Oh my gosh, guys! What a beautiful collection of crotons!!!! I collect them also but still have a meager collection. In the summer I will trade whatever I have for cuttings or pay. I have alot to trade with. I need to make a list but never seem to have the time. We have started a tropical fruit farm down here but I have palms also.
Mo crotons, mo crotons mo crotons!
What an entertaining thread Kyle and Dale! They are all so beautiful! My DIL has one that I love and now that Dale has given rooting instructions....LOL....I'll be sneaking a few cuttings!
cyberageous, join the Croton society, the membership roster will show somebody in your area with other kinds, they also sell many rare kinds at their shows and sales.
The Croton Society is planning on being at the big spring show in Naples this year, with lots of plants for sale.
A site of interest http://www.crotons.org/
And for the truly rabid (like myself, Kyle others shall remain nameless) -- http://www.croton-mania.com/croton_mania.html
I will let you in on a little secret, one of my friends collects them too...
She has been collecting for about 3 years.
She travels a great deal.
and she always comes home with a bucket of cuttings for me to root.
Most of the collection she has is still small, not ready to propagate....yet.
Today, Wednesday is my day to work in her garden.
The first thing I did when I got there this morning is take pics.
A nice way to start a day.
And a good way to end the day is to show them off :-)
It is dinner time in FL.
Pasta w/ avacado salad is on the menu in Dale's kitchen tonight.
Almost forgot to mention, she collects bromeliads too.
Beautiful pictures Dale.
How do they do in your rare cold spells and what kind of water requirements do those in the ground have?
Ardesia,
They will lose their leaves in a frost, there are a few that lose their leaves at 40 (not widely grown). They need year round water, they are a tropical rainforest plant. Most species are in SE Asia, mainland and islands. I have dug up and moved many and I am very surprised how small a root system they have. Roots are small and numerous, no big tap root or storage roots. The big plus is they grow fast, are colorful and mostly pest free.
Thanks Dale, Do the ones that lose their leaves ever come back in Tampa? Around here if it gets cold their leaves turn white, fall off and the plant has pretty much croaked.
They come back very quickly.
Next time I get to FL I will have to look for some different varieties; the ones I have are Angel Plants from the big boxes. It will be interesting to see if other varieties are more cold hardy. Usually mid 30's are the coldest we get and that is only for a short time in the wee hours.
Oh, what Beautiful, Beautiful Crotons! If I could live somewhere in Florida where it stays warm, I would just love to have Thousands of these Gorgeous plants surrounding my house! Here's one of my favorites, I kept it in a pot for about 5 years, it's been in the ground now about 3 years and I have to baby it if we have cold temp's. I'm seriously thinking of digging it up this afternoon. Tomorrow night is supposed to be @28 degrees here in Daytona! Yikes! That is too cold for Crotons and a lot of other "living" things ... me included! :)
I have this little one that said "Paint Brush" Croton when I bought it, I just love the stringy type foliage!
I have to grow Croton's in containers this far north in Florida so I can move them in during cold weather.
These are all fabulous!
(Talk about diversity)
Lin...you *know* I love 'Paintbrush'
This thread and others has 're-sparked' my interest in Crotons.....Can't wait 'til summertime to get here so I can get a few and have them thrive!
Yeah Nan .... My little "Paint Brush" hasn't grown much. I sure would like to find more of that one .... and quite a few of the ones in Dale's photo's above! So Colorful! OH, AND .... that very first one that Eclipse posted a photo of .... love those red stems and yellow leaves!
I would love to try growing these from seeds, never thought about it before.
Does anyone posting here know much about growing them from seed?
Are the seeds viable for only a short while, and do they grow 'true' from seed or is the result a 'surprise'?
I'm interested in growing them from seed, too....that would give them a better chance to adapt to my indoor environment.
Nan, to my knowledge no one sells croton seeds.They need to be hand pollinated up north here. I take several flower clusters from different kinds and bundle together to pollinate the female flowers.Then as I see seeds pods forming I cover them with a tube of cheese cloth or netting to keep the seeds from falling and scattering.These plant belong to the euphorbia family, along with castor beans. the seeds themselves look like tiny castor beans.they come from a three lobed seed capsule with one seed in each section.The seeds can take a long time to mature and when they do the pods explode like castor beans.I soak the seeds overnight to remove the growth inhibitors on the shells.Then plant and wait for them to come up. These plants are too diverse in genetic makeup to come true to form from seeds.Thats why there are so many varieations in form and markings. this is a pic of the female flowers
Male pollen bearing flowers....these vary from kind to kind ,in size, number of flowers, etc.
And in this variety, the only one I know of, has both male and female flowers on the same stem. Most crotons have the male and female flowers open at different times, no doubt to help with cross pollination in stead of self pollination. Male flowers at the top, female at the bottom.
Thanks for the info!
Interesting stuff.
Actually, I have seen seeds for sale on ebay in the past, but simply didn't know enough about them to know whether they'd be viable or not. Are they viable for a long period of time, do you know?
So each seed you plant could, theoretically, be a completely and totally 'new' croton?
That makes the though of growing from seed all that more tempting.
And lastly here are some 8 month old seedlings from last year. Theory has it that they do not establish their true colors(permanent) untill 2-4 yrs old.
they can all be different, in some ways.The viability to me is unknown, I plant them as soon as they are ripe.
That's good to know, thanks!
Hope you get some unusual beauties....keep us posted, even if it is a couple of years from now!
I am thinking 'Elanor Roosevelt'
OhMyGoodness....what a wonderful collection of photos. YES...you guys should put a book together!!!!!
Airlayers are the way to go....MUCH more successful than cuttings for me.,,,so easyyy!
Man...I would love that Croton...Dale...do you have a contact or an address...? Perhaps I could write them directly?
I fear that Croton names are like Ti names...depends on who grows them!!!
Carol
Here's my favorite in my collection. It was ID'd as William Craig.
JG
JG wow thats a nice one.
Kyle