The Polar Palms Nursery

January 2002 update

By Kiril Donov, M.Sc. Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture

The winter 2001/2002 was one of the coldest for the last century. Especially December 2001 was the coldest on records. Whole Europe was frozen, the snow cover is 50-200 cm, there are new temperature records, the lowest since records have been made. Please check the climate section from the main menu where you will find all details about our weather . 

This is what we have left from the Musa basjoo after –21,5°C(-6,7°F). Well, it was looking the same after the second frost, but now these stems are full with ice and all cells are dead above the ground. This plant developed later in May 2002, a month later than usual. The total height was about 2m (6,5 feet), about 1m less than usual.

The first picture shows Fatsia japonica after –13,6°C (7,5°F), probably 50% leaf burn. The second picture is made on January 2^nd, 2002, after –21,5°C (-6,7°F), I thought it was already gone. In May this plant sprouted from the ground.

This is my lovely Washingtonia robusta.

It is a real beauty, second winter in the ground. This plant was very small and in bad shape. Nobody wanted to buy it and I planted this palm in the garden in June 2000 as 3 years small  seedling from 3 liter pot. Last winter was mild enough but it lost all leaves. For the next summer it developed 15 or 16 very nice leaves. In December 2001 it was completely defoliated, lost the spear and everything which could be lost. In April I cut the trunk to find the growing bud. I didn't find anything healthy enough, but I applied fungicide and after 2 weeks there was the first leaf

Below is the Washingtonia filifera.

At the same temperatures it still doesn't have much damages. Not much protection was given, still hoping for a mild winter.

When temperatures started to drop below -15°C (5°F) the green leaves gradually started to browning. In April 2002 all leaves were dead. The  petioles of most of the leaves were still green and looked healthy. But when after 3 weeks of high temperatures there was no growth, I decided to pull the spear out at any price. It was very difficult, but it finally came out. The youngest unopened leaves were still green, but when the spear came out I found a small lake full with decaying materials. I applied fungicide and left everything to the nature, but to be honest, I didn't have much hope. This plant started to grow after the robusta. But when it finally started, nothing was able to stop it. Till the end of the growing season of 2002 it produced 12 real leaves and 5-6 damaged ones (in April and May). Before the new winter came, this filifera looked exactly like it is looking at the picture above. See more details in the January 2003 update.

I applied fungicide and left everything to the nature, but to be honest, I didn't have much hope. This plant started to grow after the robusta. But when it finally started, nothing was able to stop it. Till the end of the growing season of 2002 it produced 12 real leaves and 5-6 damaged ones (in April and May). Before the new winter came, this filifera looked exactly like it is looking at the picture above.

See more details about the new growth in the January 2003 update.

This palm came from Antalya, Turkey, zone 9b. I bought it as Washingtonia robusta, but I think it was a x.filibusta. In December 2001its leaves had good hardiness and remained green much longer compared to the real robusta. There was a little protection only at the base of the trunk, so it would have been a revolution if this palm survived the night with -21,5°C (-6,7°F) and the other cold nights. The snow is a good insulator, but the most important 2 feet of the trunk just below the leaves were not protected. Total trunk - 5 feet.

When the next spring came, I couldn't believe I was so stupid to leave this large and expensive plant to die just like this. This palm gave me a good lesson.

This is how all Trachycarpus fortunei in the sample garden of the Polar Palms Nursery looked in January 2002. In May 2002 it was already clear that all of this palms are dead. Only one survived, because it was burried with snow, when we cleaned the path next to it. These palms were not protected because I wanted to test their hardiness. They were all imported from Turkey, Greece and Italy. All of the palms with Bulgarian origin survived with diferent percentage of damaged leaves.

On the picture left is a part of the nursery, after the first heavy snow. For 2 days we got about 65 cm (2 feet) of snow. This was the thickest snow cover since 1963. What can I say? After 10 days there was another snowfall with another 65 cm of  snow cover. The bad thing is that always after the snowfall we get a severe freeze. And after such heavy snowfall the freeze is usually long lasting and with very low temperatures. The good thing is that the thick snow cover is a very good insulator.

Left and below are pictures of the Polar palms at the Historical museum in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The good news is that the people in the museum agreed to follow the actual temperatures. So, after
January 3^rd, 2002 we have a min-max thermometer there, placed on the trunk of one of the male palms, just next to the female one.

The picture was taken on January 2nd, 2002. The tallest palm is the one in the right end of the picture. The female plant is the second one from left to right.

Here are leaves in closer view.

Here are the palms in closer view. This one is the tallest one. It has total height of approximately 7m. It's a male plant, but once in his life it has produced seeds, which were not viable.

Now I know some male palm trees, growing alone in some closed and isolated gardens and they produce seeds each year just like bisexual plants. The seeds are many and absolutely viable. In November 2002 I bought 2500 seedlings produced from a male palm seeds. This palm has always produced male flowers, before She(?) started to produce seeds. Also, to this palm belongs our national record for fastest growth, 130cm of trunk per year. Usually our palms grow 15-30 cm of trunk per year. The secret for such fast speed is that there are 2 houses very close to each other, one from north and one from south, also a smaller building from west. So, the palm has no other choice but to grow as fast as possible straight up to the sky.

The last 2 pictures show the palm tree which is just next to the building and the tallest palm, which is located at the longest distance from the building (approx. 15 m (40-45 feet). Note the location of the museum. It is not more 10-15 m above the average city level and much lower than the lowest city hill (in the back of the picture).

Please note, English is not my mother language, you may find mistakes in the above text.

© 1999-2003 Kiril Donov, The Polar Palm Nursery - All rights reserved