Cycas revoluta
I took this photo in 2006, at Lamorran House, St Mawes, Cornwall, during my early stages of infatuation with exotic gardening. On a plinth in a gravel circle was a beautiful potted sago palm, Cycas revoluta, with Butia capitata in the background.
At the time my rear garden had a gravel circle surrounded by dense planting and I thought a sago palm would make an excellent centrepiece, replacing the Phormium that currently occupied the spot.
Sago palms, especially big sago palms, are not cheap, so I bought a small one in the hopes of growing it to a decent size. Unfortunately they're not hardy, even in a sheltered Plymouth garden. Dreams became dust one bleak winter.
The gravel circle went, partially sacrificed to build a studio for Maria. Plants grew, The space left had no room for a Cycas centrepiece.
But I stll had a hankering for a sago palm. And this time I had a covered canopy between Maria's new studio which trapped the heat from the house and enabled me to provide winter protection for a number of half-hardy plants. Enter the latest sago palm. Again a small one, for cost reasons, but after three winters and two growth flushes it's starting to produce a trunk and very reasonable set of leaves.
Come the summer it moves around the garden, though I don't change the position during the flushing phase to avoid twisted fronds. Tough plants, they just need regular watering and feeding during the summer growing season, and that little bit of winter protection to survive my Plymouth climate.
No comments:
Post a Comment