Canary Island date palm
4
4Will it grow where I live?
Canary Island date palm is only hardy to zone 8, so outdoors year-round it needs the mildest spots in Central Europe – wine-growing regions, the Rhine valley, coasts, Lake Constance, Ticino – or a container overwintered under cover. Most of the British Isles and the Pacific coast of North America qualify. It also needs warm summers – in Central Europe that means wine-growing regions, cities or a sheltered south-facing wall.
Or check it for your location right here:
Profile
- Family
- Arecaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Height
- 12 m
- Spread
- 6 m
- Growth
- very fast
- Lifespan
- 150 years
- First yield
- after 18 years
- Hardiness
- zone 8–12
- Shade tolerance
- full sun
- Soil
- Sand, Silt, Loam
- Soil moisture
- dry – very wet
- pH
- 6 – 8
Uses
Edible: Edible part: fruit, juice. The fruit weighs 1.7 g and has an edible outer fruit skin. The fruits are orange, 2 cm long and 1 cm in diameter, with a large seed; the flesh is edible when ripe (firm black) but usually too thin to eat. They serve as emergency food. The flower cluster buds are tapped to extract the sweet juice consumed as syrup or palm honey. Solutions for carbon farming - staple food: sugar.
Other uses: A highly decorative tree, it has been awarded the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society. The leaves are used for a variety of woven products, including crosses for Palm Sunday celebrations.
Origin & habitat
EURA
Dry hills, sandy and rocky places.
⚠️ Hazards
There is no toxicity attributed to it, but the palm fronds have very sharp, long needles at their base that can prick deep under the skin and cause inflammation.
Frequently asked questions
Canary Island date palm: how big does it get?
Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis) grows as a Tree and reaches roughly 12 m in height when mature, with a spread of about 6 m. Growth is very fast.
Canary Island date palm: what site does it need?
Canary Island date palm tolerates full sun. Suitable soils are Sand, Silt, Loam. Soil moisture should be in the range dry – very wet. The pH may lie between 6 and 8.
Canary Island date palm: is it hardy?
Canary Island date palm is listed as hardy in zone 8–12 and survives normal winters outdoors there.
Canary Island date palm: will it grow in Central Europe?
Canary Island date palm is only hardy to zone 8, so outdoors year-round it needs the mildest spots in Central Europe – wine-growing regions, the Rhine valley, coasts, Lake Constance, Ticino – or a container overwintered under cover. Most of the British Isles and the Pacific coast of North America qualify. It also needs warm summers – in Central Europe that means wine-growing regions, cities or a sheltered south-facing wall.
Canary Island date palm: is it poisonous?
Individual parts of Canary Island date palm are noted as mildly problematic — the plant does not count as poisonous. With wild plants, never rely on a database alone, only on a confident identification.
Canary Island date palm: what is it used for?
Rated on a scale up to 10: Edible 4/10, Other uses 4/10.
Plan this plant into your own garden
Permaplans plans your garden to scale on the map — with a site check, harvest calendar and over 1,000 plants. Free for iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows & Linux.
Will this plant grow where you live? → Check your site
Community experience
No first-hand reports for this plant yet.
Growing it? Write in the app what works for you – your post will show up here.
💬 Get the app and join in