Palm trees are iconic in the south of France. There are only two native palm trees but imports are now the backbone of the landscape. Alas, the red palm beetle Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is likely to change that.
It only arrived in France in but is so rampant that it is cutting a swathe through the trees and killing them. Many have been removed. Apparently, it is possible to spray for it but as soon as the spraying stops, it returns and spraying tall palm trees must require a cherry picker and some heavy-duty insecticides.
A horticulturist told me that the only hope for the future is finding selections that are resistant to the palm beetle. I have only ever seen vetiver grass used in this country once and I admit I was surprised our biosecurity even let it in, given that it can put its roots down to four metres deep in the first year alone.
It seems that its abundant production of leaf blades can be turned to good use and there is not much danger of running out of raw material. They were very charming but comparatively expensive. It occurred to me that, were I still of the craft-y persuasion, some of our native grasses with leaves that have some substance β Chionochloa rubra and Carex buchananii come to mind β would likely work just as well. I had a friend who was keen to try weaving with pine needles and I sent her some of the exceptionally long needles that fall from our Pinus montezumae.
But she never sent a photo of the finished product so it may not have been as successful as she hoped. Sadly, I have to report that the cherries at the cherry festival were a disappointment. After an unusually wet spring, they were watery, splitting and lacking sweetness, bearing no resemblance to the fleshy Black Dawson cherries I pay an arm and a leg for in season here, but there were plenty of them and the French do street festivals very well.
