Geonoma undata - Red Crown Shaft - growing at Landsendt

 PALMS

Palms are synonymous with tropical gardens. The New Zealand Nikau is the most southern occurring palm in the world, found as far south as the Chatham Islands and Punakaiki. To the untrained eye, palms are just a stick with a bit of fluff on the top. Many plants that are not palms are referred to as palms - ponytail palms, banana palms etc. but for the enthusiast palms offer an exciting texture and flavour to tropical and subtropical gardens. Many provide food and fibre such as the coconut and date palms but in New Zealand we mostly grow them for their aesthetic value.

There are palms to suit every environment  - wind, bog, salt, sun, dry etc. Most places in NZ can have a palm tree in their garden. The warmer North, - Auckland and Northland can grow a huge variety of species, exciting for the palm enthusiast.

Palms are easily grown from seed. They don't take up a lot of 'floor space' in the garden so are a good plant choice. There are a few small varieties for those with limited space, such as Dypsis baronii and Phoenix roebelinii.

Pictures of palms show specimen sizes in the garden rather than plants in pots. This is to show you what the palm will look like. A potted palm in a garden centre is deceiving as it may become a monster. Phoenix palms under eaves is a typical scenario.