Red Weevil... it Sounds almost Cute

Our Palm tree

Autumn is here again and for the first time in our lives we're experiencing the Day-Care syndrome...E is flat out with teething pain, fever and a cold. L is flat out from back pain and a terrible cold. And I... I thought I was just getting rid of the previous cough and cold but I'm getting caught in the vortex too.

But it could be worse! And so it is for our beautiful Phoenix Palm tree. It's celebrating its 25th birthday this year with an infection of the Red Palm Weevil, a bug that has been in Southern France for about 4 years now and which kills palm trees by eating the heart of the tree.

The little buggers fly up to 7 Km during summer time to find new trees to lay their eggs. Each one can lay ca 200 eggs which turns into fat larvae which start eating their way into the watery heart of the plant until they develop into a fully grown Red Weevil.

Several neighbours have lost their palm trees but we're still hoping to save our tree by cutting off all the leaves, and thus killing all the small devils. But before subjecting it to this drastic haircut the gardner will make 100% sure it is infected.

The funny thing about this insect is that you can't see it without digging into the tree, and often the tree doesn't show any symptoms before it's too late. There are subtle signs like drooping leaves, or the lack of a central stem of new leaves which seems to be our case...

I'm so glad a professional is coming to have a look at it, and that will do whatever is necessary. I still have nightmares from the two times when we've been trimming the palm tree ourselves. Though the leaves look soft from afar I can assure you that those inner leaves are lethally pointy and hard like steel knives. And they can cause serious infections if you prick yourself.

When we first moved in we wanted to remove the palm tree but now we want it just where it is, creating a lovely shadow during hot summer days!