In my office are these 3 plants this lady got as a gift. They are obviously getting killed, so I'm going to try to take them home and save them. But, it would be helpful to know what they are. The first image is the pot itself, with two plants in it. The second image is one of the plants. Keep in mind this was neglected, so it is very dried out, and may not look like this healthy. The third image is the other plant, obviously it's drought tolerant because it is doing much better. Any ideas?
the dried-up one is a parlor palm - and it's a goner. the other one is draceana marginata. looks pretty healthy at the moment. i suggest repotting it in proper soil (it's probably in peat at the moment). cactus mix with some perlite added will provide good drainage. drac's should be watered thoroughly and then the soil should be allowed to dry out a bit (down an inch or so) before watering again. the parlor palm likes moister conditions and, even if watering was done fairly regularly, if the peat is allowed to dry out completely, it turns rock-solid, so the roots can't take up nutrients because they're encased. with the drac, unpot it and gently shake off as much peat as possible and then let the roots sit in a container of water for about 1/2 hour...then swish the roots around a bit to remove as much of the peat as is possible. then, pot up in the proper soil and allow it to sit, unwatered, for about a week and then water it.
The dried up palm appears to be Chamaedorea elegans, Parlour Palm. The living one looks like Dracaena marginata 'Tricolor', Madagascar Dragon Tree.
