Cabbage Palm Tree? You mean Cabbage TREE? The use of the word palm for the cordylines is a misnomer. They are not palms at all. In fact, they are pretty confusing taxonomically confusing. Some places you will find them placed in the Agavaceae family, and others you will find them places in the Dracaenaceae family, and even further sometimes you will find them place in an 'expanded' family called Asparagaceae. Ive always mostly seen it placed in the Agavaceae family myself. So its definately NOT a palm. I thought this was about Cabbage Palmettos! LOL! Anyway, I actually LOVE these plants, and they are commonly sold as Dracena "Spikes" here in the states. I have seen many specimens well over 3' tall and with a trunk here, espeically if they are kept in doors or sheltered through winter from hard freezes. A quick google search turned up a few things. "Propagation Seed - pre-soak for about 10 minutes in warm water and sow in late winter to early spring in a warm greenhouse[78, 164]. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 25°c[164]. There is usually a good percentage germination[78]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant out in late spring after the last expected frosts and give the plants some protection in their first winter outdoors[K]. Stem cuttings - cut off the main stem just below the head and then saw off 5cm thick blocks of stem and place them 3cm deep in pure peat in a heated frame. Keep them moist until they are rooting well, then pot them up into individual pots. Plant out in late spring after the last expected frosts. Suckers. These are best removed in early spring and planted out in situ. Protect the division from wind and cold weather and do not allow the soil to become dry until the plant is established. Divisions can also be potted up and grown on until established, planting them out in the summer." This is from the website Plants For A Future.org Plants For A Future dot ORG Also, you may want to read this page listed below Hope that helps! ~ NPG Here is a link that might be useful: The Royal Society of New Zeland

I live in the UK and see Cordyline australis everywhere. Indivisa isn't so common though, I know there are some in very wet parts of the UK like some gardens in Northern Ireland and Devon. Occasionally we have a cold winter and there's a mass die off inland, but it's no big deal really. Most come back very strongly from the roots, especially if they were a large, mature plant before they died in the winter they reach their former size in a couple of years and come back very fast from a strong root system with fresh, new growth. What actually kills them is when you see well-meaning but misguided people wrapping them up in winter with bubble wrap and frost fleece. It's the worst thing to do in my opinion, these things hate to be soaking wet in winter and the frost protection people put round them just makes them rot. I don't protect my ones that are in the ground. If they die back they dieback, the soil doesn't freeze deep enough in Britain to kill them in most cases. Container ones i just put in a cold greenhouse to keep them from dying from the damp of winter which is the real cause of death. I have noticed a lot of variation in the plants grown here. Some are very narrow leaved, but mature plants are usually wide leaved, not sure if the leaves get wider over time or different varieties are tougher. I suspect the narrow leaved plants are the "Atlantic green" variety whereas the wider leaved ones are generic australis with maybe some indivisa introgression, although according to something i read somewhere the narrow leaved varieties are meant to be hardier. I've also never seen a mature, large plant of the red, pink or variegated varieties though i know some examples exist, they're probably less hardy and were perhaps selected from stock from the North island.

Hey Katob, I looked at Wal-Mart and they only have the Burgundy and Pink and green Cordylines and I decided to only get a fully green one that would be Cordyline Australis. I have seen that they are the hardiest Cordy. I think the others are 40-50 F at the lowest, and, I am not sure about heating my greenhouse. I am thinking of using a small shelter in the greenhouse and adding heat with lights or a small heater, BUT, I don't want to get anything too tender/tropical also. At least with the Windmill palm baby that I have IF I can keep it in a zone 7b to 8a, it should be fine, and the desert plants are all hardy to zone 5-6. I've got a Cholla tree, Yucca Rostrata, Agaves Parryi and an Agave Neomexicana X ??? I forget the hybrid that is mixed with the Neomexicana Agave. I've had my last Rostrata get too much rain last growing season, so, I have them staying in the greenhouse. I have a Yucca Recurvifolia and another Yucca with the big more fleshy leaves growing in a raised bed with mostly a gritty mix, they are fine despite too much rain. I may need to eventually move my Cholla tree to an in-ground bed, possibly the same bed with the Yucca's I see on the plant tag that it gets about 5 ft wide and even taller. For now, it will be in a medium sized pot. I am kinda wondering about how much to water my Yucca Rostrata. The soil is well draining, BUT, I wonder how moist to keep it. I guess dryish. I used mostly "palm and cactus" soil The Miricle grow stuff. My other stuff is grit, perlite and the bagged Palm and Cactus soil. The Wm that had the Burgundy Cordyline also had one that was green, but, not a normal average green, it was NOT Australis, though. I want another Australis, I may go to Ebay and look. Our Big box stores don't have much to pick from now.

You may keep them unless they are spotted from mites or leaf spot diseases. If your Cordyline is growing at an indistinguishable rate it will take longer for the plant to suck all the nutrients out of the browned leaves before dropping them naturally. Probably by now ( 9 months after your post) you can trim them off if they are the lower older leaves. Just know if you change anything about their culture they might bounce back to a deep maroon/brown green if they are lower leaves. A shocked cordyline will neglect to nurish 2/3 of lower leaves turning them an unattractive color but possibly without dropping them. If they are papery like papyrus then they are long dead and removing them is fine. Heck removing lower cordy leaves is always fine I'd just add a bit of nutrient solution to the next water bath and give them brighter shade for a few days. Remember low humidity will brown leaf edges working its way into the center. None of this applies if they are new leaves. I hope to see an update on how the color is now. I'm suspicious that the first post is actually 'kiwi' or 'pete's rainbow". Let me know if I didn't make sense or miscommunicated. My miss Andrea needs a humidifier and to be cool but my red sister doesn't and likes warmth. Hope that helps. I'm z7a in Nashville and all my Cordylines are indoor specimens that enjoy co-potting with tropical epiphytic vines for humidity and awkward small talk.