Dear Sven,

We have recently moved to the Limousin in France and have bought two palms one being a washatonia and the other a phoenix. Can you tell me if I have to cover them over winter? This is their first winter and our first at growing them.

Thanks,
steveyvonne

Our Gardens Expert replies:

Hi Steve and Yvonne

Both palms are strictly speaking tender and don't really like long periods of cold weather, but, saying that, both can take short periods of even up to -10.

I looked at a web site that shows the average winter temperatures where you live in France and it looks as though it rarely gets below 0C in the lower areas but can snow on the higher, so they should be fine if you are in a sheltered spot in the lower regions.

I had a phoenix palm in my last garden (in Suffolk) and it was really happy and grew really well. It is a milder part of the country, but we got snow, frost and cold periods below 0C and it was fine.

The most common Phoenix palm is the canary island date (P. canariensis) palm which is a very popular palm in the UK in milder areas. Washingtonia is less popular over here (but still readily available) but this too is a good choice if you live in a milder part of the UK.

Both palms are more sensitive to cold when they are younger so if I were you I would have some fleece or hessian ready if it gets too cold and tie the leaves up and cover them during these periods. Once more established they become a bit tougher and more capable of dealing with colder spells.

If you want another really easy palm to grow that is as tough as they come, you could also try Trachycarpus fortunei which is widely regarded the easiest palm to grow in cooler climates.

Good luck,

Sven