Cabbage Palm
The cabbage palm has proven to be popular in the area. The scientific name is Sabal palmetto and is native to Florida.
Cabbage palms may reach a height from 50-80 feet here but they usually average around 25 feet. We actually had one next to my office that was between 30-35 feet. Sometimes the trunks may be covered with the crisscross pattern of old leaf bases, but most have smooth, thin trunks usually less than 12 inches in diameter.
Brief Recognition Factors:
- Leaves fan shaped and 3 – 6 feet in length.
- Tall trunk becoming smooth with age.
- Tolerant of salt spray and adapted to coastal landscapes.
- Flower stalk is 2 – 3 feet in length, producing numerous white flowers followed by global, shiny black fruit.
Some problems encountered:
- New plantings require staking for 2 years.
- Moderate rate of growth.
- Never damage terminal bud which is the large leaf bud or "cabbage" at the top of the trunk, as the palm will die if the bud is damaged.
This palm is well adapted to our wet, poorly drained soils and is very cold hardy.
My last column discussed some of the insect problems with palms. There are a few leaf spot diseases that may attack palms in this area. Most can be controlled with Bordeaux mixtures, Kocide, or copper sulfate.
Read label of pesticide before making applications.
Colored Vegetables
I received a call last month about a purple carrot and was it normal. Let me quote from the USDA Agriculture Research Service. Today’s carrots are more nutritious than the carrots we ate 30 years ago. That is because ARS scientist discovered a way to breed carrots with high amounts of beta-carotene, an orange pigment that helps humans make vitamin A.
The Vegetable Crops Research Unit in Madison Wisconsin is now working to produce the same results in cucumbers and melons. They are also breeding red carrots which contains lycopene, yellow carrots, containing more lutein and purple carrots, full of anthocyanins.
Where does all of this lead to? Preliminary research suggest that Xanthophylls, similar to beta-carotene, give yellow carrots their golden colors; they are linked to eye health and may reduce the incidence of lung and other cancers.
Lycopene, found in red carrots, is a type of carotene also found in tomatoes. It is believed to help prevent heart disease and in conjunction with other phytochemicals, reduce the risk of certain cancers including prostate cancer.
Anthocyanins and pigments of the flavonoid (as opposed to Carotenoid) class are found in purple carrots. In the human body, these pigments act as powerful antioxidants, immobilizing harmful free radicals. Anthocyanins can also help reduce the risk of heart disease by slowing blood clotting.
White carrots lack pigment.
Lutein is one of the hydroxy carotenoids found in yellow and orange carrots and makes up the macular pigment of human retinas. Consuming foods high in lutein may increase the density of this pigment and decrease the risk for developing macular degeneration and other age-related diseases.
So don’t be alarmed if you begin to see colored carrots or other colored vegetables. They are already at the supermarkets and sold through various seed catalogs.
Things to do in the landscape
- Now is the time to begin fertilizing our warm season lawns.
- Begin to check citrus trees for white flies, black flies, aphids and other insects. Don’t spray citrus trees in bloom.
- Complete mulching of trees and plants to reduce watering requirements, suppress weed growth and eliminate weed-eater damage.
- Fertilize shrubs and follow label directions.
Question –
Should I mulch around a fig tree?
Answer –
Yes, Figs typically are shallow rooted and droughts are more detrimental than excess moisture conditions.