Sacha Schlobinski looks to the future when working at his day job as CEO of Cismet. This software company, based in Saarbrücken, Germany, takes the lead role in the information communication technology part of SUDPLAN .

Lovingly tended to as far as Kristianstad in Sweden, palms have never had it so good in Northern European gardens. The UK, which has not had a seriously cold winter for about 10 years, is a case in point.

Just a few decades ago the Chusan palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) started to spread and regenerate outside the gardens in forests across the borderline region of southern Switzerland and North Italy.