Palm Trees of Canada

[subtropicalbc]

Those are some nice pics of hardy subtropical's I think some areas on Vancouver Island have winters mild enough to support Canary Date Palms and Washingtonia's.

[billy corgan]

I know of one washingtonia in Washington State and it is a sickly small specimen that gets winter protection. They dont like the cold wet weather.

[subtropicalbc]

Really?

[mekujane]

Tropical Canada

[jodelli]

Here are a few of several around here. This park has been recently re-landscaped after a new seawall was put in.
AFAIK these are seasonal only and generally head for the greenhouses in winter.






These are in Detroit, some in GM's Wintergarden similar to the one at the World Financial Center on the Hudson.


MGM. Don't know if they transplant or shelter these.



There are at least two like this next post of billy corgan's down near Seacliff on Lake Erie between Kingsville and Leamington in Essex County, Ontsrio, right around where an F2 hit two or three years ago.

Originally Posted by billy corgan

I live in Niagara on the Lake Ontario and I grow several palms and hardy tropical plants. Most are not protected.

BTW I've lived outside Victoria and everything said on here is pretty much on the money.

[subtropicalbc]

Nice pics, I went to Oak bay and I saw a 15' Queen Palm and a 20' Mexican Fan palm with Global warming in the next few decades Palms will replace our evergeens

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Now all we need is to introduce Kea to the west coast...

[someone123]

Not a palm tree, but here's a monkey puzzle tree in Argyle, NS:


Source

[subtropicalbc]

What is the hardiness zone down there?

[someone123]

The extreme southern part of NS is USDA zone 7 and the other coastal areas (excluding Northumberland shore, which is colder) are zone 6. Sable Island and some of the other islands might be zone 8, but only a handful of people live in those locations.

Another factor in coastal NS is the high precipitation and high humidity (i.e. 1500 mm of rain and fog 120 days a year), and mild summer temperatures. Some plants like that and others don't. Rhododendrons for example are ubiquitous and do very well in NS.

[KEVINphx]

Originally Posted by billy corgan

I live in Niagara on the Lake Ontario and I grow several palms and hardy tropical plants. Most are not protected.

You must share your techniques to growing bananas, cannas, castors, prickly pear, palms and plumerias in a northern great lakes climate! I recognize most of them as plants that go gang-buster here in Phoenix during our hot, dry, 110F+ climate. I don't know much about your local sub-climate, but I do know a bit about gardening and growing tropicals and I can't wrap my head around how these plants must survive your winter.

People don't even grow these plans in the cooler areas of Arizona - and they regularly suffer mild winter weather damage even here in Phoenix.

Have you had them through a single winter yet, or is this a new landscaping project? I know they can all acquire such size in a single season under the right circumstances. . .

[subtropicalbc]

I want to try plumerias here on the West Coast.

[Toronto6A6B]

Originally Posted by Toronto6A6B

I like Windmill palms, they give me a subtropical look so I would experiment with Windmill palms if they are available in Toronto. I wonder if Home Depot or Rona or other nursuries carry Windmill palms ?

Now I know at least the young ones are hardy down to only -8C according to wiki, so I would definitely protect them.

I think Toronto can grow Windmill palms, especially area near lake Ontario. Some microclimate near the lake might shift to 7b from 6b.

I did more measurements and comparison between my front and back yards, the spread under the same condition (sunny day, but my temperture sensors were placed under shades as direct sunlight will heat up the sensors to a whopping of 20 degrees warmer) was a whopping 5C approximately. That's enough to shift a full zone. So I am not surprised that microclimate in Toronto falls into the 7b zone which is warm enough to grow Windmill palms.

Direct sun: The reading is 20C higher but that's not accurate as the sensor is hidden inside the plastic case, so this plastic case creates another sub microclimate (like a green house) which boost the reading 20 degrees Celsius higher. I wouldn't use this reading though.

I am quoting my own post.

Finally I found a website that provides more zoning details (pretty hard to find zoning map that indicates Toronto as 6b & SW On as 7a) .
http://www.expertrees.ca/zonemap.htm

Zone 6b (light purple), clearly includes:
- From Toronto wrapping around lake Ontario to just before St Catharines.
- Then go southward, the Welland area to lake Erie
- Then spread around Central SW Ontario

Zone 7a (dark green), clearly includes:
- St Catharines & Niagara-On-The-Lake & Niagara Falls
- SW Ontario: Chatham, Windsor and Leamington (not shown on map)

From my experiment quoted above, I was gaining a whopping 5C between my South facing back yard (sunny and my temp sensor was put under shade) and front yard (no sun). That's a jump of a full zone (approx 5C).

So I think South facing yard with full sun in Toronto & SW On could be a micro climate 7b (a jump from 6b), and SW Ontario 8a (from 7a) respectively.

7b: 5F to 10F (-15C to -12.22C)
8a: 10F to 15F (-12.22C to -9.44C)

Based on the above link I think windmill palms in micro climates in Toronto and area (7b instead of 6b) will survive a harsh winter with some protection in Jan/Feb (that's all it needs), and will definitely survive in SW On without protection (there were success without protection in Niagara On The Lake as shown by some posters in this forum; Niagara On The Lake is the same zoning as SW On).

What do you think ?

[Toronto6A6B]

Now the question is how to protect those windmill palms before Xmas for Jan/Feb if planted in South facing yard (7b) in Toronto when they are young (survive to -8C) and adult (survive to -12C) ?

Toronto hasn't had white Xmas for years, that tells how "warm" Toronto is.

Someone's website pinpointed her zone (Toronto) as 6b.
http://www.susansgardenpatch.com/zones2.htm

And this map:
- White section Toronto 6b & area
- Purple 7a St Catharines/NiagaraOnTheLake/Niagara Falls/North shore of Lake Erie/Long Point/SW On
- 7b Pelee Island.
http://ottawa.hiddenharvest.ca/uncat...rdiness-zones/

[SignalHillHiker]

The Avalon Peninsula's plant hardiness zones rangee from 5a in the interior to 6b in many coastal areas.

I don't know much about plants - but we do have one wild plant that's absolutely everywhere, especially on the Burin and Avalon peninsulas, and seems a bit odd: bamboo.

There are several different types - the little ones that grow about the height of an average person and have small, hand-sized leaves. These are most common along the roadsides, between trees on exposed areas of the coast, etc. Then there are also the ones that grow at least twice as tall as the average person and have chest-sized leaves. Those are usually found among taller trees.

Here are some pictures I took on my grandmother's property years ago:

[subtropicalbc]

I want to try experimenting with Mexican Fan Palms.

[subtropicalbc]

Some coastal locations in BC are in zone 9b.

[Blitz]

The plant hardiness zones are defined by the lowest temperatures experienced in an average winter. Therefore, I don't think the orientation of the yard (i.e. south-facing, north-facing, etc) should matter because all sides of the yard will cool generally the same at night.

[Blitz]

To back up what Jodelli said about ours being sent to the greenhouses for the winter, Google Streetview caught one side of this boulevard in July and then the other side of it in April, lol.

[Toronto6A6B]

What a disappointment !

Why didn't the City of Windsor even try to plan some palm trees (mature ones), leave them outdoors and see if they will survive the winter ?

The City of Toronto did the same thing with windmill palms which I saw in Toronto. Obviously the City removed them before winter. But Toronto is colder than Windsor and that's understandable.