Trachycarpus fortunei

Trachycarpus fortunei.
Left - The Chusan palm was a favourite of the victorian gardeners and many mature specimens exist in the UK today, a testament to this palms hardiness and adaptability. This composition in the Tropic of Henstead reflects the fomal style with which the Victorians used this palm, framing the 'Lutyens seat' with their architectural character. 
Right - This specimen is seen bearing an impressive display of flowering infloresences in Lamorran Gardens, Cornwall. Its' common name 'Chusan Palm' refers to the island where it was discovered by Robert Fortune the renowned plant collector, (many plants have the species name fortunei), on Chusan Island just off the coast of China where Trachycarpus is thought to have originated from. There are few wild specimens left now but it is fairly common in cultivation, with the fibrous old leaf bases used to make brooms and other household items.

Top left - a mature row of T. fortunei growing in Norfolk Botanical Garden in the US. This palm is Hardy down to about -14c and happy in almost any soil in wet or dry states, and in full sun or shade, and requiring no feeding or other maintenance which all sounds almost too good to be true. Its only real weak point is strong wind which can damage the large leaves. Thanks to John Boggan - DCtropics for this photo from flickr.com, see their link on our Resources Page. 
Top centre - The branches of the infloresence turn bright orange in some genetic forms once flowering has finished, contrasting very nicely with the dull purple fruits, which gradually harden and turn back.
Top right - you can see the orange of the old infloresence branches the crown of this 'Trachy' as they are affectionately known in the business. This female plant is growing in the Carribean Home From Home alongside another female and a male. The seeds that drop to the ground germinate freely to produce a carpet of young palms, several of which have been lifted and transplanted to other parts of the garden and London in general. 
Below left - the plams in the background of this photo are Trachycarpus fortunei growing in Naples Botanical Garden. There is a huge amount of genetic variation in this species with some types having dark green, glossy, densely packed crowns of large leaves and others having more sparse crowns of smaller yellow green leaves. The fibres on the trunks can be almost fluffy and loose from the trunk and a rich chestnut brown whereas others are almost grey and tightly adhere to the trunk, as seen here. Some of these adaptable palms will keep their leaves all the way down to ground level and others will steadily die back, leaving green leaves at the top of the plant, these plants have had their old leaves regularly pruned to produce this great effect of a 'forest of trunks' - stunning.
Below right - a close up of a male flower with hundreds of tightly closed individual flowers in the foreground of this shot and open fluffier looking flowers in the background. Trachycarpus bear different sexes of flowers on different plants, brushing the flower is the only way to tell easily what sex it is; clouds of pollen mean it is a male.  

Left - a pair of 'Trachys' growing in the Exotic Woodland In The City before we started work there. The fact that we were able to dig a pond around the base of these 10 year old plants is testament to their tolerance of root disturbance and transplanting, hence they are commonly seen available in large sizes in the nursery trade.
Centre - the same 2 palms as in the first photo. It is possible to grow this palm in many different ways; it can be left to make a wild looking specimen with a 'skirt' of dead hanging leaves or they can be trimmed off to make a neater specimen, leaving only the green healthy leaves at the crown and revealing the fibrous trunk. You can go further still and strip the fibres off of the trunk to reveal the ringed reddish brown almost smooth trunk underneath, this makes the plant look more like a tropical palm and gives it a more formal neater appearance.
Right - This specimen in RGCs' Family Town Garden has had is fibrous old leaf bases stripped for several seasons. The ringed trunk has dulled down from the cream, cinnamon red and green colours it had when first stripped. This way of adapting 'Trachys' is very useful when working in small gardens where the rugged woodland look of a normal 'shaggy Trachy' would not fit as well, also the cut bases of the old leaf stems can be very sharp. You can buy Trachycarpus in any size from seeds to mature specimens at The Palm Centre, see their link on our Resources Page.