My report on crotons

I have accumulated about hundred of crotons some of which were generous gifts and I feel like it is time to show how they are doing. I will start with seedling Pixie brought to me personally by Lamar with the right to name it and with my favorite Edwin T. Meredith generously given to me by Scott with a lots of other plants to start my garden.

Pixie is alive and well. I will keep and propagate it just because it is all mine . Also, it is different and therefore is worth propagating. If there time comes to get the name out it should be named Teen Pixie because it is exactly how this thing looks and grows.

Edwin T. Meredith is such a wonderful plant for landscaping! It is bushy, stays small, takes a lot of sun and it has vigor. The branches are so tender but the cutting are easily rooting in the water!

Unfortunately, it is not a good time to take pictures. I've just cut a top of my plant (air layer) and moved it. Pictures show the new plant (from air layer) which went directly in the ground and the mother plant placed nearby.
Thank you, guys!

 

Pix I will make another one and ask Mike to grow it he gets great results in his garden. It is very crowded here but growers very well.

 

Thank you so much, Lamar! I will put an air laye r on mine and try a new plant in more sun.

I tried to repost the picture. I do not like it upside down. It didn't work. How should I post a vertical picture?

Today I want to post my best looking (at the moment): my good old Bravo (is it confirmed that this one is really Bravo?); AFD 5; Wilma; Van Buren; Mrs.Iceton and Zanzibar(?). I bought this one last year in HD under the name Zanzibar, but it looked like Zanzibar on steroids. ...and proven to be better survivor for sure.

 

Pix, all your crotons look fantastic! You are an expert grower now. That last one is probably Picturatum. Maybe others will chime in. Thanks for posting your beautiful crotons!

 

Anna and Robertico, thank you for liking my crotons! Anna, thank you for IDing my "Zanzibar". It is definitely Picturatum I am posting a better picture.
I keep searching in my garden and making a list of my crotons. I am posting my picture of so called "Lauren's Rainbow" that we buy in Big Boxes. There is only one picture by Scott in the wiki. I grow it side by side with Yellow Banana and it looks like Red Banana to me. There is only one picture of Red Banana by Marie Nock. I think it is the same plant. Their "Lauren's Rainbow" is our Red Banana. Because my plant is growing in full sun it is redier than Scot's plant. What do you think?

 

...and David, thank you for your like while I was typing

 

Hi Pix, I have Lauren's Rainbow as well and it is very different from the Red Banana I have as well as the pictures of Red Banana on the wiki. I also got mine at a big box store. Below is a picture of my Lauren's Rainbow. It has thinner leaves and is very slow. Thanks Karl

 

Pix, sorry to disappoint, but I am not familiar with any of the plants you named. I've just never seen them. To me, Karl's photo looks like Scott's Lauren's Rainbow. I'm not sure about the others. Maybe someone else can help? Thanks for bringing some discussion to the forum!

 

Thank you, guys! So, what is this thing that I grow as Lauren's Rainbow? I bought it in Wallmart in 3"pot tagged by Angel's Plants. I bought Banana the same way. I never had Red Banana.
Both plants grow slowly in full sun (no shade at all all day).

My todays entry is more of nice looking crotons from my garden. Thank you for looking!

 

Pix, The one you have growing next to Banana does look like Red Banana to me. I am thinking they may have just had the wrong tag in it. My Lauren's Rainbow has been so slow that I am still waiting for it to start to take on a more mature appearance to see what it really looks like. It is in part sun and receives plenty of moisture, at one point a section died off and I thought I was going to lose it but it has done better over the last year.

 

Thank you, Karl. Angel's Plants are known for wrong tags. They started to name everything "Tropical foliage" now I bought this Fred Sander as "tropical foliage" about a year ago ...and the next picture is another of both my "bananas together."

 

Thank you for the likes, Mike. Here is Thea, that I bought from you at Phil's auction. It was a HUGE air layer. There are 3 of them now since I made 2 more air layers from your big plant.

 

Anna and David, thank you for the likes and for letting me know that I am not talking to myself
I need to ID this croton that I bought (won?) at Ana's auction. I believe it was from Judy. I never knew it's name

 

Pix, It looks something like the pink form of Nestor I got from David a while back, but there are a few other crotons with a similar appearance. I think that the name of the plant might be on the pot in the photo taken in October, so if you still have the pot you might be able to find the name. I tried to blow up the image to read the tag but it was not clear enough to read. It looked too long to be Nestor, but for all I know the tag on the pot could be the name of the person who sold it at the auction. I am not great at identifying crotons aside from the ones I have in my gardens and even those I get mixed up sometimes, so hopefully someone will recognize it from the auction.

 

I was thinking Nestor also, but not a definite. Maybe with a little sun it will color up more and we can try identifying it again.

 

Thank you, Karl and Anna. Now, when I know which to compare to in the wiki, I also think that it is Nestor. We will wait and see.

Karl, it was so nice of you to go an extra mile trying to help me. Unfortunately, I did not save the pot

I've figured out almost all my plants as of now.
What can you say about this one? It could be a NOID from Scott…as I could recall…

 

Pix, Very pretty plant. Does not look exactly like any of the cultivars I am familiar with so don't have any guess on this one. They vary so dramatically depending on the light, moisture, etc., that I am often surprised that a plant I have is completely different in someone else's collection. I still have 20 or more crotons that I got us unknowns and have no idea if they have a name or what the name is. Some may be identifiable as they mature. I also have dozens of seedlings that have popped up around the gardens, many looking nothing like the parents near by. Will be evaluating those over the coming years to see if any warrant naming. Good luck.

 

Thank you, Karl. You have a great future as a crotonologist 20 NOID's and seedlings!
I am supposed to have 5 NOID's: from Scott, from Jose, and 3 from Phil (of which I found only 2 so far). Not sure that I want more: very confusing. Is there any chance to name them?
More of my NOID's:

 

Pix, were these above given to you as NOID's, or are they named crotons you don't remember what they are? I am wondering if the middle one is Davis 1, and the third one resembles Caribbean Star, although I've never seen this last cultivar in person. Maybe someone will chime in.

 

Thank you, Anna. Yes, they were given to me as NOID's, some are marked. I never had any Davis, but it sure looks like I do have one now
And you are right, another one from Phil may be a Caribbean Star:



This is my Caribbean Star:



...and this I found on Russian site. They call it Eureka

 

However, although the Eureka is also a semi-oak leaf, your plant doesn't look like the Eureka to me. The habit of the plant looks different to me. I really don't think I can help you with this. If Phil gave it to you as a NOID, I'm pretty sure it must not have a name or he would know it. He is much more experienced than I am. Remember, I've never seen a Caribbean Star in person. A lot is lost in photos.

 

Ouch! I did not mean to challenge anyone. I am sorry
Thank you for your help.

 

Hi Pix, with my unknown crotons I don't even try to find a name unless the person I got them from was pretty sure they had a name but could not remember it or if it was a small plant that they were not sure what it was but thought it could be a named variety. I have several beautiful unnamed hybrids from Jose that he had created but did not have a chance to name. If they are one of a kind seedlings from someone you can definitely come up with your own name. I do my best at trying to keep track of who I got the unknowns from and just call them Jeff's unkown, Randy's unknown, David's unknown, Jose's hybrid, etc. It would be great if they were named at some point. My goal is to start naming my own seedlings once they are large enough to evaluate whether or not they will be kept. One of these days I will have a tour and auction at my house and see if some of my mystery crotons end up being named. It is hard to identify them based on photos unless they are really obvious. Good luck.

 

Pix, I didn't mean to imply you were challenging Phil. Sorry if it came across that way. Only to say that I consider Phil an expert and I am not, so if he didn't know the name, I would be unlikely to! I'm still the new kid on the block. I wish I knew more crotons and was closer to South Florida where I'd have a better chance at learning more about them. Name or no name, the important thing is if you like them in your garden. I try not to worry too much about names. I have a few NOID's I love just as much or more than named varieties. I also have a couple of rare ones that don't perform very well in my garden and a few named ones I've just pulled and thrown out for the same reason. It's all about personal preference and what you deem beautiful! Have fun with them. By the way, that Eureka to me resembles the one we call Nervia here, but of course, it's impossible to know for sure.

 

Ana, I am the real new kid on the block so to me you are one of the experts. I am a croton addict who hopes to be more of an expert at some point. Phil would be in the category of Croton Master. I just try to soak up as much knowledge as I can every time I visit someone's garden. I have gotten some amazing NOID's over the years and while some I am still hoping to find a name for I agree that they are beautiful with or without a name. So far the only crotons I have ripped out are the ones that are dead, but I do have some slow plants that I may give up on at some point. I just can't get myself to get rid of anything unless it is a duplicate. I am still at that got to have one of each phase, granted if they die I don't usually bother to try them again.
Pix, You have a beautiful collection and in time you will probably identify a few more, but sometimes it is anti-climatic when you do find the name (especially when you realize one of your mystery plants is something you have since added to the collection again and now just have two of the same). Don't ever hesitate to post photos because even if we can't always help identify the plants it is great to see the plants you have.

 

It's probably a Nestor sporting Leopardia or vice versa; both are a bit unstable and sport each other quite regularly.