These red Dracaena/Cordyline are fabulous!
webkat5
17 years ago
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tjsangel
17 years agowebkat5
17 years agoRelated Discussions
Drac. Cordyline Florico
Comments (10)I wouldn't be surprised if it was from transport. Not necessarily a big deal if you can be patient with it for a few months: they don't do much in winter, but they can grow fast during spring and summer. If you really hate the way it looks, you can cut the top off wherever you like; the stump will resprout, usually in more than one spot, and the top can be rooted in water and then eventually planted. (It'd be best to do that in late spring / early summer too, but I've done it in the fall easily enough a couple times now. Winter's dicey.) I don't know which cultivar you have, but I have the same one, also a clearance plant (mine was from Lowe's: $2.50 for two two-foot canes in a six-inch pot). Somewhere out there, there's a ti plant gallery, with a good 20 or so cultivars represented, which I've run into before but can't seem to find now. My guess is that we have Cordyline terminalis 'Red Sister,' but I can't be sure. They've been pretty easy plants for me (I have a few different cultivars), though I'm told that's unusual. Light has been my main problem: they like a lot of it. Heat and humidity are also good, but mine have not been quite as insistent about that as the books will tell you....See MoreTo Those Who Saved Cordylines
Comments (12)Toni, I didn't keep one over this past winter but I did do it several winters ago. I kept 2 of the green variety, and both did well, growing in a large sw window (I'm guessing 5ft tall by 6ft wide, so large window for me). Problem is they got big, when I measured their diameter after Christmas they were 4ft across, and poking guests in the face or eyes because we were so cramped for space! I wasn't gentle with them either, we'd had a light frost (-1 or -2C) for a couple of nights and I'd been toying with the idea of bringing them indoors so I could have HUGE plants to set in my containers the next year, and after the couple of light frosts they still looked okay, so I dug them out (and when I realized their roots went deep I ended up ripping them out, but this is in good potting soil, so it wasn't as violent as it sounds.) Trimmed off any lackluster leaves, gave the roots a good haircut and potted into a 1 gallon black nursery pot. Did not water for several days, and placed the 2 plants in a low light spot. Then gave water and placed in sunny window. Did not drop one leaf due to that treatment. Just continued to grow and grow. Only problem was when I went to use them the next year, there wasn't much room for the other annuals to plant in the pot, but that would be because they now had a bit of a trunk, so I'd sunk them down into the container, and their leaves were at soil level and not leaving much room for the geraniums and petunias. Oh well. Neighbor down the street from me overwintered the reddish purple ones, with the wider leaves (reminds me of the yucca plant) for 2 winters, and she stuck them in their garage through the winter, wrapped loosely in fabric to keep the cold off (from when the garage door opened and closed to park the vehicle-we get -20C days), come spring they were a bit sad, but then they perked up and looked good. But hers had to be grown in more shade during the summer - NW exposure, so maybe that's how they could survive the garage (with a north window that the plants were not set near). Last year she had to buy new ones. And our winters are long, if I am going to overwinter a plant, that means it comes in 1st or 2nd week of September, and does not go out permanently until 3rd or 4th week of May. That is a looong time. This spring I splurged (by my standards!) and forked out $7 for a red star (I think), it's like the green spike but purplie-red with the thinner leaves, I would like to try and overwinter that. The regular green ones, small size, can be bought for $1, so $7 is quite a bit more to get something a bit different, but then I've yet to see the red ones offered for sale in the little 2.5" pots. Good luck with yours. ~kioni~...See MoreCordyline Australis as a cheap, fast and easy palm
Comments (28)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....See MoreRescued Cordyline
Comments (7)Well! For the last few days, I've been telling myself I'm hallucinating, but today I'm sure: the stump of this thing has five new shoots. Five! In maybe two weeks. The top has started to root, too. For those in nice warm climates, this may be normal. But here in chilly, gloomy, nothing-grows-too-fast Massachusetts, this is like, JACKPOT. Do all Cordylines take off like this? If so, I need more...or not, as I'll soon be overwhelmed by this one... Amanda...See Moreseaecho1
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