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ADVICE ABOUT A PALM

billy5billy5 Posts: 24
in Plants
I'm afraid that I can't tell you the proper name of this palm. It looks like the type of palm you might see, let's say, on a promenade in Spain, only smaller.

It was planted in a 2ft dia X 1.5ft deep pot. Over the years it has grown well reaching a height of 6ft with a stem diameter of about 4 inches. Last winter it succumb to a hard frost. The leaves and about 1.5ft of the stem turned black and died. I cut through the stem (so the plant stem was about 4ft above ground level) I left the stem in the ground and grew sweet peas up the stem this Summer. Three plants have now grown to about a foot in height around the stem. Their leaves look very much like palm leaves. Long, spiky and very tough.

My question is can a palm, which I assumed was dead, 'reseed' itself? Will these new plants, given time, grow into new palm?

Posts

  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    edited September 2023
    It sounds like your plant may be a  Cordyline which are also known as Torbay palms. The young plants at the base will grow, you can separate them but wait until spring to do this.  A photo would certainly help to confirm the ID.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    It does sound like a cordyline, but a pic will make it easier to tell. They do regrow from the roots if the main growing point is damaged, as lots were last winter. It sounds like you're getting a multi-stemmed plant, and in time each of the three "plants" will develop a bare trunk and palm-like appearance (they're not separate plants but new stems growing from the original roots).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • billy5billy5 Posts: 24
    Thank you Jenny & Plantminded. 

    Just by sheer coincidence I have another problem with probably the same plant, (Although I didn't know this at time of posting) As you both seem to know what you're talking about perhaps you could have a look at my post; PROBLEM CORDYLINE AUSTRALIS PEKO and give me some advice?

    Thanks again. 
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    If they are growing from below the soil surface, they are actually rooted suckers which can be separated and grown on. Shoots emerging from the stem above ground will produce a multi-stemmed plant.  This link provides more detail:

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/cordyline/growing-guide
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


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