I just got back from my first visit to Japan and was absolutely shocked in the best way possible at what can grow there! I knew Tokyo is at about the same latitude as North Carolina, but the city seems to teeter on the cusp of zone 9b/10a based on the plants growing there.
The Sea of Japan and mountains to the north protects the city from major cold, but small snow events are not uncommon during the winter. I never expected to see Hyophorbe (Bottle Palms) living in harmony with Trachycarpus (Windmill Palms).
HERE THEY ARE!
Trachycarpus Wagnerianus were almost as common as fortunei. I saw what looked to be a takil in a random neighborhood but couldn't snap a pic! This was at a garden in Shinjuku.
I'm sure this bottle palm at Tokyo Disneyland receives some kind of protection, but it is clearly planted right into the ground (I looked!!)
Love to see these fat butia palms!
Date palms thrive here including Pygmy palms and check out the branches on this one and the rooftop garden in Harajuku on the next one!
Musella lasiocarpa thriving in the middle of Tokyo
Yucca gloriosas
Agaves
Aloe and a nice variegated Yucca Gigantea
Sabal minor growing in a greenhouse! No need for that
And a few palmettos. not a common sight there
This one was in a neighborhood in Kamakura
Musa Velutina in a greenhouse
Another nice greenhouse banana
A fun find at a local plant nursery
An unusual form to this European fan palm
Norfolk Island Pine
Rhapis multifida
Nice Trachycarpus fortunei in Disney
Orange Bird of Paradise were more common than the white form!
A coffee plant in the ground! Incredible
Nice Queen Cycad
No shortage of staghorn ferns!
A few bromeliads
Livistona were common
Summer poinsetta
Schefflera
A coconut palm!
Plumeria
Brahea armata
Grapefruit in a public garden in Shinjuku
And a nice sasquana camellia!
Fatsia japonica and farfugium!
Large Monstera
Thanks for looking!
