Little Palms Make It Big
Indoor gardeners rejoice, and welcome to the wonderful world of kansochiku.
Kansochiku is a Japanese art form similar to bonsai, but uniquely different. Both are about growing small plants in small pots, but while any number of plants can be used for bonsai, kansochiku utilizes only one variety of one plant species: the Rhapis excelsa, or dwarf “lady” palm. And where most plant material used for bonsai, such as juniper and maple, can only be grown outdoors, the dwarf lady palm will thrive inside.
These fan-shaped little miniature palms are a variety of the more familiar darkish-green rhapis palms found around the Southland--full-sized varieties that grow as tall as eight, 10, even 15 feet. Native to Southeast Asia, particularly China, Vietnam and Thailand, the dwarf lady palms vary in size from 18 inches to 36 inches and besides the more familiar solid green hue, there are also at least 100 named cultivars of R. excelsa that are variegated with beautiful cream-colored stripes.
Although kansochiku has been chronicled since the 17th Century in Japan, where even today the demand so far outweighs the supply that an individual plant can be worth thousands of dollars, dwarf lady palms are virtually unknown to indoor gardeners in the United States.
“I call them ‘The Secret of the Orient,’ ” said Lynn McKamey, secretary of the International Palm Society and owner of one of the largest commercial producers of dwarf R. excelsa in the United States--Rhapis Gardens in Gregory, Tex.
The plants cannot be mass produced. Seeds are in short supply and are unreliable, thus growers must rely on propagating offsets, which take at least five years to reach a marketable size.
“It’s really a shame we can’t produce them faster,” McKamey said, “because of the over 300 species of palms, I think the dwarf lady is the perfect indoor palm. They’re about the only plants you can put on a coffee table that won’t outgrow it in a few years.”
Another advantage is the plant’s adaptability to indoor growing conditions. R. excelsa actually prefers low light, since strong light turns their foliage yellow.
The larger varieties of rhapis palms were first introduced into the United States in the 1850s and became a staple in the Victorian conservatories of the day.
It wasn’t until the late 1970s that American growers began to import named varieties and commercially produce the plants in quantity. Quantity, however, is a relative term, and only a few thousand lucky indoor gardeners have been exposed to these fascinating plants.
Lee Hollander and his wife, Anna, of Redlands are examples of people who became familiar with R. excelsa, fell in love with its spectacular look and decided to raise dwarf lady palms commercially. Hollander, who was a chemistry professor at the University of Redlands until his retirement in 1991, began raising the exotic miniatures back in 1975.
“At first, I tried raising them from seeds,” Hollander said, “but that didn’t work out because you never know what you’re going to get when you plant rhapis seeds. So then I contracted another friend of mine who was living in Japan, got some plants from a grower over there and began cultivating the offsets.”
Hollander built a small greenhouse in his back yard and has been raising and selling kansochiku ever since.
Hollander also co-authored a book, “The Miniature Palms of Japan.” Published in 1981, this is a very comprehensive work with lots of gorgeous color photographs.
“Miniature lady palms are very easy to care for,” Hollander said. “Good light but no direct sun, water often enough so the root ball never gets dry--about once a week--feed only about once a month with a diluted liquid fertilizer, and your plants should thrive.”
Another big fan of the little fan palms is John Bagnasco, western region Buyer for the Nurseryland chain.
“These plants are perfect for people who love bonsai but want to grow it indoors,” Bagnasco said, underlining one of the major appeals of the little lady palms.
Bagnasco estimates that he sells about 500 dwarf lady palms a year. His most memorable sale occurred last year at the Del Mar Fair, when a particularly beautiful specimen of the variegated “Zuikonishiki” variety, a virtually perfect plant that stood about 24 inches high, sold for $700. “A woman walked up, took one look at the plant, and said ‘I’ll take it’ without batting an eye,” Bagnasco recalled.
Among the varieties available from Hollander, Rhapis Gardens or Nurseryland are the green dwarfs R. excelsa “Koban,” a perfect beginner palm; “Daruma,” a classic miniature; “Tenzan,” an unusual variety with long curving leaves, “Kodaruma,” the shortest of all rhapis, and “Gyokuho,” which has a short, bushy growth habit.
Among variegated R. excelsa, “Zuiko-lutino” and “Zuikonishiki” are two elegant varieties.
For a free price-list from Hollander, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to J. Leland Hollander, P.O. Box 84, Redlands, Calif. 92373, or telephone (909) 794-3823.
If you’d like a catalogue from Rhapis Gardens, write to P.O. Drawer 287, Gregory, Tex. 78359 and enclose $1 for shipping and handling or telephone (512) 643-2061. You can also order a copy of McKamey’s book, “The Secret of the Orient,” an excellent little book with illustrations and color photographs that sells for $6.
Or look up the nearest Nurseryland in your Yellow Pages.
Prices at all three sources range from $25 up to several hundred dollars for rare varieties, with the average being about $40. Variegated plants and older plants are generally more expensive than the younger, plain green varieties.
