Top ten favorite palm & cycad companions

[rprimbs]

I need companion plants around my palms and cycads. I already have plumeria, and bougainvillea.  I think I will start with:

- plumeria

- bougainvillea

- Monstera deliciosa

- bromeliads (Maybe some pineapples?)

- jaboticaba

- tree ferns

- orchids

- Strelitzia 

 

 

[amh]

All good ideas, but have you considered any canopy species?

[Billeb]

There’s so many plants you can grow in your area. Not sure what look you are going for but Ti plants, Crinum Lily, Anigozanthos,  Crotons or Xanadu are always cool. Even the right colored compact Phormium or Alocasia and trouble free. Textures, textures, textures…. 
 

-dale

[iDesign]

My yard is looking a little ragged after winter, but I have a ton of "companion plants" if you want photos of anything.

This photo is showing...
- Red Ti Plants (recovering from winter - I also have dark purple, "black magic" & yellow dracanea... which look like ti's)
- Large bromeliad (Alcantarea Juliette)
- Snake Plant
- Leopard Plants (I have some spotted types too)
- Alocasia (looking iffy after winter, but usually very pretty). I have several Colocasia types too.
- Clivia (mostly orange, though you can see a peek of yellow ones in the background).

This photo is showing...
- Bromeliads (of various types)
- Blood Leaf (pink bushy type)
- Queen Emma Lily (crinum)
- Small Ferns (I also have Tasmanian & Australian ferns)
- Crotons (mammy is toughest - I also have oakleaf and a couple rare ones)
- Shell Ginger (I also have some "Triostar" stromanthe, which are shaped similarly)

This photo is showing...
- Staghorn Ferns
- Spider Plant (which are surprisingly hardy... have some in full sun too)
- Tradescandia zebrina
- Monstera & Mini Monstera
- Twist Ti's (a little stressed from winter)
- My daughter finding easter eggs this morning

This photo shows...
- More Bromeliads (the more finicky "Vriesea" type)
- One of the yellow dracaneas I mentioned above (that look like ti's)
- White Bird of Paradise (which grow to "monster" size in my yard)

This photo shows...
- Another monstera
- "Tiger Eye" Abutilon (I also have other abutilon types + several Angel Trumpets, which are still growing up)
- Philodendron (Prince of Orange shown here... I also have other small ones + selloum, evansii & xanadu)

This photo shows...
- The purple Tis mentioned above
- More bromeliads (fireball type)
- Ice Cream Bananas (looking iffy after winter but will recover soon)

This photo shows...
- More Red Ti's
- A young (but lovely) Abyssian Banana
- More Bromleliads
- Hibiscus (this is a small variety... I have larger Hibiscus types elsewhere in the yard)

For larger (non-palm) trees I have Ficus lyrata (fiddle leaf), Ficus burgundy (rubber tree) & Ficus dammaropsis (dinner plate). Mostly away from the house because of root concerns (the rubber tree is in a buried pot in fact). Don't have a lot of other non-palm trees... I could do better in that area.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head 🤔
Let me know if you'd like photos of anything mentioned but not shown (or you can drop by if ever in my neighborhood).

[Jeff Searle]

I grow tons of stuff on my two acres along side my palms.

Crotons, many species of Philodendrons and Monsteras,  and Bromeliads.

[Xenon]

Imo, palms looks better with a lot of dicot companions for a more naturalistic/subtle look rather than lots of monocots and ferns with broadly similar shapes. I like tropical fruit trees and fragrant flowers. 

[rprimbs]

Thank you for the suggestion to avoid to many monocots.

And I do not even know what Anigozanthos,  Xanadu and Phormium are.  I will have to check them out.  I do need more texture for the "jungle" look!

[Tracy]

On 4/10/2023 at 9:41 AM, rprimbs said:

Thank you for the suggestion to avoid to many monocots.

More Gymnosperms!  More Cycads to compliment your Palms and Cycads is my answer.  Can't get too many in my opinion and as you can see below. 

On a more serious note, here in California, in addition to the many fruit trees I know you have experimented with, Aloes and Agaves are a great addition that mostly can get by with less water, allowing you to dedicate more to your palms and other thirsty plants.  Bromeliads, Crotons, Aroids and Orchids all make great companions, but the reality is that water is just going to get more and more expensive as we move into the future here in Southern California so using drought tolerant plants in the mix will be a necessity.  If you don't mind nasty barbs, the Puya, Dyckia and Hechtia genera of Bromeliads are great low water use alternatives.  Just get a great pair of long arm gloves and long tweezers for weeding around them.