Cover Girl!!!

Jeff Searle

Well-Known Member
2,354
26/08/08
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I recently talked to Keith about this rarely seen croton, and he told me there were two forms of it. That I didn't know.
Does anyone have this variety, and if so, can share some pictures with us? I would love to see it in someone's garden.
 
I think Rick L. showed me one in his garden, or was it playboy? Maybe he will chime in. My visit was much too hurried. Does he even visit this board anymore?
 
Marie told me that there were two clones of this. I have Cover Girl, but Im not set
up to post pictures. Maybe Ray will be down soon to take pictures and post them.
 
I have asked Marie about the Cover Girl cultivar and she told me ...

:rolleyes:
 

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Ron,
I showed you the clone of Cover Girl that I have but it is the poor clone, not the one that was in the calendar a few years back. I got my clone from John Bender.
Marie
 
I recently drove up to see Cleo and his nursery up in Valkaria. I mention that I was a member of the croton society and have been eye balling some of the crotons in Dr Browns book. After asking for cover girl ( and a few others) he said that there may be some in a few private gardens , but he hasn't see many of the plants in the book since the book was published . So you buy the book only to find that you can't get you hands on some of the plant that you see, even for a hefty price :( How sad that more of an interest wasn't taken to preserve the more unusual ones.
 
I recently drove up to see Cleo and his nursery up in Valkaria. I mention that I was a member of the croton society and have been eye balling some of the crotons in Dr Browns book. After asking for cover girl ( and a few others) he said that there may be some in a few private gardens , but he hasn't see many of the plants in the book since the book was published . So you buy the book only to find that you can't get you hands on some of the plant that you see, even for a hefty price :( How sad that more of an interest wasn't taken to preserve the more unusual ones.

I disagree some. First, Dr Brown and Cleo had a much better collection of crotons several years ago. But over time, Cleo lost some interest, and was busy setting up his new nursery and out hustling landscape jobs. Also, a few years back, many hurricanes passed through their area and blew many larger trees down, therefore loosing alot of his canopy for the crotons. Earlier this year, many of us all experienced some of the coldest weather ever, and more damage was done. And remember, B. Frank is over 90 years old, and is unable to plant new varieties to replace many,many that have been lost.

But....the good news is, there are collectors that have been out and about trying to locate many varieties and so now, with a little bit of searching, a phone call or two, attending the croton garden tours ( which includes an auction of plants ), and hitting the plant sales, will no doubt enrich your collection. Most of the named varieties in the book can be found, unfortunately, some have been lost, probably forever.
 
Sadly the only crotons that made it in my yard were the ones DEEP under the oak trees and I put a ton of hay around .Cover girl ( pg 63 in the book) is one that everyone comments on evertime I loan the book out to someone. They fall in love it it :) I smell $$$$ for the person who gets it going again :)
 
I disagree some. First, Dr Brown and Cleo had a much better collection of crotons several years ago. But over time, Cleo lost some interest, and was busy setting up his new nursery and out hustling landscape jobs. Also, a few years back, many hurricanes passed through their area and blew many larger trees down, therefore loosing alot of his canopy for the crotons. Earlier this year, many of us all experienced some of the coldest weather ever, and more damage was done. And remember, B. Frank is over 90 years old, and is unable to plant new varieties to replace many,many that have been lost.

But....the good news is, there are collectors that have been out and about trying to locate many varieties and so now, with a little bit of searching, a phone call or two, attending the croton garden tours ( which includes an auction of plants ), and hitting the plant sales, will no doubt enrich your collection. Most of the named varieties in the book can be found, unfortunately, some have been lost, probably forever.

Borgy 230 is the future! :)
 
Zone11, patience is virtue. Eventually, die-hards will have to share out of guilt for our obsession. These plants must be passed down but we have to show that we have the know how and set-up to pass them along as well. Are any rare crotons in anybody's will ? LOL
Since they are so genetically unstable, isn't there a chance that they may show up again? I currently have 100+ seeds growing just to see what can happen. You never know. I could win the lottery & still die poor :p
 
If you don't have anything rare , to trade for a rare, then you never get anything rare :(



True. BUT...in time and with some patience, you'll be surprised on what show's up at a plant sale or croton auction. I now have some nice ones that I thought years ago were going to be impossible to ever get or see, but they do come around. And think about it, for example, once I have my 3-4 of a rare croton planted, from then on, there's no need to keep more, so I'll trade or sell them, and out they go.

And if I were you, if you can make the Glock's Croton Tour in December, I'll bet there's going to be a GREAT selection to bid on. Cover Girl, I seriously doubt it, but I'm sure there will be plenty of nice looking(and unusual) varieties there that day.

I still would like to see a picture of someone's plant that they have.
 
Rare ones do come along. John Bender was exceptionally generous in giving away both cuttings and rooted crotons of common and rare varieties. ...and if you don't go to meetings, you don't get to see or bid on the rare stuff.
 
just remember, Sharing is caring!!!! haha, I plan on bringing some good ones to the next meeting :)

Good what? Covergirls? Wow, that's pretty generous of you and I didn't realize you had more than one to spare. What size pot are they in and the height of the plants. Were they from cuttings or airlayers? How about a pic. before you bring them over, just to get everyone excited! Lol!!
 
Jeff, I know your dieing for one of the big cover girls I have in a 7 gallon, but you need to come up with something good for it!
 
Actually I snuck up on Bob Alonso and Judy when they were alone looking at the supposed Cover Girl. Bob not only confirmed it to be Cover Girl but stated it was a "very well colored form of Cover Girl ":eek:

P.S. - I am not the little birdie Jeff heard from. I just recalled this when I reading Jeff's post.
 
I have to say, after the sale this weekend, I was quite disappointed with what showed up for Auction. I expected some great things, I brought my best I could, Judy as always gave up some amazing plants and so did Jeff, Phil Stager as always is more than happy to even just give a croton and pass it along.
I do find myself being disappointed that others with such great crotons don't bring more or anything of a rarer value to these auctions. Is it not the point of this society to share these plants, make sure they get passed on, help everyone increase their collections. Its nice to say your the only one to have something, or a select few, but what fun is it if others cant also enjoy that beautiful variety. Yes collecting usually has some ego to it, the best ones, the most, ect. But there are also many out there who collect for the love of the item.
I for one think the society needs to start doing more to encourage the sharing of these plants, and people need to be more willing to at least trade!
To everyone that does donate to the society, I say thank you, and I especially appreciate those who donate constantly the rarer varieties, because if it wasn't for them, many of use newbies would still only have Elanor and Franklin Roosevelt!
 
In my very limited time collecting crotons I have found that some people will share happily and others reluctantly .there is a gentleman I just met with a spectacular collection named Johnny (unsure of his last name) who gave me 12 rooted(1 Gallon size) rare croton cuttings around 1 week ago.I had never met him before and he opened up his collection to me and gave me some very rare crotons.I was actually unsure how to respond as he went and picked up some of his rarest cuttings and just handed them over to me.Of course I was very grateful and I hope to do the same once my collection grows down the line.


I have to say, after the sale this weekend, I was quite disappointed with what showed up for Auction. I expected some great things, I brought my best I could, Judy as always gave up some amazing plants and so did Jeff, Phil Stager as always is more than happy to even just give a croton and pass it along.
 
My wife and I were unable to attend the meeting because of work obligations, but I did muse a bit about the plants I would of brought, had we attended. Unfortunately I would have come up short, but I think the reason is because of the time of year. Most everything we made over the summer has already been traded, planted, or given away.
 
In my very limited time collecting crotons I have found that some people will share happily and others reluctantly .there is a gentleman I just met with a spectacular collection named Johnny (unsure of his last name) who gave me 12 rooted(1 Gallon size) rare croton cuttings around 1 week ago.I had never met him before and he opened up his collection to me and gave me some very rare crotons.I was actually unsure how to respond as he went and picked up some of his rarest cuttings and just handed them over to me.Of course I was very grateful and I hope to do the same once my collection grows down the line.


I have to say, after the sale this weekend, I was quite disappointed with what showed up for Auction. I expected some great things, I brought my best I could, Judy as always gave up some amazing plants and so did Jeff, Phil Stager as always is more than happy to even just give a croton and pass it along.

That's very interesting! Would you care to show us some nice pictures and the names of these really rare crotons? Just asking......
 
Happy to post pics this weekend,as by the time I get home during the week it is now dark.To be honest it is quite hard for me to know what is rare and what is common as I am just beggining.There were certainly new to me.The two that I really like are one called Polychromatic(not sure about this name) and another called Big Red.The leaves look like they will end up being really big and colourful.There is one other that is even better than these two but I cannot remember the name.Even if these are not rare to most on this board it was such a nice gesture to someone just starting :)
 
I just had the please of meeting Mike (Bullwinkle) he not only has some very nice crotons, he has a great palm collection too!
I saw the plants he got, unfortunately a pic wouldn't do justice as they are small, but if some of them are what I think they are, wow he made a score!

and I agree, a very nice gesture to just give someone plants!
 
It was great meeting Rob,he has a great collection of crotons,he even has a Mauritia flexosa for you palm nuts out there .As he stated, pics would not make too much sense
as they are only 1gallon cuttings but I will post some once it becomes clear what they are.He corrected one that I had rememebered as polychromatic to the correct polychrome.
 
Thanks guys. Maybe we could see a picture of that Mauritia flexuosa.:) That palm actually is turning out to be much more cold hardier than anyone ever gave it credit. Now....back to crotons.
 
I do find myself being disappointed that others with such great crotons don't bring more or anything of a rarer value to these auctions. Is it not the point of this society to share these plants, make sure they get passed on, help everyone increase their collections. Its nice to say your the only one to have something, or a select few, but what fun is it if others cant also enjoy that beautiful variety. Yes collecting usually has some ego to it, the best ones, the most, ect. But there are also many out there who collect for the love of the item.
A rare hybrid has many chances to be lost
I’m always willing to share with everyone. What a shame that long distance creates big problems.
 
I have to say, after the sale this weekend, I was quite disappointed with what showed up for Auction. I expected some great things, I brought my best I could, Judy as always gave up some amazing plants and so did Jeff, Phil Stager as always is more than happy to even just give a croton and pass it along.
I do find myself being disappointed that others with such great crotons don't bring more or anything of a rarer value to these auctions. Is it not the point of this society to share these plants, make sure they get passed on, help everyone increase their collections. Its nice to say your the only one to have something, or a select few, but what fun is it if others cant also enjoy that beautiful variety. Yes collecting usually has some ego to it, the best ones, the most, ect. But there are also many out there who collect for the love of the item.
I for one think the society needs to start doing more to encourage the sharing of these plants, and people need to be more willing to at least trade!
To everyone that does donate to the society, I say thank you, and I especially appreciate those who donate constantly the rarer varieties, because if it wasn't for them, many of use newbies would still only have Elanor and Franklin Roosevelt!

Rob - your post here has been troubling to me. It sounds like you were not at the same meeting as I. There were alot of culitivars there for auction that I would have liked to acquired and many that I have never seen. You already have an exceptional collection and I think you will continue to be disappointed as you are seeking some real rare hard to find cultivars. There will always be newbies that need to start with a Thanksgiving, Franklin Roosevelt, Stoplight ... :)

Additionally - there were alot of West Coasters at the Holiday Social that got decimated last year. I think they were more focusing on recovery and not establishing new plants. Many had to trim back the damage of their prized gems which would exclude an airlayer for this growing season.

Maybe a little patience dude? :cool:

Best regards,

Ron.
 
Rob - your post here has been troubling to me. It sounds like you were not at the same meeting as I. There were alot of culitivars there for auction that I would have liked to acquired and many that I had never seen. You already have an exceptional collection and I think you will continue to be disappointed as you are seeking some real rare hard to find cultivars. There will always be newbies that need to start with a Thanksgiving, Franklin Roosevelt, Stoplight ... :)

Additionally - there were alot of West Coasters at the Holiday Social that got decimated last year. I think they were more focusing on recovery and not establishing new plants. Many had to trim back the damage of their prized gems which would exclude an airlayer for this growing season.

Maybe a little patience dude? :cool:

Best regards,

Ron.

Also were only 2 months from our last meeting in Boca Raton (ya shudda been there Rob!).

Randy:)
 
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