Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Sunday - April 08, 2012
From: Guilford, CT
Region: Northeast
Topic: Non-Natives, Trees
Title: Problems with non-native indoor palm in Guilford CT
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
My question is I have an indoor palm plant that I have had for 7 yrs. It has grown from about a 5" plant to about 3' tall plant. The past few weeks the leaves are turning yellow & brown and lost about 8 stems in 1-1/2 weeks. I haven't done anything different to the plant. If you could please help that would be great.ANSWER:
A palm in Connecticut would have to be an indoor pot plant, as palms are not native to nor adapted to the very cold winter temperatures that you have. And, because it is an indoor plant, highly unlikely to be a native plant, it falls out of the realm of experience of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, home of Mr. Smarty Plants. Our goal is the growth, propagation and protection of plants native not only to North America but to the areas in which they grow naturally.
Therefore, since we haven't the least idea how to answer your question, let us refer you to a couple of websites that hopefully can help you:
From Jungle Music-Palms and Cycads - Palms as Houseplants, Indoor Palm Trees
From Mother Earth News - Grow Palms as House Plants
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