{"product_id":"travellers-palm-ravenala-madagascariensis","title":"Traveller's Palm - Ravenala madagascariensis","description":"\u003cp\u003eTraveller's palm is not a palm at all. Its nearest relative in most gardens is the giant bird of paradise, and the foliage gives that away: huge, paddle shaped leaves like a banana, held on long stalks and stacked edge to edge in a single flat plane, so the crown opens out like a hand of cards or a giant fan. From the front it is a wall of leaves; from the side it is surprisingly narrow. Nothing else in a tropical garden has that outline, which is why it is planted as a single statement against a wall, at the end of a view or beside a pool.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe common name comes from the leaf bases, which overlap and cup rainwater, said to have given travellers a drink in its native Madagascar. With age it forms a grey, ringed trunk and lifts the fan high above the garden, in warm districts eventually standing well above a single storey roofline. Mature plants flower from between the leaf bases, with white flowers in stiff, boat shaped bracts much like an outsized bird of paradise, and the seed capsules that follow split to show seeds wrapped in a bright blue covering, one of the few true blues in the plant world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFacing the fan the right way\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause the leaves grow in one plane, orientation matters more than with almost any other plant. Decide where the fan will be seen from before planting and turn the plant so its flat face points at the house, the pool or the street, because it cannot be turned once it is in. Give it room side to side, since a mature fan spreads several metres across even though it stays shallow front to back. Where there is not that much width to spare, its smaller relative \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bird-of-paradise-strelitzia-reginae-1\"\u003eBird of Paradise\u003c\/a\u003e, Strelitzia reginae, gives similar paddle shaped leaves in a low clump that never forms a trunk. A spot in front of a tall wall or the side of a building suits a traveller's palm, and the wall gives some shelter from wind as well.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt wants full sun and warmth, tolerates some shade while young, and grows strongest in rich, moist, free draining soil with plenty of organic matter dug through. It is at home in tropical and subtropical Queensland and on the northern New South Wales coast, and it grows more slowly in sheltered, frost free Sydney gardens. Frost scars the leaves and can kill the growing point, so it is not a plant for cold or inland districts. For other ways to get the look further south, see \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/tropical-garden-plants-for-cooler-districts\"\u003egetting a tropical look in cooler Australian districts\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWind, suckers and dead leaves\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWind is what spoils it. As with a banana, the leaf blades split along their veins in strong wind, and on an exposed site the fan soon looks shredded. The splits do the plant no harm, but they never close, so the look only recovers as new leaves replace the damaged ones. Shelter from the prevailing wind does more for its appearance than any amount of feeding.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYoung plants also sucker from the base. Leave the offsets for a clumping, multi stemmed look, or cut them off cleanly at ground level to keep a single trunk and a clean fan. Old leaves brown off and hang down against the trunk, and they should be cut away close to the stem. On a tall plant that becomes a job for a ladder or an arborist, which is worth knowing before you put one where access is awkward.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eHungry in summer, idle in winter\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is a heavy feeder in the warm months. Feed every couple of months from spring to autumn with a palm and tropical plant food, spread compost or aged manure around it each spring, and water deeply in dry spells, especially through the first two summers after planting. It slows right down in winter and needs little water then. Mealybug sometimes hides in the cupped leaf bases, where a hard jet from the hose shifts it. Other trees that give a tropical garden height straight away are in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/advanced-trees\"\u003eAdvanced Trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 2 sizes, from 300mm up to 45L, priced from $159.00 to $209.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/best-trees-for-small-backyards-australia\"\u003echoosing a tree for a small backyard\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"300mm","offer_id":67672054595953,"sku":null,"price":159.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"45L","offer_id":67672057086321,"sku":null,"price":209.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/travellers-palm-ravenala-madagascariensis.jpg?v=1791523473","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/travellers-palm-ravenala-madagascariensis","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}