Half price sale for City Farm
The Bangalow or Piccabeen Palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) is our plant of the month Image Mary Boyce
Cooloola City Farm, opposite the Community Centre, on Tin Can Bay Road, is open to the public for plant sales on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8am-3pm, 07 54862304, ccfni09@gmail.com, www.cooloolacityfarm.org
Free trees are available with your latest rates notice until May 31 and you can come to an Open Day/Garage Sale at the Nursery, May 13, 8am – 12pm, all stock half price.
The Bangalow or Piccabeen Palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) grows in rainforests and wet eucalypt forest areas in our region. It can grow to 20 metres or so and has a canopy of several metres, though the trunk is quite thin. Leaves are glossy green with a feathery appearance.
It is regarded as self-cleaning – which sounds good – because the branches drop as they die, though this does not always seem an advantage when the spent leaves have to be removed from the garden!
This palm is fast growing, likes full sun in its maturity, but does not tolerate excessive heat. It is also very fond of water, so needs moist, though not water-logged, soil to thrive.
It can, therefore, deprive plants around of moisture and nutrients, so some solutions are to surround the base with pot plants – raised from the ground so palm roots do not invade, or to attach colorful epiphytic plants such as orchids and bromeliads to the trunk. Flowering vines can be trained around the trunk as well.
Lilac flowers and red fruit occur all year round in warm climates.
