Chelsea Physic Garden in London (2023 update)

[UK_Palms]

Last month I visited the Chelsea Physic Garden in central London to get an update on the palms and exotics growing there. It was a pretty hot day with temperatures around 33C / 92F at the time I was visiting.

Butia Odorata

Jubaea Chilensis

Washingtonia

 

Chamaerops Humilis

Phoenix Canariensis

 

Rhopalostylis Sapida and Chatham Island

Phoenix Reclinata?

Dasirion, Agave Americana and various flowers, including Echiums.

Dicksonia Antarctica tree ferns

 

Serenoa Repens

Cacti exhibits

 

Canary Island Pine

Pomegranate tree

 

Grapefruit…

Invasive Ring necked parakeet

 

 

Edited October 21, 2023 by UK_Palms

[UK_Palms]

I managed to scope out a few more palms for updates as well when I visited central London last month.

CIDP’s in Warwick Gardens, Kensington

Almost all of the seedlings from last year have been removed from under the CIDP on the right, but a new batch of seedlings have come up under the one in the centre. Both have seedlings growing out of their trunks.

 

Battersea Park

CIDP near Fulham football ground

 

Washingtonia

 

Yucca Elephantipes

Oleander

A few of the landmarks…

Edited October 22, 2023 by UK_Palms

[SeanK]

On 10/21/2023 at 12:16 PM, UK_Palms said:

Last month I visited the Chelsea Physic Garden in central London to get an update on the palms and exotics growing there. It was a pretty hot day with temperatures around 33C / 92F at the time I was visiting.

Butia Odorata

Jubaea Chilensis

Washingtonia

 

Chamaerops Humilis

Phoenix Canariensis

 

Rhopalostylis Sapida and Chatham Island

Phoenix Reclinata?

Dasirion, Agave Americana and various flowers, including Echiums.

Dicksonia Antarctica tree ferns

 

Serenoa Repens

Cacti exhibits

 

Canary Island Pine

Pomegranate tree

 

Grapefruit…

Invasive Ring necked parakeet

 

 

Jubaea and tall Chamaerhops are beautiful.

[Foxpalms]

Great to see a nikau planted there. A kentia is what I would plant next if I was them.

[Fusca]

On 10/21/2023 at 11:16 AM, UK_Palms said:

Butia Odorata

 

Nice photos!  I'm just curious how the Butia fruit does over there with the cooler summer temps?  Will these fruits ripen before winter there?  I'm sure they manage since the CIDP fruits ripen but there must be a different timeline based on the climate difference.

[UK_Palms]

On 10/22/2023 at 9:35 PM, SeanK said:

Jubaea and tall Chamaerhops are beautiful.

Yes, although the Jubaea at Chelsea Physic Garden is not very big and doesn't look as pristine as many others. At least compared to say the Packington Estate Jubaea.

These photos are from June 2023, not long after the worst winter in 12/13 years...

[UK_Palms]

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Nice photos!  I'm just curious how the Butia fruit does over there with the cooler summer temps?  Will these fruits ripen before winter there?  I'm sure they manage since the CIDP fruits ripen but there must be a different timeline based on the climate difference.

Well I harvested a bunch of Butia fruit from Portsmouth on the south coast over 2 years ago now. So far I have had 7 germinate, 5 of which are above soil.

The summers there right on the coast are cooler than London by about 3C / 5.5F, but maybe slightly sunnier there. 21C / 70F July Ave maximum for Portsmouth vs 24C / 75F Ave July max for London. 

Here is one I saw in London last September, so 13 months ago now.

[Foxpalms]

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Nice photos!  I'm just curious how the Butia fruit does over there with the cooler summer temps?  Will these fruits ripen before winter there?  I'm sure they manage since the CIDP fruits ripen but there must be a different timeline based on the climate difference.

They typically continue ripening. I have seen plenty with lots of ripened seeds in the winter here. For them to self seed though they would need from spring to the end of summer, however I did see a few self seed earlier last year as July and August both had an average high of 81f.  Plenty of butia seed around, the butias in Eastbounre in Dec also were full of ripe seed and that area is not as warm London, the same with Cornwall.

[Banana Belt]

On 10/23/2023 at 4:17 PM, UK_Palms said:

Butia fruit from Portsmouth

Do the Jubaea also fruit in UK?  Here in Brookings, Ore. a Butia growing under a CIDP has never fruited, but neither has my 41 year old Jubaea.  They are growing fine, flowering continually, but never set fruit.

[UK_Palms]

@Banana Belt There are fruiting Jubaea’s present here in the UK. I photographed an enormous one in a back yard in Torquay, Devon in August 2022, which I believe was planted small around 1930, although I have heard people say they have been there since 1890. There is a 2nd slightly smaller one behind it out of shot.

The one at Tresco Abbey Gardens may be even older, but it looks less good due to all the wind and salt spray. That one is in a very exposed location and gets battered by winds in winter, but has zero frosts to deal with usually. While they will survive and grow to big sizes, Jubaea’s do not look that good in these exposed coastal locations.

They like quite a bit of summer heat to fill out the crown and coastal winds will desiccate the fronds. The healthiest looking Jubaea’s over here are inland and especially in the London area. The crowns on the coastal ones just don’t look as pristine. This one at Tresco has produced viable seeds however.

[Banana Belt]

1 hour ago, UK_Palms said:

Jubaea’s do not look that good in these exposed coastal locations

That is very informative and interesting.  The Jubaea I pictured above I planted from seed in 1983 and are growing about 75 meters from the Pacific Ocean Surf, and although we do get some strong southwestern storms coming off the ocean, there is a 35 meter verticle bluff above the surf which blocks and lifts strong wind gusts up and over the Jubaea location 50 meters behind the bluff.  Moving back and further away from the bluff say 150 meters, the wind drops down to ground level with thrashing effects. 

I believe and others have said that because my specific location is so close to the cold Pacific Ocean, temperatures rarely for any length of days gets over 80 degrees F which aborts any fruit trying to set in late summer.  But things and climate is changing slowly and the Jubaea's I planted are now 40 years old so maybe they will set fruit.  I am looking forward to the first nuts.

[UK_Palms]

@Banana Belt Your Jubaea will flower and set seed eventually in your location. The big ones at Tresco and Torquay have done so, despite having pretty lacklustre summer temperatures there. I wouldn’t worry about your ones not flowering. They will get there eventually. The summer heat really isn’t that much of an issue, providing winters aren’t too bad either.

When London reached 40C / 105F in July 2022, the highest it got in the Scilly Isles was about 25-26C / 77-80F. However they do have the mildest winters in the British Isles there in the far southwest of England, which is more important then summer heat when it comes to keeping a palm healthy and growing optimally. Hence why so many palms do well in the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall. Summer heat is obviously beneficial for most palms, but really not essential. Whereas mildish winters are pretty important in getting a palm to survive and produce viable seed.

I have heard the Jubaea in Richmond, southwest London, has flowered this year. I haven’t seen any pictures of it in a while now, but it looked like this back in the spring. This was after the worst winter in 12-13 years, since 2010. That part of southwest London would have saw it’s coldest January temperatures for 30+ years. This Jubaea probably saw about -7C / 19F there, on 2 separate nights. Compare that to a balmy +3C / 38F minimum in the Scilly Isles. West London in general got hit pretty hard.

Photos from March-April of Richmond Jubaea

[Banana Belt]

25 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

@Banana Belt Your Jubaea will flower and set seed eventually in your location. The big ones at Tresco and Torquay have done so, despite having pretty lacklustre summer temperatures there. I wouldn’t worry about your ones not flowering. They will get there eventually. The summer heat really isn’t that much of an issue, providing winters aren’t too bad either.

When London reached 40C / 105F in July 2022, the highest it got in the Scilly Isles was about 25-26C / 77-80F. However they do have the mildest winters in the British Isles there in the far southwest of England, which is more important then summer heat when it comes to keeping a palm healthy and growing optimally. Hence why so many palms do well in the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall. Summer heat is obviously beneficial for most palms, but really not essential. Whereas mildish winters are pretty important in getting a palm to survive and produce viable seed.

I have heard the Jubaea in Richmond, southwest London, has flowered this year. I haven’t seen any pictures of it in a while now, but it looked like this back in the spring. This was after the worst winter in 12-13 years, since 2010. That part of southwest London would have saw it’s coldest January temperatures for 30+ years. This Jubaea probably saw about -7C / 19F there, on 2 separate nights. Compare that to a balmy +3C / 38F minimum in the Scilly Isles. West London in general got hit pretty hard.

Photos from March-April of Richmond Jubaea

Thanks for the tips about our two Jubaea.  The palms you pictured are beautiful and amazing.  I can't understand anyone who is not inspired by Jubaea especially when they have such massive and majestic trunks. 

Temperatures along this narrow southwest coastal strip south of Brookings, OR, but north of California rarely go below freezing for more than a few hours before sunrise even during the arctic blasts that send the rest of Oregon below freezing for weeks.  I grow Lemons, Limes, Tangerines and Citrons on my 1 acre property.  The Tangerine tree is 42 years old and produces fruit every winter.  The Lime trees are 27 years old and also produce fruit year round.  We also grow Feijoa otherwise called Pineapple Guava which fruit in Winter.  

Thank you for the encouragement that our Jubaea will eventually set fruit and nuts, looking dearly forward.