Hello

I've only recently become interested in gardening since inheriting a garden
with my house a few years back.

So please bear with me on this... :-)

I have a lovely 'palm tree' in the front garden. It was pretty neglected up
until recently, but now I removed the 'dead' leave from the bottom, as the
thing grows.

Here are some pictures... if someone can please identify the plant/tree, and
tell me howe I should look after it, and how high I can expect it to grow, I
would be very appreciative.

(Please note images are quite large in size - OK if you have broadband)

http://www.jayandsarah.com/palm1.jpg
http://www.jayandsarah.com/palm2.jpg

Now I have noticed only recently, something is happening at the top of the
plant/tree! Something is growing at a strange angle:

http://www.jayandsarah.com/palm3.jpg

Can someone please tell me what it is??? And what i should do (if anything)
to maintain it... :-/

Many thanks


Jay

"Jay" wrote in message
I have a lovely 'palm tree' in the front garden. It was pretty neglected
up
until recently, but now I removed the 'dead' leave from the bottom, as the
thing grows.

Here are some pictures... if someone can please identify the plant/tree,
and
tell me howe I should look after it, and how high I can expect it to grow,
I
would be very appreciative.


It's a Cabbage Palm also known as the Cornish Palm but actually isn't a true
Palm at all, it's real name is Cordyline australis.
One of the largest ones I've ever seen is just down the road from here and
it's just two storey house high and has a canopy about 12ft around, looks
magnificent. My own ones are about 15ft tall and only just branching out
after flowering for the first time a few years ago..

Just pull off the dead leaves and cut off the flower/seed panicle when you
get them when it goes brown and after the birds have eaten all the seeds.
Otherwise leave it to do it's own thing.

--
Regards
Bob

Some photos of my plants at.....

Thanks for the information, Bob!

I've no idea how old this one is, but I've lived here for 5 and a half
years, and I think it was only a foot or so tall when I bought the house.

I'm a bit worried about it growing TOO tall!

Regarding the flower/seed panicle -

(a) It it possible to take the seeds and plant them?

and

(b) Is there any chance I will damage the tree if I cut the panicle now? Do
they keep appearing?

Many thanks, and thanks for excusing my ignorance. I have so much to learn!

Regards


Jay


"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Jay" wrote in message
I have a lovely 'palm tree' in the front garden. It was pretty
neglected
up
until recently, but now I removed the 'dead' leave from the bottom, as
the
thing grows.

Here are some pictures... if someone can please identify the plant/tree,
and
tell me howe I should look after it, and how high I can expect it to
grow,
I
would be very appreciative.


It's a Cabbage Palm also known as the Cornish Palm but actually isn't a
true
Palm at all, it's real name is Cordyline australis.
One of the largest ones I've ever seen is just down the road from here and
it's just two storey house high and has a canopy about 12ft around, looks
magnificent. My own ones are about 15ft tall and only just branching out
after flowering for the first time a few years ago..

Just pull off the dead leaves and cut off the flower/seed panicle when you
get them when it goes brown and after the birds have eaten all the seeds.
Otherwise leave it to do it's own thing.

--
Regards
Bob

Some photos of my plants at.....

"Jay" wrote in message ...

I've no idea how old this one is, but I've lived here for 5 and a half
years, and I think it was only a foot or so tall when I bought the house.

I'm a bit worried about it growing TOO tall!

Regarding the flower/seed panicle -

(a) It it possible to take the seeds and plant them?

and

(b) Is there any chance I will damage the tree if I cut the panicle now?
Do
they keep appearing?

Many thanks, and thanks for excusing my ignorance. I have so much to
learn!


Well I don't think they ever get too tall, say 20ft after a long time, which
is not a tall tree. However if it does get too tall for you then you can cut
it down cut the stem into a couple of lengths, plant them, and you will then
get suckers/offshoots developing which you can use as cuttings.
Yes it is possible to take the seeds, if you beat the birds to them, sow
them in April and keep them warm 60°F min.
If it's last years flower panicle then by all means cut it off now, I did
mine months ago. If it's this years then it's probably only just starting to
flower and if you cut it off that's it for this season.
Incidentally it's only after they start to flower that they start to branch.

We all have to learn and never stop doing so.i.e I saw my first thumbnail
sized Rose Chafer yesterday in an Iris flower of mine, what a stunningly
beautiful insect.

--
Regards
Bob

Some photos of my plants at.....

:-)

Thanks Bob.

It may sound a daft question, but is there any way to stop it branching?

At the moments it's just about a safe distance from the house, but I'm
worried that if it branches out, it may go towards the house. The person
who planted it (ie the former houseowner) pplanted at a little too close I
think...

Cheers again


Jay
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Jay" wrote in message ...

I've no idea how old this one is, but I've lived here for 5 and a half
years, and I think it was only a foot or so tall when I bought the
house.

I'm a bit worried about it growing TOO tall!

Regarding the flower/seed panicle -

(a) It it possible to take the seeds and plant them?

and

(b) Is there any chance I will damage the tree if I cut the panicle now?
Do
they keep appearing?

Many thanks, and thanks for excusing my ignorance. I have so much to
learn!


Well I don't think they ever get too tall, say 20ft after a long time,
which
is not a tall tree. However if it does get too tall for you then you can
cut
it down cut the stem into a couple of lengths, plant them, and you will
then
get suckers/offshoots developing which you can use as cuttings.
Yes it is possible to take the seeds, if you beat the birds to them, sow
them in April and keep them warm 60°F min.
If it's last years flower panicle then by all means cut it off now, I did
mine months ago. If it's this years then it's probably only just starting
to
flower and if you cut it off that's it for this season.
Incidentally it's only after they start to flower that they start to
branch.

We all have to learn and never stop doing so.i.e I saw my first thumbnail
sized Rose Chafer yesterday in an Iris flower of mine, what a stunningly
beautiful insect.

--
Regards
Bob

Some photos of my plants at.....

On Mon, 24 May 2004 06:28:47 +0000 (UTC), "Jay" wrote:

It may sound a daft question, but is there any way to stop it branching?

At the moments it's just about a safe distance from the house, but I'm
worried that if it branches out, it may go towards the house. The person
who planted it (ie the former houseowner) pplanted at a little too close I
think...

If it does branch it will pose absolutely no problem at all. We have
thousands of them planted down here - many barely inches away from
house and hotel walls. All are perfectly fine and pose no risks
whatsoever. Cordyline australis is a 'terminal flowerer' - in other
words, growth terminates in a flower spike. After flowering, new
shoots at the base of the spike develop, taking anything from 1 to 4
years to grow big enough to flower. If your plant produces a flower
spike it will branch out. Of course you could select just one shoot
and remove the others, but this will result in a very lop-sided and
rather ugly specimen.

Cordyline australis is at its very best when branching freely,
producing many large spikes of rather sweetly scented flowers. They
can become rather spectacular - not only when in flower, but later
when heavily laden with white or lilac, pea-like berries. Generally
(but not always) birds will only touch the berries when most others
have been eaten. Here, Jackdaws eventually feast on them, but not
until late November. As a result we get flowering (creamy white
through to pinkish white depending upon the plant) in May lasting a
couple of weeks, followed by berrying which starts to look good by mid
August and remains highly ornamental until early winter.

I really do urge you to simply let your plant 'do its own thing'. It
wont' pose any risks to people or structures and will get better year
on year. If you follow this lengthy link, it shows a parterre of
Cordylines down on the sea front that were planted a while back and
are now starting to look rather fetching

http://groups.msn.com/Torbay-theEngl...hoto&PhotoID=5


Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November
Drop 's' when mailing

Thanks, Dave.

I think I'm best to leave it then.

In fact, I'm now looking forward to watching it grow! :-D

Thanks again

Jay

"Dave Poole" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 24 May 2004 06:28:47 +0000 (UTC), "Jay" wrote:

It may sound a daft question, but is there any way to stop it branching?

At the moments it's just about a safe distance from the house, but I'm
worried that if it branches out, it may go towards the house. The person
who planted it (ie the former houseowner) pplanted at a little too close
I
think...

If it does branch it will pose absolutely no problem at all. We have
thousands of them planted down here - many barely inches away from
house and hotel walls. All are perfectly fine and pose no risks
whatsoever. Cordyline australis is a 'terminal flowerer' - in other
words, growth terminates in a flower spike. After flowering, new
shoots at the base of the spike develop, taking anything from 1 to 4
years to grow big enough to flower. If your plant produces a flower
spike it will branch out. Of course you could select just one shoot
and remove the others, but this will result in a very lop-sided and
rather ugly specimen.

Cordyline australis is at its very best when branching freely,
producing many large spikes of rather sweetly scented flowers. They
can become rather spectacular - not only when in flower, but later
when heavily laden with white or lilac, pea-like berries. Generally
(but not always) birds will only touch the berries when most others
have been eaten. Here, Jackdaws eventually feast on them, but not
until late November. As a result we get flowering (creamy white
through to pinkish white depending upon the plant) in May lasting a
couple of weeks, followed by berrying which starts to look good by mid
August and remains highly ornamental until early winter.

I really do urge you to simply let your plant 'do its own thing'. It
wont' pose any risks to people or structures and will get better year
on year. If you follow this lengthy link, it shows a parterre of
Cordylines down on the sea front that were planted a while back and
are now starting to look rather fetching


http://groups.msn.com/Torbay-theEngl...hoto&PhotoID=5


Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November
Drop 's' when mailing

"Dave Poole" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 24 May 2004 06:28:47 +0000 (UTC), "Jay" wrote:

It may sound a daft question, but is there any way to stop it branching?

At the moments it's just about a safe distance from the house, but I'm
worried that if it branches out, it may go towards the house. The person
who planted it (ie the former houseowner) pplanted at a little too close
I
think...

If it does branch it will pose absolutely no problem at all. We have
thousands of them planted down here - many barely inches away from
house and hotel walls. All are perfectly fine and pose no risks
whatsoever. Cordyline australis is a 'terminal flowerer' - in other
words, growth terminates in a flower spike. After flowering, new
shoots at the base of the spike develop, taking anything from 1 to 4
years to grow big enough to flower. If your plant produces a flower
spike it will branch out. Of course you could select just one shoot
and remove the others, but this will result in a very lop-sided and
rather ugly specimen.

Cordyline australis is at its very best when branching freely,
producing many large spikes of rather sweetly scented flowers. They
can become rather spectacular - not only when in flower, but later
when heavily laden with white or lilac, pea-like berries. Generally
(but not always) birds will only touch the berries when most others
have been eaten. Here, Jackdaws eventually feast on them, but not
until late November. As a result we get flowering (creamy white
through to pinkish white depending upon the plant) in May lasting a
couple of weeks, followed by berrying which starts to look good by mid
August and remains highly ornamental until early winter.
snip

Dave Poole

Dave are there clones which do not set fruit/seed mine never has although it
flowers ever year. Or am I just treating it badly!

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

On Mon, 24 May 2004 19:32:07 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:

Dave are there clones which do not set fruit/seed mine never has although it
flowers ever year. Or am I just treating it badly!

Charlie,
There must be very many variants and it would not surprise me that at
least a few might be non fruiters. If it flowers, there should be no
reason for it not setting fruit - unless the flowers are imperfect or
self-sterile.

I've seen at least 5 different flowering types/ styles:

Brilliant creamy, almost yellow- white, comparatively large flowers,
very dense upright flower spikes.

Bright white, medium sized flowers on very large, pendulous spikes.

Translucent white small flowers on dense reddish tinged upright or
semi-pendulous spikes.

As above but with fully pendulous spikes.

White flowers on very sparse reddish spikes.

Leaves can be between 1.5 cms. and 10 cms. across and vary between the
familiar floppy dishmop-look to being half normal length and stiffly
upright. Leaf colour varies from brilliant green through to dull
grey-green and at least one or two show some orange tones in the leaf
midribs a la Cordyline indivisa mode. As mentioned before, berries
are usually white, but I know of at least one very broad leaved plant
with poor flowers but superb berries that colour deep lilac, ageing
slowly through to white.


Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November
Drop 's' when mailing