PLANT OF THE WEEK
Chamaedorea elegans: Parlour palm
Do you love or hate palm trees?
The gardening community is divided into two groups, those that love the palm trees and those that hate them.
Probably because people persist in growing the environment weed, the cocos palm, which although grows really fast, is particularly ugly.
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| Chamaedorea elegans: Parlour palm |
There are many more well behaved palms and more lovely palms out there.
So let’s find out.
I'm talking with the plant panel were Jeremy Critchley of www.thegreengallery.com.au and Karen Smith, editor of www.hortjournal.com.au
Chamaedorea elegans is in the class of smaller palm trees, that is also one of the most palms sold around the world.
Parlour palm makes a fabulous indoor specimen because of its leaf fronds that emanate as a cluster from the base. It's also known to purify the air indoors (NASA list of top 50 plants) as well as tolerate low light levels.
You can keep the parlour palm indoors for many years, but planted out in the garden under other leafy palms or larger leaved shrubs, it grows as a bushy alternative to the single trunks of most other palms.
Plus, you don’t have dropping palm fronds like you do with cocos palms and a few others.
You can keep the parlour palm indoors for many years, but planted out in the garden under other leafy palms or larger leaved shrubs, it grows as a bushy alternative to the single trunks of most other palms.
Plus, you don’t have dropping palm fronds like you do with cocos palms and a few others.
