Two of my Cordyline Australis are blooming (pics in post)

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Thu May 05, 2011 4:02 pm

Bought these little dracaena spikes at Home Depot about five years ago for window boxes and now thy are about three feet tall with pups shooting out everywhere and flowering for the very first time. Woohoo!!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu May 05, 2011 4:21 pm

Hey Mike, so very cool.
Most folks around here use them as annuals in flower beds.

Now that you've shown they can bloom in only 5 years...going to pick some up.
Looks like they'll open to white flowers.

Any tips for overwintering? bright light, cold room?

Thanks!
Barb

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Thu May 05, 2011 5:05 pm

lucky1 wrote:Hey Mike, so very cool.
Most folks around here use them as annuals in flower beds.

Now that you've shown they can bloom in only 5 years...going to pick some up.
Looks like they'll open to white flowers.

Any tips for overwintering? bright light, cold room?

Thanks!
Barb

Right. They are cool Barb. People always throw them out in fall or let them die off. I trash pick them and repot them. I overwinter them on the sun porch. It gets very cool at night into the 30s on coldest nights and up to about 50 to 55 on sunny winter afternoons. They are pretty hardy thnk I think they are really pretty to look at and their trunks are interesting: they look like pineapples. Enjoy spring Barb!
Mike

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Thu May 05, 2011 5:33 pm

Nice mike!

This is my indoor cordys 3rd summer. Probably wont flower this year, but its good to know that they do in pots.

Their hardy to zone 7, but like it cooler. Anyone with hot temps liek arizona, south east states might have trouble. Mine is in a window that faces west, but doest get lots of sun, mabey 3 hours of direct sun in the winter. The window is open a crack all winter, so it says coolish in there, aroudn 60F, mabey cooler by the window. They dont do well if they dry out in winter in my experience. That and lower light/humidity will cause the growth to corkscrew.

The best thing is their cheap, and the end of the season theres tons on for half off, if your lucky you might grab a red variation, or purple. Not as hardy, but nice lookin.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu May 05, 2011 6:10 pm

I remember your description of the sun room, so that'll be great in my cold room at a south window with a bit of watering through winter.

I trash pick them

My kinda man!

Jesse's right in that they can fry in hot desert winds.
An east location is best here in summer.

Thanks for the tip!
Barb

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Thu May 05, 2011 6:13 pm

nice pics.

Okanagan desert-palms · Post by **Okanagan desert-palms** » Thu May 05, 2011 6:52 pm

Mike nice pics on your Cordy`s flowering. Being that they are "dioecious" and you have quite a few in flower get ready for lots of seeds! Wikipedia says a million seeds from an old adult. WOW! I`ve got two potted 15 gal. Cordy`s I hope they will flower next year. It should be very interesting to see how they progress for you . Keep us updated. Maybe send us some seeds?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyline_australis

John

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Fri May 06, 2011 3:51 am

Okanagan desert-palms wrote:Mike nice pics on your Cordy`s flowering. Being that they are "dioecious" and you have quite a few in flower get ready for lots of seeds! Wikipedia says a million seeds from an old adult. WOW! I`ve got two potted 15 gal. Cordy`s I hope they will flower next year. It should be very interesting to see how they progress for you . Keep us updated. Maybe send us some seeds?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyline_australis

John

I could indeed get you some seeds. I'm psyched to see them flower!

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Fri May 06, 2011 4:51 am

Mike,
thanks. W uses them in hanging basics on the front (east-facing) porch and they do great. But we always chuck 'em in November when they freeze. This year I'll bring them in.
Great photos, BTW!

--Erik

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Fri May 06, 2011 7:35 am

That's fun to see a plant a lot of people use as a throw away blooming.

I think a lot of people don't realize what great plants these are and how beautiful/big they can get!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Fri May 06, 2011 7:53 am

Thanks for reminding me guys.... I just ran my 2 cordys outside. Ive been forgetting

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Mon May 09, 2011 7:36 am

In another pot, they have sent out two really big pups that look like separate plants altogether: they're amazing!!!

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Mon May 09, 2011 7:42 pm

very cool Mike!!! I've never seen them bloom before.

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Wed May 11, 2011 5:09 pm

They're very sloooooooooooooooow. I'm waiting!!!

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Mon May 16, 2011 7:01 pm

wow, they're finlly opening now and they smell delightful! A mix of jasmine, orange blossoms and ylang ylang.

zomble · Post by **zomble** » Tue May 17, 2011 1:47 am

A mix of jasmine, orange blossoms and ylang ylang.

Beautiful heady scents...what a combination.

I did'nt know they flowered...thanks sidpoook, looking forward to the flowers.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue May 17, 2011 10:37 am

Mike, any chance of new photos at full bloom ?

What a lovely fragrance that must be.

I think you've converted a ton of people away from using them as annuals!

Barb

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Wed May 18, 2011 3:45 am

Hey barb,

I am going to get some pics later today hopefully. They era opening slowly and not all are in bloom yet. On a side note, i also have two of my yuccas shooting blooms up from the centers, can't wait to see that by June i hope.
Mike

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed May 18, 2011 1:10 pm

You're way ahead of us if blooms are appearing on your yuccas.
Look forward to seeing them.

Barb

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Wed May 18, 2011 4:05 pm

right now they're just about 12 inches up from the ground, not blooming yet, just reaching upward. Sorry if I misspoke! Here are a few pics of the cordyline australis in bloom. One has a green stem and the other (not yet blooming) has a purple stem. Both plants are green....Hmmm???

And My yuccas coming up from the center....

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Wed May 18, 2011 4:10 pm

Nice!

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Wed May 18, 2011 4:39 pm

Cameron_z6a_N.S. wrote:Nice!

Thanks!

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Wed May 18, 2011 4:40 pm

zomble wrote:
A mix of jasmine, orange blossoms and ylang ylang.
Beautiful heady scents...what a combination.

I did'nt know they flowered...thanks sidpoook, looking forward to the flowers.

They smell amazing! Do you have sone flowering too??

Okanagan desert-palms · Post by **Okanagan desert-palms** » Wed May 18, 2011 5:35 pm

Mike it should be interesting to watch all your plants flower. I wonder if the ones you ended up saving the Cordy`s know they were on borrowed time. Seems the more stress they recieve the faster they flower IMO?

John

sidpook · Post by **sidpook** » Thu May 19, 2011 3:49 am

Okanagan desert-palms wrote:Mike it should be interesting to watch all your plants flower. I wonder if the ones you ended up saving the Cordy`s know they were on borrowed time. Seems the more stress they recieve the faster they flower IMO?

John

That is probably true and esp bc in the winter I basically forget about them and throw them on the front sun porch where night temps go into 30s and day temps go into 50's on sunny days. They also remain very dry in the winter.

PalmsNorth.com

Two of my Cordyline Australis are blooming (pics in post)

Two of my Cordyline Australis are blooming (pics in post)

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