Re: high-maintenance Cordylines

Dave Poole wrote:
> 
> A couple of hundred miles further south than Tim, I find C indivisa to
> be fairly trouble-free.  Seedlings I raised 3 years ago have had to
> cope with some pretty awful neglect and have been periodically
> roasted, dehydrated, waterlogged, starved and occasionally frosted.

Dave 

Most Kiwis who try to grow C. indivisa would be amazed by your's
withstanding "roasting and dehydration". When you consider the max
temperature in gardens around Wellington rarely goes above about 25ēC in
the height of summer, one would imagine it could be kept happy there
with shade and moisture, yet garden specimens very consistantly turn up
their toes after no more than a couple of years - distinctly peculiar I
call it.
 
> I doubt if it would cope with prolonged freezes of minus 5C or more,

I wonder about this  as, its natural habitat runs up to quite high
altitudes (1350 m).

> Other species I have here are C banksii (very reliable) Cordyline
> stricta (always burns badly with the first of the summer sun, but
> quickly settles down) and C. australis 'Torbay Red'.  This is possibly
> the finest red form with transparent, ruby edges to the young leaves
> which glow in the setting sun.  The only problem with it is that it
> must be given a fairly rich diet to prevent the foliage from becoming
> that rather dull brown of many cultivars.

I wonder how much diet affects the colour of the "brown" forms in
general. Most we see around here seem to be pretty dull-looking and I
really prefer the plain green to any I have seen so far (if one can keep
it out of the cracks of course!)

I guess with a name like 'Torbay' your australis cultivar must be
English raised and I can't find any record of its being grown here. A
pity as it sounds very attractive. What we do have, which I think is
really beautiful is 'Albertii' which has  creamy yellow leaf margines.
It is one of those plants which looks sunny even on the greyest day.

I notice incidently  my "Red Fountain " hybrid seems to be keeping its
colour without any special feeding.
> 
> A friend has a few plants of a supposedly very hardy form of C.
> terminalis, which I've so far resisted.  Apparently it can just cope
> with occasional, short-lived drops to minus 3C without any damage, but
> is supposed to defoliate and lose it upper stems at minus 5C.  As a
> plain, green-leaved plant, it has exhibited little to recommend it,
> although it may become more attractive once it starts to trunk up.

I have never seen the green form of this species. It is known around
Wellington strictly as an indoor plant where its  maximum growth is
rarely more than a metre or so with multiple stems, though it probably
lives outside in Auckland and places north.  

It is not very freely available around here, but I have managed to
collect  a tricolour (green pink and cream) and a pure rich red. I have
also seen a purple-leaved form, but this struck me as rather somber and
I didn't covet it. I once had a miniature bright red form no more than
about 20cm" high but it did not stay with me long. I find they do well
in the glasshouse, but can be badly damaged by two-spot mites in summer
if one is not vigilant and snails (which I can never entirely get rid of
it seems) absolutely adore them.

Moira
-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan
Wainuiomata - at the Southern tip of North Island, NZ,
Lat 41°15'S, Long 174°58'E (Antipodes of Spain/Southern France)
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