReplyDeleteI quite like the new interior of the jungle hut Janet :)
DeleteCongratulations on getting everything tucked in and safe from the cold weather to come!
ReplyDeleteNot quite everything Kris, there's still a few bits left to move and sort out :)
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