The liberated fan palm

Remember the fan palm I liberated in 2011? The one that had become so pot-bound that I had to slice open the metal container like a sardine can just to get it out?

This is it eight years on, loving its freedom and still growing at a rate of knots. The trunk is easily over 7ft tall now and it must be topping 15ft with the leaves. It has just flowered, as has, I've noticed every other fan palm in the neighbourhood. This doesn't happen every year so maybe the miserably wet spring had something to do with it.

These fan palms, or Trachycarpus fortunei to give them their Latin name really are the ideal exotic for a UK garden. Their fan-shaped leaves offer a taste of the tropics yet they shrug off even the most miserable of winters. Over the years this has endured snow, temperatures well below freezing and incredibly dry conditions.

Once established in the ground it requires no care. I do have sprinklers that keep the ground moist around the trunk and I prefer to trim the lower leaves off as new ones grow, but I have seen them with leaves all the way down the trunk so it really is a matter of preference.

I have another fan palm in a pot on the patio, which is a fraction of the size of this. I bought them both at a similar time and the one in the ground was actually smaller when I got it.

Just goes to show that for something to realise its true potential it really should be set free. Obviously this applies just as much for plants as it does anything else.