Archontophoenix cunninghamiana
- Subject: Archontophoenix cunninghamiana
- From: B* G*
- Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 23:51:33 -0700
I cant remember if I've talked about this before, but, i'm testing out A.
cunninghamiana in my front garden to see how it stands up to things. I
know, it may be a dissapointment (being marginally hardy, and if we get a
very cold (for Central california) night (around 22 degrees or so), it may
be a goner). I will try to keep it's crown shaft and emerging spear leaf
covered on colder nights (below 27 F or so), while it still doesnt have a
trunk. Here's some stats from the Cold Ratings Database:
It seems they are variable at the temps they can be killed:
- 20 F is the lowest, while 25 F is the maximum lowest one has been
killed.
- Around 27 F, they get major damage, but survive.
- they seem to do OK until about 29 degrees F, where leaf burn starts to
set in.
Hopefully this all makes sense :). Anyway, i've heard of a fairly cold
hardy variety of A. cunninhamiana named "A. cunninghamiana var. Illawara.
I don't think the one I bought is of the Illawara variety, but i'll test
it out in my garden (it already is growing mature leaves (the largest leaf
has some remnants of the juvenile leaf at the tip). I've also heard that
if they can put on 1 - 3 feet of trunk a season. If it doesn't work out,
i'll just have to speed up a purchase of some Parajubaea (which would do
well here). :)
____________________________________________
Ancient Goth: someone who overthrew the Roman Empire.
Modern Goth: a vegetarian pretending to be a vampire.
