Coconut palms, palm trees and mandarin trees at the gates of Dijon, climate change in our gardens.
For this end of October, we can still leave the big pulls at the back of the closet. It will still be very mild this week. Until Sunday October 30, the maximum temperatures will oscillate between 19°C and 22°C. We have been above the 20°C mark for more than a week now. Totally unusual situation, not to say unprecedented in Côte-d’Or.
The taste of prickly pears
As a result, everything in the gardens is still green. And for those who still doubt the evolution of the climate, we find today in Burgundy plantations that did not exist a few years ago in the open air. Ghislain is one of the many amateur gardeners who work a plot in Plombieres-les-Dijon. Alongside the very vigorous pumpkins and tomatoes which are distributed as in spring, he reveals to us hitherto unusual crops: “I planted a lot of citrus fruits, like mandarin trees and it takes very well. I also planted olive trees, cacti and prickly pears. These are plants that are normally found around the Mediterranean , but they like it very well here. My prickly pears have even started to bear fruit, which tastes like strawberries.”
Brazilian Coconut Palm and Apricot Palm
On a large pile of compost, Ghislain points out a tree that is already over two meters tall. “It’s a coconut tree from Brazil. The largest coconut tree in the world. It tolerates the cold well, but it also likes the heat. It has taken well. When I was a child, I would never have imagined growing this kind of things. In the 80s, winter was snow and ice. Not anymore.”
A little further on, this plant lover points out another tree that is close to the more traditional walnut trees. “That’s an apricot palm, also called “wine palm”, it comes from Mexico. On another plot, I even have one that produces fruit. It tastes somewhere between banana and mango. “
“Here, I have already managed to have tangerines” continues Ghislain. “We can clearly see that the year has been much warmer. The newts have not yet left their pond, the females are still laying eggs and there are still wasps” he observes.
Only disappointment for Ghislain, the date palm does not take. The Burgundian winter is still too wet… It may be a matter of a few years.