The best dwarf palms, compared.
Top pick: Easy Plants dwarf parlour palm in a 9 cm pot – Printed Chamaedorea elegans and filtered-light bullets, at about £13.87 in a 9 cm plastic grower pot. Best value: Easy Plants parlour palm in a self-watering pot – Lowest shelf price here, about £11.99, with the species named and a 9 cm ceramic self-watering pot included. Updated October 2026.
A dwarf palm on a UK listing is usually a young parlour palm, elegans, not a faux tree and not a cordyline sold as a cabbage palm. The RHS growing guide puts a typical parlour palm at 30–60 cm, and up to about 120 cm. The species page lists 1.5–2.5 m and hardiness. Phoenix roebelenii is the brighter indoor or summer-patio palm, with spines at the leaf bases. The [indoor or outdoor guide](/hub/trees-and-palms/dwarf-palm/sub/dwarf-palm-indoor-or-outdoor) separates the houseplant from the hardy fan palm. A field on a parlour palm conflicts with the RHS light note. A dwarf palm in a UK shop is one of three living plants. It has feather fronds, it clumps, and the usual shop plant is in a 9 cm pot. It is also sold as a dwarf mountain palm or neanthe bella.
A dwarf palm on a UK listing is usually a young parlour palm, elegans, not a faux tree and not a cordyline sold as a cabbage palm. The RHS growing guide puts a typical parlour palm at 30–60 cm, and up to about 120 cm.
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Personal buying guide
Question 1 of 2
What must the listing print?
Easy Plants lists this plant as a dwarf parlour palm with the botanical name Chamaedorea elegans at £13.87. It arrives in a 9 cm plastic grower pot, with an expected height attribute around 30 cm and bullets that mention filtered household light, partial shade, or a climate-controlled room. The same page’s sunlight field says Full Sun, which is the usual marketplace conflict for parlour palms and not a reason to put the pot on a south-facing sill in summer. Watering is described as moderate, with no day interval printed, and there is no pet-safe sentence or beginner badge on this row. The raw amazon.co.uk file carried no customer-review line. Among the three kept listings, it is the one whose words best match what the RHS growing guide expects for light and species naming, which is why it takes the top pick here, even though you still pay slightly more than the self-watering ceramic listing and you supply your own cover pot.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want the species name on the listing and light wording that matches a typical bright flat, not a south-facing windowsill.
Less suitable: You need the pet claim printed, the cheapest price, or a self-watering ceramic pot in the box.
Specifications
Common questions
Which species does the listing name?
Chamaedorea elegans, sold as a dwarf parlour palm.
What light does the listing state?
The bullets say filtered household light, partial shade, or a climate-controlled room. The spec field says Full Sun.
Is a pot included?
Yes. One live plant in a 9 cm plastic grower pot. A decorative cover is not listed.
Easy Plants sells this row as a parlour palm with the Latin name Chamaedorea elegans on the page, at £11.99 on the shelf snapshot used here. You get one live plant in a random-colour 9 cm ceramic self-watering pot, with white spar gravel on top, and the title puts total height at about 30–40 cm including that pot. The listing tells you not to let the self-watering reservoir run dry, which is a different message from watering on a fixed weekday, and it does not print a pet-safe line or a light field beyond the general house-or-office setting. The raw amazon.co.uk file had no customer-review line, so you cannot see whether the reservoir keeps compost too wet or whether the random pot colour suits your room. For a first desk or shelf plant where you want the ceramic pot in the price, it is the best value in this trio, though you should still check the crown the day the box arrives.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want a young parlour palm with a self-watering ceramic pot at the lowest price here and you can accept a random pot colour.
Less suitable: You need a printed pet-safe line, a fixed pot colour, or UK review evidence before you order.
Specifications
Common questions
Is a pot included?
Yes. The listing is one parlour palm in a random-colour 9 cm ceramic self-watering pot, with white spar gravel on top.
Does the listing say the pot is self-watering?
Yes. It says the pot is self-watering, and it asks you not to let the pot run out of water.
How tall does the listing say it is?
About 30–40 cm including the pot. The expected-height attribute also says 40 cm.
This Easy Plants listing is sold as a dwarf mountain palm or parlour palm in a 9 cm grower pot at £13.85. The title and bullets say it is non-toxic and safe for cats and dogs if chewed, and they describe low light, shade tolerance, and beginner-friendly care, while the sunlight attribute on the same page says Full Sun. The Latin name is not printed, so you are trusting the common-name line that it is the usual indoor parlour palm rather than another houseplant. The page also says the plant can stay in the 9 cm pot for several seasons, which matches a slow-growing young plant but is not a licence to never repot when roots crowd the compost. There was no customer-review line in the raw file. It fits a shaded flat where the pet claim on the listing matters, though you should still treat any chewed leaf as a possible mild stomach upset and follow Cats Protection only as general species guidance, not as text printed on this ASIN.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want a young parlour-type palm for a shaded room and you need the seller’s pet-safe wording on the listing itself.
Less suitable: You want the Latin name on the box, the self-watering ceramic pot, or you plan to follow the Full Sun attribute literally.
Specifications
Common questions
Does the listing claim it is safe for pets?
Yes. The title and bullets say it is non-toxic and safe for cats and dogs if chewed.
What light does the listing state?
The bullets say it is low-light and shade tolerant. The spec field says Full Sun.
Does the listing say you must repot it at once?
No. It says the plant can stay in the 9 cm pot for several seasons.
Three amazon.co.uk parlour-palm listings were scored from the stored pages. Shelf date 19 October 2026. There is no laboratory test. A seller line such as Full Sun, easy to care for, or pet safe is the listing claim, not an RHS verdict. None of the three raw files printed a customer-review line, so Amazon stars score 0 for every product here. The highest score is the top pick. The lowest shelf price for a named species with the ceramic self-watering pot is the best value. One of each. The weights below sum to 100.
Amazon evidence
25%The star line on amazon.co.uk, and a written sample when it exists. No review line scores 0 for every product in this set. A blank line is a gap, not a one-star plant and not a copied score from another ASIN.
Listing fit
35%Points for a printed Latin name, light bullets that match parlour-palm practice (filtered light, partial shade, low light), a stated pot size that matches the title, and a self-watering pot when the listing includes one. Points off for a Full Sun spec that conflicts with the bullets, a missing Latin name when the title only says dwarf mountain palm, and no pet line where you need one printed on the page.
Listing clarity
25%With no reviews, this block scores how plainly the page describes the box: random pot colour stated, reservoir instructions present, height including the pot, and no decorative cover implied.
Value
15%Shelf price in GBP against what the listing includes. A named species with a ceramic self-watering pot at about £11.99 is the value case. A grower pot at about £13.85 is fair only when the pet claim on that page matters to you.
Buy the species before you buy a pot or a pet line. A UK dwarf palm is a parlour palm for indoors, a European fan palm for a sheltered garden, or a pygmy date for a brighter room and a summer patio. The three plants on this page are all young parlour palms in about a 9 cm pot. None printed a star rating. A Full Sun field does not override the RHS light note.
A dwarf palm in a UK shop is one of three living plants. It is not a faux tree and not a cordyline labelled cabbage palm. The parlour palm, Chamaedorea elegans, is the indoor dwarf. The RHS growing guide says typically 30–60 cm and up to about 120 cm. The species page lists 1.5–2.5 m and hardiness H1A. It has feather fronds, it clumps, and the usual shop plant is in a 9 cm pot. It is also sold as a dwarf mountain palm or neanthe bella.
A dwarf palm here is a parlour palm, a European fan palm, or a pygmy date. A cordyline sold as a cabbage palm, a ponytail plant, a faux tree, and an areca sold as a tall bamboo palm are different buys. The three pots on this page are young parlour palms.
Two listings put Full Sun in the spec and filtered light or shade in the bullets. The RHS growing guide for Chamaedorea is partial shade. Follow the species. A south-facing sill in summer is the wrong reading of that field.
The self-watering listing asks you not to let the pot run dry. That is not a reason to keep the compost saturated. Water when the surface is dry, and do not leave the pot standing in water. A decorative cover is included only when the listing says so.
Start with the plant, not the word dwarf. An indoor flat wants a parlour palm, Chamaedorea elegans. A sheltered garden, or a pot you can protect, wants Chamaerops humilis, RHS hardiness H4, a clump toward about 2 m on the hardy-palms note. A trunked feather palm indoors is Phoenix roebelenii, RHS H1B, eventually about 1.5–2.5 m, with spines at the leaf bases. Reject a cordyline, a schefflera, a ponytail plant sold as a palm, an areca sold as a tall bamboo palm, and anything artificial.
A 9 cm grower pot is a young plant. All three listings here are that size. A self-watering pot is in the box only on the about £11.99 listing, and the colour is random. The other two are plastic or grower pots. A photo of a ceramic cover is often styling, not the contents. Height on the value listing is 30–40 cm including the pot. The other two carry an expected-height attribute of 30 cm. If any part of the plan is outdoors, read the hardiness code.
Three typical situations, each with a recommendation from this comparison.
You want the Latin name on the page and light wording for filtered light or partial shade, not a south-facing sill. The top pick is the Easy Plants dwarf parlour palm at about £13.87, in a 9 cm plastic grower pot. The Full Sun spec still conflicts with the bullets. There is no review line.
You want the ceramic pot in the price and you can accept a random colour. The best value is the Easy Plants parlour palm at about £11.99, Chamaedorea elegans named, stated 30–40 cm including a 9 cm self-watering pot. It does not print a pet line or a light field.
You need the seller’s pet-safe wording on the listing itself. The Easy Plants dwarf mountain palm at about £13.85 says non-toxic for cats and dogs, with low-light bullets, in a 9 cm grower pot. The Latin name is not printed, and the spec says Full Sun.
The clearest botanical listing is the Easy Plants dwarf parlour palm at about £13.87: Chamaedorea elegans is printed, and the bullets say filtered light and partial shade. The self-watering ceramic pot at about £11.99 is the best value, with the species named and the pot included, and with no pet line. The about £13.85 grower pot is the one that prints a pet-safe claim, without the Latin name. None of the three raw files had a customer-review line, and none of these scores is a laboratory test.
Easy Plants dwarf parlour palm in a 9 cm pot
Printed Chamaedorea elegans and filtered-light bullets, at about £13.87 in a 9 cm plastic grower pot.
Easy Plants parlour palm in a self-watering pot
Lowest shelf price here, about £11.99, with the species named and a 9 cm ceramic self-watering pot included.
Editorial
Peter F. is the editor for DIY & tools at productscompared.co.uk. Comparisons in this category are checked against amazon.co.uk listings, review evidence and public UK sources.
Guides on what to look for, how to use a product, and common mistakes.
Public UK sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices are the three amazon.co.uk shelf figures from 19 October 2026. None of those raw listings printed a star rating or a review count. RHS hardiness codes describe the species, not a score for these pots.
This page contains affiliate links to amazon.co.uk (tag pcuk26-21). If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices are the shelf figures on the three listings. None of those raw files printed a star rating or a review count. This is not a laboratory test.
