Re: high-maintenance Cordylines

Moira wrote:

>Most Kiwis who try to grow C. indivisa would be amazed by your's
>withstanding "roasting and dehydration". 

Withstanding, but not necessarily enjoying those conditions.  I would
never recommend that others follow such a poor example.  Ideally it
should be planted in a humus rich, slightly acid soil that is freely
draining and yet moist and cool.  That said, a chap I know of who
lives on N. Island has seen it growing successfully in soil that is
almost constantly sodden.  I suspect that our generally less-intense
light levels mean that in the UK, the species grows happily in full
sun.

As to temperatures?  Well I was making a guess based upon observations
of it in this country.  Occasional night-time drops of more than minus
5C followed by significant daytime rises to compensate would probably
be fine, but I suspect it would react differently to persistent
freezing over several weeks or months.  
>
>I wonder how much diet affects the colour of the "brown" forms in
>general. 

I've noticed that many of them go a rather unpleasant shade as they
'trunk up' if grown on ordinary or poor soils.  Mine gets regular
helpings of pelleted poultry manure, which seems to keep it happy and
colourful

>I guess with a name like 'Torbay' your australis cultivar must be
>English raised 

Yes it is raised locally and they even have the nerve to dub Cordyline
australis as being the 'Torbay Palm'.  Now there may be tens of
thousands of them here, but it is in no way a palm nor is it from
Torbay (the region around Torquay).  The local tourist authority has
adopted it and the outline of a single stemmed plant has become a
regular feature in all advertising over the past 15 years.  As a
marketing exercise, it has worked extremely well, but it propagates
the myth to the point where even some of my RHS certificate students
raise an eyebrow when I point out the inaccuracies. 

At the moment there are great masses of C, australis in flower - some
carrying up to 50 heads of their cream-white or pink-tinged cream
flowers.  One large plant in a neighbour's garden has very wide leaves
to 10 cm or more across and produces rather scrappy panicles of
flower,  However,  these  yield very handsome crops of lilac-mauve
tinted berries.  An enormous variation of leaf size, flower colour,
general habit and flowering habit exists and I can spot at least 4
distinct forms, plus innumerable variations in between.  The best to
my mind is a near apple green leafed form with upright, densely packed
panicles of bright cream flowers that open with a greenish tinge.  

Back to your mention of 'Albertii' - There is a locally raised cream
striped one predictably and boringly called 'Torbay Cream', which is
much stronger growing and hardier than 'Albertii'.  There are also new
varieties with various combinations of red and pink, giving us an
almost similar range of colours as found in the modern Phormium
varieties.  

Dave Poole
TORQUAY  UK
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