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GARDEN CLIPPINGS: Palms enjoy indoor home environments

Palm trees are to Florida like tulips are to the Netherlands. Or sugar maples to northern Ontario.  

Intriguing, then, to see palm trees happily growing at the northern shore of Kitsilano Beach in West Vancouver. 

GARDEN CLIPPINGS: Palms enjoy indoor home environments Back to video

Son Ben, who works for the City of North Van, tells me the variety is windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) and were planted by the dozens near English Bay, after a staff gardener discovered them growing in a colder region of northern China.   

Unless climate change continues to spiral, we shouldn’t expect palm trees to grow in Ontario anytime soon. For now, to satisfy our longing for palm’s tropical vibe we will need to take a forbidden trip to Florida or grow them indoors.   

The only palm Cheryl and I have is a ponytail palm which sits on our east-facing kitchen windowsill. An easy-care plant, ponytail palm is actually a succulent, with minimal need for water. 

Its stringy fronds hang downward, almost reaching the floor. The plant is a favorite of Bumbles the cat, who often bats the fronds with his front paws.  

The most plentiful palm is areca, also known as bamboo palm. Nurseries in Florida grow areca palms by the millions, all destined to box stores, grocery outlets and discount warehouses. 

Areca palms offer up a lime-green splash of lushness into any room.   

With luck, areca palms will remain healthy for several years. Unfortunately, spider mite, scale or mealybug may cause areca palms to be short-lived, causing the homeowner to treat the plant like a poinsettia rather than a treasured indoor plant.  

Palms enjoy the indoor environment of our homes, which is similar to their growing conditions in Florida where they are grown under the protection of a filtered shade screen. 

Keep them out of direct sun, provide extra humidity in winter, and fertilize monthly with a formulated palm fertilizer.   

Palms have become a favorite for outdoor containers on the deck, patio or poolside. If your garden space is in full sun, be sure to ask for palms that have been grown in the Florida sun rather than shade.   

Majesty palm is noted for its hardiness and slow growth, eventually surpassing ceiling height.  Rather than growing from multiple stems, majesty palm grows from a single source at its base, giving it a truly majestic form.   

Other strong varieties of palm include the highly adaptable kentia palm, which enjoys indirect light and a consistent moisture supply. 

Chinese fan palm is a showy specimen growing wider than tall. Leaves are huge, with sharp pointed ends.  

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