Garden of the Golden Canes

[PalmatierMeg]

In 2009 when I was still in my "I'll germinate anything palm" phase I collected a mess of seeds from a neglected clump of Dypsis lutescens on a vacant rental property. Well, I can vouch that Dypsis lutescens is easy to germinate and easy to keep, at least in my climate. And they grew and grew. The problem is almost nobody wants them - even for free. I managed to foist 5 good-sized ones on a neighbor looking to landscape her yard. But I still had at least 12 left. Soft-hearted me, I couldn't bear to uproot them and toss them on the compost heap like I did my non-performing potted plants this weekend.

Then my husband & I got the idea to plant them on the weedy berm of the vacant canal-front lot to our east. So I tore up weeds while my husband manned the shovel. Voila! I call it the Garden of the Golden Canes.

[Cindy Adair]

Wonderful choice!

[Mandrew968]

Won't that make your neighborhood property value go down?

[PalmatierMeg]

  On 4/11/2011 at 4:35 PM, Mandrew968 said:

Won't that make your neighborhood property value go down?

Not much value left to go down. Cape Coral has one of the worst real estate markets in the country - we got a dishonorable mention today on Yahoo.

[LauraAnu]

Well, you can say you did your part to improve the air quality in the neighbourhood

Laura

[paulgila]

i know some people dont like this palm but i think its cool!

[Mandrew968]

  On 4/11/2011 at 6:16 PM, pohonkelapa said:

i know some people dont like this palm but i think its cool!

My dad has one of the nicest specimens I've seen for a lutescens--My uncle commented, "it's one of those orange cabadas" and the next day, my dad's new neighbor hacked it all up! Now there are no more nice lutescens...

Edited April 11, 2011 by Mandrew968

[paulgila]

it may be a good idea to keep all sharp objects away from your father in the future.

[BermudaPalm]

Greta use for unwanted plants and adding to the air quality like someone mentioned earlier. Who gives a damn about what they look like when they "improve" the air and the landscape.

[edric]

Way cool Meg, Ed

[DoomsDave]

Nice work Meg!

Sounds like real estate has nowhere to go but up around there.

(Though I bet Ohio isn't any better, or worse . . . .)

[redbeard917]

That's a good idea. I might have to do a similar guerilla planting here with extra palms I've sprouted. That planting should look cool when they form a grove and are all competing for light.

[Tropicgardener]

ARGGGGG............Golden Canes !!!!.......I am always ripping the little blighters out.....but hey they are tough and if they are going to do the job why not.......

[Ice Blue]

I think that's a very creative idea to beautify your neighborhood.

[buffy]

You elitist jokers! Golden Canes are beautiful palms if given any kind of care. Can they be a little aggressive? Sure. Are they prolific? Yep. Can they become an impenetrable mess? Yes again.

[AggiePalms]

Coming from the "Land of "Areca" Palms from the Big Box Store", I would love a nice berm across the street full of Dypsis lutescens... if it were warm enough here in the winter. I really like their look in S. Florida when properly trimmed. Oh well, one of these days I'll move there and start complaining about common species like that.

[Trópico]

When I look at the two pictures I can't stop thinking about BS, Matty, or Dave's yard. Not sure why, but nevermind. Guerrilla planters unite! Awesome job.

The problem I see with the overused, misused, misunderstood poor "Butterfly palm" is, obviously, its overuse not in the best of ways. Usually people throw in the front yard one of those "tropical foliage" plants made out of 200+ sprouted seeds to make a nicely naturally clumping palm, well, ridiculously overclump. Many use them as a hedge so its status degenerates even further to not more than brush, scrub, little green monster, etc. This clump then gets yellowish/copperish leaves due to cold, sun exposure, or nutrient deficiency.

But. In the tropics they can be a sight to behold, especially when seeding. The color display can range from glaucous blue, to green, to yellow, to orange. Even here in Central Florida I've seen a few very well grown.

I remember as a kid I insisted my dad to not prune the little monsters and let the canes grow. He just wanted to keep the little green monsters, I wanted the palms to grow.

Edited April 12, 2011 by Trópico

[Kumar]

Judging.from the responses, i don't suppose anyone would care to join me in starting an anti-lutescens movement ?

But seriously these palms are so terrible overused here. I see them in hedges, footpaths, inside shops, on rooftops, indoors, outdoors, in the lift!, inside office so help me! Even worse these fellows tenaciously survive no matter how ill they are treated.

[Tropicgardener]

  On 4/12/2011 at 9:24 PM, Kumar said:

Judging.from the responses, i don't suppose anyone would care to join me in starting an anti-lutescens movement ?

But seriously these palms are so terrible overused here. I see them in hedges, footpaths, inside shops, on rooftops, indoors, outdoors, in the lift!, inside office so help me! Even worse these fellows tenaciously survive no matter how ill they are treated.

Yep they are very overused here.....I don't mind them as a palm but the nursery industry here has gone mad on them because of their ease of propagation......the only ones that are in my garden are seedlings that have come up from bat droppings and they are quickly dispatched

[Miccles]

Good for you Meg - well done on making a difference ! Two thumbs up !

Regards

Michael.

[paulgila]

  On 4/12/2011 at 8:22 PM, Trópico said:

When I look at the two pictures I can't stop thinking about BS, Matty, or Dave's yard. Not sure why, but nevermind. Guerrilla planters unite! Awesome job.

The problem I see with the overused, misused, misunderstood poor "Butterfly palm" is, obviously, its overuse not in the best of ways. Usually people throw in the front yard one of those "tropical foliage" plants made out of 200+ sprouted seeds to make a nicely naturally clumping palm, well, ridiculously overclump. Many use them as a hedge so its status degenerates even further to not more than brush, scrub, little green monster, etc. This clump then gets yellowish/copperish leaves due to cold, sun exposure, or nutrient deficiency.

But. In the tropics they can be a sight to behold, especially when seeding. The color display can range from glaucous blue, to green, to yellow, to orange. Even here in Central Florida I've seen a few very well grown.

I remember as a kid I insisted my dad to not prune the little monsters and let the canes grow. He just wanted to keep the little green monsters, I wanted the palms to grow.

i've been saying for a long time here that if d.lutescens were a "new" species everyone would want one,but familiarity

does breed contempt.