Palms in Newfoundland

[JordanNL]

Hi im Jordan im not exactly sure on my zone (ive heard everthing from 5b to 7a)I have a 3 1/2 foot fortunei planted in the ground a 3 footer in a pot inside (planting it next season) and many cross trachycarpus (fortunei/waggie) seedlings.

Heres my climate data can someone help id my gowing zone.

http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... h=10&Day=7

thanks,

Jordan

[Cameron_z6a_N.S.]

welcome to the forum! I'm in NS. Being in St. John's, you're probably about a 5b. I've got some fortunei here as well !

[JordanNL]

Glad to know someone else with a similar climate as mine is growing trachys too

[hardyjim]

Looks good-moisture protection will probably be the main challenge.

[canadianplant]

Hey Jordan, im not a weather expert, but i can tell you what i know:

St Johns, is somewhere between 5 and 6 on average. From wat i can remember, your winters arent the most consistant temp wise, one winter will be say zone 7 while one winter is zone 5 while the next is zone 4, then the next back to zone 6. Keep in mind that you can get rain storms in the winter, and snow even in the late spring and summer. The winter temps seem to be warming up a bit. Your saving grace, will be your very reliable snow. Im not sure how a 2 foot trachy is going to like being under 4 + feet of snow, but it will definetly insulate it very well.

Your general climate, should be great for it, during the spring summer and fall. St Johns has a relitivly cool climate ( not as cool as vancouver, but way cooler compared to the rest of the country), with decent rainfall.

The only thing that comes to my mind, are the micro climates. Closer to the ocean will be warmer, not to mention if there happens to be some hills, or cliffsides around your property to block the wind. We already had a killing frost here one night. Everything exposed ( morning glory, top half of canna etc) was toasted. In another bed in front of a south facing wall, my passiflora and cyperus papayrus are still going, and my wegelia is still deep red, and full of leaves.

Im pretty sure your one of the warmest places in your province........

Random uestion..... how was hurricaine Igor fo ryou?

[TimMAz6]

Welcome Jordan..........please post photos of your Trachy!

[JordanNL]

even at the airport the record low is -23.8c, but ur right were pretty inconsistant. As for igor we lost power for 3 1\2 days straight... 66% of st johns didnt have power for up to 5 days. In central nl there was a state of emergancy....and the army moved in for the clean up. ive study over the saint johns west station and its a solid 6b, but thats only using 10 years of data.

[canadianplant]

If your record low is -23C ( at the airport), id say the airport is borderline zone 6, which means you might be in a zone 6 ( if your closer to the waterfront), with some zone 7 mabey 8 microclimates.

Ive done something of the same thing as you. Unfotunatly my airport is far from he lake, so to get an accurate zone for my area is a bit tricky ( im mabey 1 or 2 km from the lake). Just from observations in my area, the winter weather is changing. Warmer with less snowfall, consistantly over the time ive been here. There are 2 hardiness zone maps for canada, one that is using only pre 2000 data, and one using the early 2000 data. The goncvernment has stated that the newer zone map my be faulty due to something like " un normal weather patterns", so they say the pre 2000 zone map is a better bench mark. I have 2 problems with this:

One, Just becasue they think the weather isnt normal, doesnt mean that they shouldnt use that data when designting hardiness zones. Im not an expert, but id say its more of a continuing tred that we ( the people) and the gvernments should take a bit more seriously, and do personal data tracking to get better numbers.

SEcondly, Zone maps are bassed on a 50 year old idea. The actual zone maps are based on natural occuring species of trees and shrubs, not perennials, annuals and exotic species. It doesnt take into account microclimates, rain, snow, wind, winter temerature fluctuations ( think of alberta, where the winters can be -40C, and up to 20C above due to chinnook winds), sunlight, ground composition and much more. All of these including the base temps concider whether a plamt can survive in a zone.

I guess im saying, you wont kow till you try:P

[JordanNL]

yeah...some of the guys on the north east forum suggest maybe i should try a palm with no heat?

heres my climate data just down the road from my house.
http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/ ... h=10&Day=9

[canadianplant]

snow will be your best friend if you try with no heat. You usualy get plenty of that:P other then that.... i still have to experiment with palms.

[JordanNL]

LOL...Oh ya we get out share of snow...142cm annually. Are tempitures are just perfect for snow here.

[JackLord]

Zone? Who cares? Zones don't mean nothing around here. If they did, we would all be discussing spruces.

Just protect it and it will do fine.

Newfoundland has been on my list of places to visit forever. Welcome to the site.

[JordanNL]

true...i hate spruces...St johns is great if you like historical sites....if you ever come here, the west coast is far better then st johns...central is great too alot of swimming holes and hotter summers.

[canadianplant]

LOL dont be dissin spruce trees

Dont you guys have some old growth hemlock forests in NL?? The settlers didnt use them casue they " had no use", so the original hemocks are still there...

[JordanNL]

the whole islands full of them....but we also have pines, birch, oak, cherry apple etc.

[BILL MA]

Welcome aboard Jordan!

Can't wait to see some pictures.

Bill

[lucky1]

Hi Jordan...sorry, did I forget to welcome you to PN?

Your min temp of -6C 21F in January is enviable...my North Okanagan BC min was -23C.
It won't be cold your plants need protection from.

Agree with other poster that it'll be moisture protection you need to work on.

Yes, let's see some photos please
Barb