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.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

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.

Search Smarty Plants

See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

rate this answer

Not Yet Rated

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