Palm companion plants!

[Swolte]

What are your favorite palm companion plants in your climate! You do surround them by grasses? Yucca? Hosta? Pics please!

Oh, and non-organic materials, like rock-types, count too, of course! 

Edited January 1, 2019 by Swolte

[mdsonofthesouth]

Yuccas and cycads for me.

[Jeff985]

For me it’s white bird of paradise. 

[Palm crazy]

Fatsia, Fuchsia, Abutilon, Daphne, Bromeliads, Gerbera Daisy, Cacti, and Agave. 

Edited January 1, 2019 by Palm crazy

[NC_Palms]

Philodendron, Agave, Tillandsia and native subtropical plants 

[GaDawg]

Azaleas, camellias, gardenias, Bird of Paradise, roses, sagos, cast irons, lilies.  

[kinzyjr]

Bananas, philodendrons, avocados, mango, bamboo, sugar cane, fountain grass, cycads, live oak, podocarpus, sea grapes, citrus, papayas, cacti, etc.

[PalmTreeDude]

Bananas, Live Oaks, Southern species of pines such as our native Loblolly, and Bald Cypress if in a swampy area. I will be planting some Sabal minor this Spring under a Loblolly in my yard. 

[Josue Diaz]

I use perennials and succulents. 

[newtopalmsMD]

Zebra Grass, fountain grass, blue dune grass, Japanese Silver grass, Alocasia, Black beauty and Pink China Colocasia, Banana, color guard Yucca, lambs ears, red hot poker, assorted hastas.   Zone 7a swimming pool area.  Black hardwood mulch.

[GaDawg]

Since some of you listed trees, here is my list of trees I’ve planted or grew naturally in the yard: magnolia (southern grandiflora and little gem), live oak, a number of different hollies, crepe myrtle, ligustrium, Bottle brush and podicarpus 

[Merlyn]

So far I have bananas, orange and white bird of paradise, agaves, cycads, heliconia, Hawaiian Ti (and other cordylines), oyster, variegated gingers, cast iron and similar, yucca, and pineapple.  The only other tree I've planted is Southern Magnolia, and a couple of large ponytail "palms" that aren't trees or palms...but sort of are.  Some of those won't live at all in College Station, but the orange bird of paradise, cycads, agaves and some others would probably be happy there!

[mdsonofthesouth]

On 1/1/2019, 9:18:06, PalmTreeDude said:

Bananas, Live Oaks, Southern species of pines such as our native Loblolly, and Bald Cypress if in a swampy area. I will be planting some Sabal minor this Spring under a Loblolly in my yard. 

 

I'm trying to make a pine flat in my yard with taeda, paulstris and maybe a elliottii skirted with yucca gloriosa, sabal minors, rhapidophyllum and maybe even a saw. Have it all mapped out just need a good source for all those plants and spring to come!

[NC_Palms]

13 hours ago, mdsonofthesouth said:

 

I'm trying to make a pine flat in my yard with taeda, paulstris and maybe a elliottii skirted with yucca gloriosa, sabal minors, rhapidophyllum and maybe even a saw. Have it all mapped out just need a good source for all those plants and spring to come!

I would definitely try Serenoa. I saw one at the UNC Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill which is a 7b climate. Also maybe Sabal etonia would work for your pine flatwood, I think they are at least a 7b palm as well.  

[PalmTreeDude]

13 hours ago, mdsonofthesouth said:

 

I'm trying to make a pine flat in my yard with taeda, paulstris and maybe a elliottii skirted with yucca gloriosa, sabal minors, rhapidophyllum and maybe even a saw. Have it all mapped out just need a good source for all those plants and spring to come!

Longleaf pine is endangered (I am sure you know that), so you will be helping the species out! Isn't Loblolly native to your area? I always found Loblolly interesting because once you get like 20 miles Northwest of where I am they seem to became very scarce and a little farther Northwest they are just gone. Yet here they are everywhere and are very weedy. But I like them, some people here chop them down because they can look scrubby (endless they are very tall). I have two that were planted as seedlings. One planted by my brother that was a foot tall and is now huge, at least 16 feet of trunk, and one I planted later on that was literally three inches tall and had barely any root, ripped out of the ground, and now it is almost as tall as me. I also planted that one in late fall. The first year of them being planted they are slow, but then when the next Spring comes they absolutely fly and will be huge before you know it. They like sun! We have pine flats of Loblolly pine here, they honestly look pretty cool and I would love to see some Sabal minor growing around the base of them like in the Carolinas. Basically, I love native Southern pine trees. I have some Silver Saw Palmetto seeds that I am trying to germinate now (nothing yet), hopefully one comes up because I would love to try a Saw Palmetto here (maybe replace my Mediterranean Fan Palm with one, don't get me wrong I love that palm, but I also love Saw Palmetto!). Good luck with this and keep us updated! 

[sandgroper]

I have a lot of pineapples planted throughout my palm garden, they look good and when they fruit you get another plant and a pineapple! 

[mdsonofthesouth]

11 hours ago, NC_Palms said:

I would definitely try Serenoa. I saw one at the UNC Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill which is a 7b climate. Also maybe Sabal etonia would work for your pine flatwood, I think they are at least a 7b palm as well.  

 

I'll have to look into that for sure!

 

10 hours ago, PalmTreeDude said:

Longleaf pine is endangered (I am sure you know that), so you will be helping the species out! Isn't Loblolly native to your area? I always found Loblolly interesting because once you get like 20 miles Northwest of where I am they seem to became very scarce and a little farther Northwest they are just gone. Yet here they are everywhere and are very weedy. But I like them, some people here chop them down because they can look scrubby (endless they are very tall). I have two that were planted as seedlings. One planted by my brother that was a foot tall and is now huge, at least 16 feet of trunk, and one I planted later on that was literally three inches tall and had barely any root, ripped out of the ground, and now it is almost as tall as me. I also planted that one in late fall. The first year of them being planted they are slow, but then when the next Spring comes they absolutely fly and will be huge before you know it. They like sun! We have pine flats of Loblolly pine here, they honestly look pretty cool and I would love to see some Sabal minor growing around the base of them like in the Carolinas. Basically, I love native Southern pine trees. I have some Silver Saw Palmetto seeds that I am trying to germinate now (nothing yet), hopefully one comes up because I would love to try a Saw Palmetto here (maybe replace my Mediterranean Fan Palm with one, don't get me wrong I love that palm, but I also love Saw Palmetto!). Good luck with this and keep us updated! 

 

Yeah loblolly is native here, but is kinda sparse where I live. Go about 15 to 20 mins east and its everywhere and yes they are like weeds but I love them! They are practically the only tree in delmarva and SOMD. They do well anywhere in the state save for maybe Oakland...

 

I know longleaf is endangered which is one of the reasons why I'll try to grow them. I need to find a source for these closer to the DMV. As for loving southern yellow pines I can't help it as they are much nicer than the non replicating eastern white everyone seems to use. Look at a strand of loblolly and you'll see little seedlings everywhere, eastern white pine doesn't seem to do that here and they are pretty ugly compared to southern yellow pines...even short leaf!

[Funkthulhu]

I have a Sea Grape with stems bigger than my thumb.  The big round leaves are a nice contrast to the other plants in my Container Ranch...

[Chester B]

Companion plants for palms in my backyard (lots of mositure and shadier) include:

Eucalyptus, bamboo, fatsia, fuschia, western sword fern, rice paper plant (T. "steroidal giant"), euphorbia, bananas, cannas, rhodos, melianthus, heavenly bamboos, Metapanax sp, Nothopanax, and Schefflera.

 

Frontyard (very hot and dry):

Assorted yuccas, agave, Cistus, Arbutus unedo, Ceanothus, assorted Euphorbia, Choisiya, Prickly pear,  oleander and Acca sellowiana.

[Mightycanes]

Cannas mainly but have some yucca, iris, ginger and elephant ear in there.  Want to add some Nandinas

[Mightycanes]

This showing the windmills.  It is a work in progress.

[cbmnz]

I use locally native broadleaf evergreens. Only downside is have to clip those constantly to get a nice full, rounded shape.

 

 

 

 

[Hillizard]

Below are some of the shrubs and trees I've got around my yard as 'companion' and overstory (sun/frost protection) plants: Bauhinia variegata var. candida, Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate' , Caesalpinia mexicana, Golden Chalice vine (Solandra maxima 'Variegata' ) and Spathodea campanulata recovering from winter die-back. All pictures taken this past week.

[Tropicdoc]

Some of my theory on landscaping.... place plants with different leaf shapes, colors or habit next to each other. So, palms are kind of grassy so don’t use grasses next to them. Use grass under bananas etc for the contrast of leaves. I have pittosporum and lantana around some of mine. Others have dwarf gingers near the base. 

[Brad Mondel]

Anything exotic, hibiscus, plumeria, oleander, banana, salvia, citrus, orchids.

[SEVA]

Currently my palm companions include, but are not limited to, a combination of planted and naturally occurring species:

Aspidistra elatior

Camellia japonica

Camellia sasanqua

Camellia sinensis

Canna sp.

Citrus/Poncirus sp.

Clethra alnifolia

Cliftonia monophylla

Cestrum sp.

Dendropanax trifidus

Dracunculus vulgaris

Elaeagnus pungens

Fatsia japonica

Fothergilla sp.

Fraxinus caroliniana

Gardenia sp.

Gaultheria procumbens

Ginkgo biloba

Hibiscus spp.

Illicium floridanum

Illicium parviflorum 'Florida sunshine'

Lagerstroemia indica (multiple cultivars, including purple-leaved)

Lantana sp.

Magnolia grandiflora

Magnolia virginiana

Musa basjoo

Opuntia spp.

Persea palustris

Pieris japonica

Pinus palustris (Virginia native sourced)

Pinus serotina

Pinus taeda

Prunus caroliniana

Quercus virginiana

Rosa spp.

Rhododendron spp.

Taxodium distichum var. imbricarium

Yucca filamentosa

Yucca gloriosa

 

Future companions currently in pots (seed-grown):

Calycanthus floridus

Gordonia lasianthus

Quercus hemisphaerica

 

That's all I can think of at the moment.  I will see if I can find some pictures.  It wasn't intentional for some of the species such as those in the genus Fraxinus, Taxodium, or Persea to be companions.  Sabal minor seeds are just germinating everywhere.

[SEVA]

[Merlyn]

I forgot to add to my list: "native and imported hardy perennials."  A.k.a. weeds.  I have a lot of them, of all kinds and varieties, mostly self-seeding and with remarkably rapid growth!  

[miamicuse]

What is this companion plant that is attached mid trunk to the Licuala Grandis like a Koala bear?  How is the attachment done?  I would think with this much of the trunk enveloped it could cause rotting of the trunk or no?

[Alberto]

In a part of the garden I use lot of xerophitics like cactus, Dasylirion, Nolina, Xanthorrea, Yucca, Aloe etc also Cycads.

[Motlife]

On 5/31/2023 at 8:27 AM, miamicuse said:

What is this companion plant that is attached mid trunk to the Licuala Grandis like a Koala bear?  How is the attachment done?  I would think with this much of the trunk enveloped it could cause rotting of the trunk or no?

That's a birds nest fern, asplenium nidus or maybe another similar species. Generally epiphytes growing on healthy plants don't seem to cause too much issue with the host. If the palm was already unhealthy it might exacerbate the issues, but usually the main issue I've heard of is breaking branches of dicot trees rather than rot. There's a nīkau down the road from me with about 3m of trunk covered in stag horn fern, and a very old phoenix with a decent size pōhutukawa tree growing out of the crown or close to it. Both palms seem perfectly healthy, flowering and lots of new leaves. I'll take a photo next time I go past if anyone is interested.