Last Years Lulav

There were no palm trees in the northern countries only in Italy, and the transportation wasn't easy, therefore it was complicated to get the Lulav (and the Esrog too). The Lulav was very expensive and rare, and that is why there were "ארבעת המינים של הקהל", and for many years most of the people didn't have a private set of the 4 Minim.
For this reason they would preserve the Lulav from last year, maybe in snow or in a different method.

Michael FRBSH