Botanical name: Chamaedorea elegans
Common name: Parlour Palm
Parlour Palm (Chamaedorea elegans) is perfect for indoors due to its low light tolerance, slow growth and diminutive habit. It’s been used for decades successfully and is the quintessential potted palm. It also works well as a kokedama.
Parlour Palms don’t like over watering, especially in winter, and it’s best to err on the side of less is more! Dryish leaf tips mean you have taken this one step too far! If you would like to divide your clump, use sharp spade or secateurs to divide the clumps in two, ensuring both sections have roots and growth tips intact.
Parlour palms are slow growing, and are able to stay in the same pot for many years, but if you wish to pot them on, it is best doing this is late spring.
Other Chamaedora include:
Bamboo Palm (Chamaedoreaseifritzii) is a tall, narrow clumping palm that is useful for screening as it grows thick to the base and reaches about 3m tall. Outside, bamboo palms prefer a semi shaded position with well-draining, organically enriched soil. Inside, they like a light filled room. Bamboo palms are wonderful to include not only as an air purifying plant, but also because they look great. Team them with a cane basket for a relaxed look or pot them into a glazed pot for a more formal take on a jardinière.
By: Meredith Kirton