Many people appreciate exotic palm trees and want to keep unique specimens. Our climate allows for growing an increasing variety of palm species that originally thrive in milder climates. However, we risk a harsh winter and losing our beloved palms to frost. We do everything we can to protect them. We use fleece covers, bubble wrap, or even build complete structures to shield them from frost and moisture.
It’s all nice... but it takes a lot of time, money, and energy (I could write a whole book about that myself ;-) , but that’s a story for another time).
I am a fan of unique and rare palm species and exotics (both winter-hardy and non-winter-hardy types). A few winter-hardy palm species I like are, for example, Trachycarpus Fortunei, Trachycarpus Wagnerianus, Jubea Chilensis, and Sabal Minor. But also the non-winter-hardy palm species and other exotic plants such as the Dracaena Draco, Dracaena Cinnabari, Washingtonia Robusta, Cyrtostachys Renda (lipstick palm), Hyophorbe Lagenicaulis (bottle palm), Phoenix Canariensis, and Adonidia merrillii are among my favorite collection.
I enjoy growing them and watching them grow. But above all, it’s wonderful to eventually walk through my own beautiful tropical palm jungle (backyard or front yard ;-)) and enjoy the exotic diversity. What I like less is that I have to protect them for 4 to 5 months against potentially bad weather... For example, by moving them indoors in autumn and winter. Or by building all kinds of enclosures to protect the palms (which doesn’t look very cozy either).
How wonderful would it be to enjoy your own unique palm jungle 12 months a year without having to go through all kinds of hoops to protect them.
That’s why I started looking for unique winter-hardy palm species that can withstand our climate in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Want to know which palm species are suitable for our cold and wet climate? Check out the selection of winter-hardy palm seeds and seedlings here.
View available seeds
