The Virgin’s Palm
Dioone edule Photograph May. Charleston, South Carolina. A true collector’s plant to be sure! A plant/pet you’ll have for the rest of your life. Incredibly slow, rare and surrounded by legends, its evergreen leaves look great in containers where it can be a conversation piece. Flowering Time: Spring & summer. Odd, fuzzy things like giant pine cones. You may not get a flower for 10 or 20 years!
Ultimate Height: Well, 15 feet in 400 years. In your lifetime, 3 feet? Special Care: Plant in dry spots or containers in sun or light shade. Very cold hardy. Needs no special care. I’ve had one in a pot for 16 years and I never, ever (ever) water or fertilize it. It always reminds me of the friends I was with when I found it in the backwoods of Florida.
Foliage: The sharp green leaflets emerge covered Gardening Tips: Google the history associated in gray fuzzy hairs. Evergreen. with the Virgin Mary. And the myths ? of it’s powers. Keep it in a pot where you can tell the Growth Rate: Astoundingly slow. The plant is stories and trick your friends into pricking their the photo is about 400 years old. It was brought fingers. into the US from Mexico in the 1930’s. Only a Suggested Combinations: A stand alone plant! few of this size exist. I’ve bought & sold one for more than any car I’ve ever owned.