Favorites

I've decided I'm copying Andy's idea (at least I think it was Andy), and posting photos of a few favorite crotons of mine each month.

April's favorites:

 

Wow,everything looking good

 

It wasn't easy to choose Anna, but I'm always a sucker for William Craig. Your crotons are looking great.

 

Gorgeous! Is it possible to name them too? For us, surprised outsiders?

 

Your plants are gorgeous, Ana. Tough choice, but Willie Craig gets my vote.

 

Thanks so much, Mike, Tim, Pix and Randy! Well, I voted for William Craig too. It seems it's one of my favorites or my favorite almost every month. I noticed this poll option and thought it might be fun to try. We'll see how it turns out.

Hey, Pix, welcome to the forum! There are no outsiders here, just members and lurkers. Glad you are joining us in posting. My photos are in the same order as the names in the poll. Which one is your favorite? Did you know there are many photos to look at in the croton gallery? Just click on wiki in the nav bar, then croton encyclopedia on the left side of the page, on the next page click where it says in alphabetical order, and enjoy! We love to share photos, so please show us some of your crotons too.

 

Beautiful fotos Ann...how did you get the pix so large? They took up a full page on my computer and took awhile to download...I'm not complaining just asking? Great fotos and spendid cultivars...thanks for posting !

 

Bob, I chose 'full size' instead of 'thumbnails' when I posted them. Truthfully, I didn't know how large they'd be. I thought they were pretty though. I'm glad you enjoyed my few plants.

Oooohhh, Red Quill is giving WC some competition! Interesting.

 

And it should. Red Quill is a striking cultivar that until recently was very hard to come by. Still very uncommon and mostly in collector's gardens. Slowly making inroads into the mainstream gardens.

 

Thank you, Anna The weather has chilled down a little bit here and I am gardening. Monday I bought the Stoplight croton (for the only reason that I didn’t have one). I came here to see what to do with it next and didn’t find anything. I searched the web and found not much more. So, I just tucked it somewhere to see how it is doing until I learn more. This is pretty much how I do my gardening. There were 3 in the pot. Should I separate them? I found that it has upright habit. I put them about 8” apart (just in case).
I know you are very busy doing important work on crotonpedia and I wasn’t aware that you are looking to attract more people. You seem pretty happy cooking in your own soup. We the people are not looking for more than 700 crotons. We want to know what to do with those readily available. 3 of mine I indentified with this forum (in the nursery they had no clue). These were King of Siam, Eleanor Roosevelt and Pinocchio (Freckles?).
We need to know how hardy the crotons are, how fast they grow, how tall they grow and the light requirements, of course.
Should I pinch the tips of Zanzibar? Will it look bushier?
We have a young garden club and I am already getting known as a “croton girl”. You see the level.

 

Welcome aboard.
To separate the 3 in one pot: if you want a tight clump, don't separate; if you want them spread out, carefully separate and then plant
YES, any group is looking for new members to participate.
HARDINESS - many will defoliate around 35F depending on wind, relative humidity, frost (bad); most will survive a moderate freeze as long as the root system is undamaged.
Growth Rate - depends on the cultivar and cultural conditions -light, water, soil, fertilizer.
Light requirements: dappled shade is best; FULL sun is not good especially full blazing summer sun between noon and 4 pm when we humans are advised to stay out of the summer sun; some cultivars will adapt to more sun than others.
Pinching tips; best done in spring since it encourages the plant to send out several branches. NB: croton juice stains indelibly

 

Thank you, Phil Another question is about the soil for propagation. Actually, I am just stucking the clippings in the water, some die, some root. They are the leftovers after trimming. Now I am going to put the rooted ones into the small containers. What dirt is better to use?
The story is that I have one 30 years old croton. It is oak leaf, mostly green with some splashes of color. It was sitting in the full sun/heat, dry and not protected from wind. So, it survived 30 years of hit and freezes. I moved it to a different spot last may (in pieces) and it survived. I even didn’t plant these huge chunks of trunks for a week.
Now I am having a crazy idea to create a privacy hedge out of it. This croton is not pretty enough to be taken away for clippings. (I hate my crazy growing Sweet Viburnum hedge but I need one because it is by the public walkway).

 

Pix, you are doing well just to have found this forum and researched the names of the crotons you've acquired, 'croton girl.' I am pretty new myself. I found this forum not much over a year ago but have not been shy about posting nor going to as many events as possible. I took the wiki on just to get better at identifying crotons. Therefore, I am one of the least experienced in this group so take what I say with a grain of salt. I had all the same questions as you and found that people have many different ways of growing the same crotons and they are all pretty much right! So, it's difficult to answer the questions. Phil is one of the most experienced in this group and has a beautiful garden with an incredible collection of crotons. Not only that, he is a really, really nice guy. Everyone on this forum is very nice, though, and willing to help us learn.

As far as Stoplight, I have mine in almost full morning sun up to 12-1 and it does very well with very nice coloring. I am in Sarasota and it did not drop a leaf the last two winters. It is an easy and rewarding cultivar. I think most people keep the sticks (plants) in a pot together when they buy a plant to get a bushier type specimen. I find it's a moderately fast grower.

King of Siam I think likes shadier conditions. I have mine in bright to moderate shade and it grows very well with nice coloring. No leaf drop either, but it is under a canopy of different plants. Moderate grower for me.

Eleanor Roosevelt is an easy peasy plant. Mine are in moderate shade through moderate sun and they all do well and look about the same! Great plant and I love how a cluster of them brighten up a shady spot. Not a leaf was shed the last several winters here. Relatively fast grower in my yard.

I did have Zanzibar, but it all but died after a couple of less than 40 degree nights. It is very sensitive to cold, but takes a lot of sun and can be incredibly colorful. I think most people have this experience and north of South Florida it needs to be protected on cold nights.

I don't have Pinocchio.

I fertilize my crotons with alfalfa pellets frequently (a kind of weak, organic fertilizer), and Sul-Po-Mag (same as K-mag)- recommended and used by some on this forum for better cold hardiness and for great color. I happen to think this is true and I use it sparingly 3-4 times a year. Some people use palm fertilizer, just a regular balanced fertilizer, or a water soluble fertilizer for acid-loving plants (crotons are acid loving). I am big on using oak leaves for mulching and adding organic material to soil. I really enjoy improving my sandy soil. It seems most do mulch crotons with a variety of things.

I hope I answered all your questions. That's the best I know how.

Overall, my experience so far is that crotons are easy to grow, require little maintenance to look good, and are very resilient plants in general. There is a lot I don't know yet, but I learn something almost every day in this forum. Please stick around and post a lot and you'll learn.

 

Thank you, Anna What a great answer! I know that you are from Sarasota. I’ve been reading this forum for a half of year and I joined to be able to search. It is not very helpful, though. It makes easier to find the info about people, not plants Sarasota is much warmer. We go to Siesta Key for a week every spring just to live on the beach (even though we are just 17 away from the Honeymoon Island State Park).
Zanzibar is the only croton (from my 16) that I have in the pot. And it is back and force in and out of the house. I bought it in Lowes last fall.
I am not sure that I have Pinocchio. But when I bought my Stoplight from the other nursery I saw Freckles there for sale and they look a little different from mine. So, I called mine plant Pinocchio and now I am thinking if I should buy their Freckles? I do not care much about their exact names but I need to know what to expect from the plants that I have…
These nurseries are in the city limit, therefore they are not growing much but resell a lot and do not care even to learn more to be able to consult people!

 

I am editing my message because of grammar and I am kind of panicked of what I see

 

Hi Ann, before I go any further…I must remind you that I’m not a very good I.D. person. Nonetheless, the more I look at your #05 Unknown in “Which is your favorite this month?”
I would guess BRAVO ? I base this “guesstimate” on the three fotos that I’m attaching below from my Costa Rica Wandering pictorial files .

01 ANA'S FOTO #05 Unknown
02 BRAVO-NEW FLUSH DTDSEP2013
03 BRAVO-GUACHIPELIN DTDJUL2013
04 BRAVO LEAF SHAPE-PAVAS DTDSEP2013

 

Bob, the Bravos you posted are certainly beautiful and colorful! I have two Bravos nowhere as nice. However, the proportion of leaf length to width is greater for the Bravos and the Captain Gilbert Cutlers than my plant. My plant frequently puts out a lot of orange- which I've never seen on a Bravo or CGC- not to that degree anyway. Also, sometimes it has leaves that are almost all gold or orange without veining. I've never see a Bravo or CGC do that either. I'm very inexperienced, and I'm just saying that I've never seen it. Maybe others have.