Subspecies of Windmill palms in British Columbia

Discussion in 'Outdoor Tropicals' started by Denis, Sep 21, 2003.

  1. Palm Nut

    Palm Nut Active Member 10 Years

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    Vancouver BC Canada
    I noticed tonight while watering my yucca (pictured above in my past post), there are several shoots coming out of the earth. I am very pleased this plant is doing well. For the longest time it was a dwarf. Since I moved it to its current location it has just taken to the sky.
     
  2. AM Downie

    AM Downie Member

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    The plant pictured is Yucca recurvifolia (not Cordyline indivisa!). This yucca is completely hardy in Zone 7.
     
  3. AM Downie

    AM Downie Member

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    Cordyline indivisa - they will root sprout

    I had a 5 x 5 foot specimen in my North Vancouver garden. It was planted as a 5 gallon specimen in 1999. It received no winter protection at all, except for a good mulching of leaves around the base of the plant. Snow was never a problem. It was planted on the north side of my home, where it received no winter sunshine due to the shelter of the nearby house. This probably helped the plant to avoid winter damage from sudden thawing during cold clear mornings. In summer it would receive sun in the morning and late afternoon (about 4 hours total). The plant thrived under these conditions, developing a short trunk and lovely head of broad, orange midribbed leaves...

    Unfortunately, this plant was killed to the ground last winter (-11.2 C). It had survived almost -9C during a previous winter with no damage. So, it would seem that -10 C (14 F) or so is about the limit of hardiness for this plant, at least under my conditions. I have heard that C. indivisa is perhaps hardier than C. australis, but my experience seems to contradict this assertion.

    In March I cut off the dead top of my C. indivisa, leaving about 6" of trunk, and waited. In June, two small spears appeared from below ground. These are now about a foot high and doing very nicely.

    So, C. indivisa is able to sprout from the root system if the top is killed. There are no sprouts from the stump itself. This is the same behaviour I've seen from top killed C. australis.
     
  4. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Correctly identified Cordyline indivisa in the Seattle arboretum eventually froze out. Containerized specimens in downtown Seattle may still be there, I haven't heard one way or the other. If the Seattle Zone 9 web pages are still up, one of these plants is shown there.
     
  5. thats yucca pendula not cordyline

    that is yucca pendula not cordyline
     
  6. parky

    seed swap from north queensland australia?
     

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