I am lucky enough to live in Cornwall where it is (almost) possible to grow Jubaea outside (I have pictures of a few in gardens that aren't dead).

In Kew on the other hand they planted this one in the Temperate House and it has prospered. I can't remember when it was planted but I first met it in 1978, just before they closed the house for renovation and it looked pretty much like this.
It spent several years growing outside (effectively) at Kew while the glass was replaced and the metal structure renovated.

It has grown well in the last thirty years and produced seed which is being grown . There are some sturdy young plants coming on. The next renovation has just started and the plants have been containerised and moved out for storage.





I have just been told that on Monday the Jubaea was felled.

Wow John that is sad news indeed I knew it was coming down but now the largest greenhouse specimen in the world is at end.

Thats said indeed!

Alexander

John,

what a shame, as it is my favourite palm species! Jubaea should grow perfectly in London and Cornwall, if I lived there I'd plant out a bigger specimen at once! They are much better suited to (rather crammed) city gardens than these prickly Phoenix.

The J.c., that is growing some 70km east of me is still thriving, yet got only passive protection during the cold winters of the recent past.

Correct me by all means but don't we have an enormous one growing in a private garden here in Torquay a stones throw from Dave Poole. I'm sure this has been discussed several times before.


Edit...Just found this photo of the palm here in Torquay from an old post.

Extract from a staff letter I had sent to me by my 'mole'.



Which, of course, is complete rubbish. Had the will been there it could have been moved *without question*. This one was field grown in Chile, dug up, transported half way across the world then planted at Kells Bay gardens in Co Kerry.


Senescing? The narrowing of the trunk was cited as evidence of this - anybody remotely familiar with Jubaea chilensis will know this is what they do when they start to get into their prime - form the characteristic bottle shape. Probably only had another 100 yrs or so left...

I had always previously said that the Temperate House structure should take precedence over the Jubaea - but the restoration removed that obstacle, giving free access to the plant for it to be shifted. It could have been root pruned last year, craned out this year. Might have cost a few thousand but, in a restoration that is going to run into ££millions that really is a drop in the ocean.

For me this is yet another bit of Kew credibility that has gone down the Swanee because they simply did not understand or fully research the issues involved and have senselessly destroyed one of the countries finest trees.

I was under the impression Jubaea where protected bt law in Chile. Digging one up and selling it would violate that law? Need schooling on this.

Cheers, Barrie.

Nursery stock.

May I add my voice to those that condemn such an utterly stupid decision? Finding funding for the safe removal and replanting in London could have been funded by extremely high profile sponsorship. Would Sir Richard Branson not have wanted to tug it out with a Chinook?

Restoration or not, there has never been an excuse for not removing and replanting this palm. Even without a restoration it would have been simply a case of removing a section of roof and up up and away or somehow taking it out horizontally. Either way the structure is just pieces of metal and glass, Grade 1 listed or not.

Here are some shots I took in Chile showing the thinning trunks of old specimens. Note the likely amount of time since they were in the fat trunk phase

What an awful waste.

I made a protest yesterday. Since the scheme started I have been a 'Friend of Kew' - paying an annual subscription of £70ish. I also have a sizeable bequest in my will which, ironically, would have covered the cost of a move several times over. I cancelled them both. I don't suppose Kew will notice or care but I feel better.

This is very sad. It looks like I'm not the only one here who feels that Kew have lost the plot a little with regards to some of their decisions and plant care over the last 10 years or so.

Kew clearly do a huge amount of excellent and important work, but this sorry episode does them no credit at all.

Nice one Paul, hit em where it hurts, in the the pocket. I too am incensed and intend to boycott Kew from now on. Plenty of other gardens to visit.

I have been told by a friend who is a world authority on orchids that if your struggling to kill your orchids{particularly the rare ones}the best place to send them is kew..there very good at it

I can agree with the sentiments expressed, it was a horrible piece of vandalism to cut it down without trying to relocate it but I do accept it's time in the Temperate house was coming to an end. They had to butcher the fronds every year to keep them from pushing the roof off.

I also accept that it is good to make space for new things - I don't know if anybody has seen the Palm House recently, but they are doing a magnificent job of clearing space and making plants visible in a greenhouse that had been wildly congested and overgrown for years.

So for me it is a sad loss. It needed to be changed but it didn't need to be destroyed. I would rather have seen it planted out ,even if it had to go to Wakehurst Place or (heaven forbid) get sold to a nice mild garden in the South West!

On the other hand, maybe they have cut it into rings and made commemorative coffee tables. I would be disgusted, but I would probably have one.