Palms - Hardy & Exotic

If I had to choose, maybe this would be my favourite category, from childhood memories of picnics under Chusan Palms in Sheffield Park, Brighton leading to a life long obsession with the tropics and jungles. It’s extraordinary really, that palms can indeed be grown in the UK so successfully that in my garden here in West Sussex they flower, produce seed and ultimately produce masses of young palms randomly growing around the bases of large female Trachycarpus – yes – my beloved Chusans are either male or female in fact.

In our quest to find more, myself and others have strived to find more palms suitable or worth a try outside here. Some such as Chamaerops have proven easy and robust, other such as Washingtonia, Phoenix, Butia and Jubea require a bit more care but can and do succeed with a bit of thought.

We’ve done our best to honestly describe the palms we love. As a final thought, one question I’m often asked is ‘I have a Trachycarpus what else can I try?’, well the first thing I say is…’another Trachycarpus’!