Allthough the list of Palms which are hardy or nearly so seems to lengthen year by year, most people seem to start of with one of the "Old Faithfulls", usually T.Fortunei. As nice as this palm is, it's easy to grow and suffers little from pests, it does have one great failing. Wind! In anything more than a modest breeze, the leaves can end up being almost shredded to bits and come the spring it looks like a bomb has hit it. This of course can be very off putting to someone who doesn't know too much about palms. There are however, other Trachy's which are more resilient to the attentions of the umbrella basher.
One of course is T.Wagnerianus, a bomb proof palm if ever there was one, here's another one T. Latisectus, the Windamere Palm.
T.Latisectus used to be known as T.Sikkimensis, which makes sense because it comes from the Sikkim Himalayas. In their wisdom, the experts have decided to rename it Latisectus. One day I might find out why they do these things. ( Plant experts and botanists, who change the names of whole family's of plants, always remind me of the pop star known as "Prince" or more correctly "Formerly known as Prince" who is probably now "Joe Bloggs". I'm sure when they get up in the morning, they're on the phone to their mates saying something like "I've a good idea, lets call a daisy an orchid and confuse everyone". ) Anyway back to T.Latisectus.
There are only two areas in my garden which can reasonably be described as nearly wind free, the north east corner and the south west corner. T.Latisectus lives in the n.east bit. Compared to a T.Fortunei which grows a few yards away it's larger in all its parts. The leaves are longer and broader and form almost a complete circle. Adverse weather seems to have little effect on it and there's hardly any wind damage to the leaves. I've never found any pests on it, even the vine weevils which infest some areas of my garden leave it well alone. ( I told em one night "Touch my Lati and I'll av ya!" )
One thing I've noticed, is that after being planted out it does seem to be a bit slow getting back into growth mode. Have a bit of patience though because once it gets started there's no stopping it. For anyone who grows palms, be they newcomer or expert I'd recommend T.Latisectus. It looks good, nay great, it's easy to grow, pests seem to leave it alone and if you worry about growth rates ( I don't, too old ) once it gets going, hang on to your hat. Well, nearlyanyway. Posted by: Mike.
Note: For a more comprehensive explanation of how I plant my palms, go to my June blog: