Northernmost palms ON EARTH! (Reykjavik, Iceland)

[Alex High]

Hello all,

I recently took a trip to Iceland, and being the palm nut that I am, did a lot of research and reached out to a lot of people beforehand trying to locate any palms there, and I ended up finding two palm plantings! Despite Reykjavik being at 64.1 degrees north latitude (just 2 degrees south of the Arctic Circle), the geographic isolation, being surrounded by ocean, and the moderating influences of the Gulf Stream give the city and Iceland generally an incredibly mild climate for their latitude. Reykjavik is actually a zone 8a climate, but one with very cool summers. I don't think the lack of summer heat is as much of an issue for palm growing as some say, though, as Reykjavik is only about 5 degrees cooler in summer than parts of the far Northern California/Southern Oregon coast, which have CIDPs, Washys, and even king and queen palms. Of course none of those palms will grow in Iceland due to the winters, but even those species can thrive in places with cool summers. No doubt Reykjavik is far less ideal than other zone 8a climates for palm growing, and the lack of sunlight in winter is probably also somewhat of a limiting factor, yet there are palms. Here are the Reykjavik weather averages for reference:

The first palms I visited I found out about from a Palmtalk thread that the person who planted them started. They were planted in 2022 and covered but not heated this past winter. There is apparently PEX tubing running under the garden which carries geothermal wastewater, warming the soil up a bit. There were several Sabals, a Chamaerops, a Butia, and 3 Trachys planted (1 of which was sadly stolen). Only the 2 remaining Trachys, it appears, survived, a regular fortunei and a 'Nova'. Although there are many factors that may have led to the Trachys surviving and the others perishing, no doubt the fact that Trachys prefer cooler summers plays a role. I don't think Sabals are good palms for Iceland, I think the summers are actually too cool in conjunction with the winters for them, but Trachys I think are better equipped to handle them. Here are the palms and the Palmtalk thread that led me to them.

Location:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1zNKHSh2C0zixHKq81mY4kUj9nqtmSFE&ll=64.11467242308686%2C-21.829650771353613&z=16

T. fortunei:

T. 'Nova'

The second palms I visited are, as far as I'm aware, the northernmost on Earth, at 64.14 degrees north latitude. They are located right next to the Botanical Garden, planted next to a park offices building. 5 palms were planted in 2019, and 2 of them remain, both Trachys. They are protected and the remaining 2 have done well. It was incredible to see them in person and witness the northernmost palms of all. It will be interesting to see how they do going forward, and whether they continue to be protected. I would think in a sheltered spot they could go unprotected.

Article on the palms from when they were planted:

https://www.icelandreview.com/news/city-of-reykjavik-plants-himalayan-palms-in-laugardalur/

Their location:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1zNKHSh2C0zixHKq81mY4kUj9nqtmSFE&ll=64.13932091162437%2C-21.867139695659944&z=16

The 2nd northernmost palm:

The northernmost!

It seems there are places north of Iceland that could potentially support palms. One such example is Værøy, an island along the northern coast of Norway. It's actually milder than anywhere in Iceland, despite being further north (67.7 degrees north - north of the Arctic Circle). It has no meteorological winter, meaning that the average temperature never goes below freezing at any point of the year, and has the highest temperature anomaly in the world relative to latitude. The summers highs are comparable to Reykjavik, with warmer lows. Here are the weather averages. I am not aware of any palms there, and doubt there are any due to its isolation, but I would love to see some tried! There are other quite mild places along the Norwegian coast north of there as well. My trip to Iceland has gotten me really interested in climate-latitude anomalies, and I have been researching other places at extreme latitudes that may be suitable to palm cultivation. Let me know your thoughts!

[flplantguy]

This is impressive. Amazing what that gulf stream can do up there!

[aztropic]

1 hour ago, flplantguy said:

This is impressive. Amazing what that gulf stream can do up there!

I lived there for over a year and was actually able to grow a crop of cabbage and carrots outdoors for fresh coleslaw.  

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[aztropic]

Your temperature charts show the averages, but I can confirm that we did have a few days in the 70'sF over summer,and winter lows often bottomed at around 15F. You could have a foot of snow drop on a winter morning,and a few days later it could be gone due to all the rain. Almost a constant 10 mph wind, with weather that changes every half hour from downpour to sunshine to just rain,to snowflakes back to sun. 24 daylight over summer,to sunrise 10:30am to sunset 3pm in the winter. Spectacular northern light shows maybe 5 times a year,but always a little green glow anytime it was dark. Biggest takeaway - not as cold as you would expect for that latitude. It's neighbor Greenland though, is white and snow covered year round...🤷‍♂️Not going to find any palms growing there. 

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[Las Palmas Norte]

Well, I'll be damned. Never thought anyone would even consider growing even a "hardy" palm up there.

[awkonradi]

Given this year's weather, we may be planting Trachycarpus along the fjords of Ellesmere Island soon enough.

Edited August 24, 2023 by awkonradi

[Alex High]

4 hours ago, aztropic said:

Your temperature charts show the averages, but I can confirm that we did have a few days in the 70'sF over summer,and winter lows often bottomed at around 15F. You could have a foot of snow drop on a winter morning,and a few days later it could be gone due to all the rain. Almost a constant 10 mph wind, with weather that changes every half hour from downpour to sunshine to just rain,to snowflakes back to sun. 24 daylight over summer,to sunrise 10:30am to sunset 3pm in the winter. Spectacular northern light shows maybe 5 times a year,but always a little green glow anytime it was dark. Biggest takeaway - not as cold as you would expect for that latitude. It's neighbor Greenland though, is white and snow covered year round...🤷‍♂️Not going to find any palms growing there. 

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

Yeah I've heard the weather there can be very variable. I would really love to visit Iceland in winter, when there are far fewer tourists, and see the northern lights. And yeah there may not be any palms in Greenland (yet!), but there are some surprisingly mild places along the southern coasts. Check out these weather averages for two towns at the southern end of Greenland, the winter weather is not so much colder than Reykjavik, although colder summers, and presumably lots of wind.

By the way here are some bonus shots I took of Greenland from the plane on the way back from Iceland: