As houseplants go, Dolly is tall and architectural with a full and bushy habit (she can’t help it). If you’re a fan of indoor palms, consider Dolly to be the dreamy hybrid between two of our most common and most-loved palms, the Kentia palm aka Big Ken, and the Chamaedorea palm, who we call Sharon to simplify things. Dolly’s unrelated to either of them genetically, but combines Ken’s height with Sharon’s fullness. Dolly is made distinct by her yellow stems that contrast vibrantly with her bright green fronds (the word for palm leaves in horti-talk). In fact, it’s Dolly’s thick, yellow stems that lend her the common name ‘the bamboo palm’. Don’t be fooled however, she is completely unrelated to bamboo as we know it.
Your Areca palm will be happiest in a warm north or east-facing room where there is plenty of light but it’s not harsh or too bright for too many hours of the day. This is because their leaves can be prone to sunburn. Because Dypsis are tropical plants, they need a draught-free spot, far from cold air blowing out of aircons or under doors or windows in winter. It’s important to consider reducing your watering over winter too. With the shorter days and colder weather they won’t dry out as quickly, although if you have the heating on, it’s worth checking the soil moisture regularly. Heating will dry out the air too, which could cause the tips of your palms fronds to go brown. For advice on how to increase humidity, read here.
Did you know?
Dypsis lutescens is native to Madagascar where one of its local names ‘lafa’, translates to fibre. This is because the palm’s strong fronds used to be shredded, plaited and used to make fishing nets.
