Another ID please .... from Costa Rica

[ourarka]

Dug out another photo I kept meaning to get ID'd by you guys. These were everywhere in Costa Rica, and we loved them. They look highly likely to be ungrowable anywhere near the UK .... but keen to know what they were all the same.

[kohwoz]

Not sure. Did a quick google search and found this.

Red dracaena (Cordyline fruticosa) Maybe?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61760427@N07/5755855755/

[stephenprudence]

yes spot on.. Cordyline fruticosa.

[Blairs]

Agree with the above - Cordyline fruticosa. Not hardy but makes a decent house plant if you liek that sort of thing. Vine weevil adults and grubs lurve it - I tried it outside in the summer and kept catching the blighters all last winter. Homebase sell it occasionally (as Ti) - I got mine from Tesco years ago.

[ourarka]

Will it grow at lower light levels? A humid bathroom for example.

[Clive60]

I used to plant them in containers in Civic buildings with medium light but not dark corners, a Bathroom should be ok.
I always new them as Cordyline Terminalis. I remember seeing some good specimens in Madeira.

[otorongo]

They're quite hardy, some people grow it in zone 9b, so may be worth a try in the milder parts of London.

[Blairs]

I used to plant them in containers in Civic buildings with medium light but not dark corners, a Bathroom should be ok.
I always new them as Cordyline Terminalis. I remember seeing some good specimens in Madeira.

Mine grew best (they pupped) up at a south facing window. When i moved they sat by a north facing window and growth slowed and the leaves darkened but they still did ok. They grow stems over time.

They're quite hardy, some people grow it in zone 9b, so may be worth a try in the milder parts of London.

There are different varieties so some may be half-hardyish but my experience is the leaves go brown in cold wind and temps below 5C never mind frost.

Pests like Vine Weevil love them and I kept removing handfuls of white/greenfly from them. Yuck.

Will it grow at lower light levels? A humid bathroom for example.

A bathroom window sounds fine for them - they like humidity.

[ourarka]

So they're fairly easy to find? Are they always the same colours or are there different cultivars?

[Blairs]

So they're fairly easy to find? Are they always the same colours or are there different cultivars?

There are green, purple and pink ones and variegated ones in between. Only seen the purple and pink ones for sale in the UK. They tend to be in the houseplant section. Mine came from Tesco in 2006, so complete hit or miss if they have them back.

This ebay (.com not UK) site does say they can take a light frost. I left mine in the garden to die off this year as the whitefly and vine weevil damage was too much and I no longer want house plants (I only overwinter now and had to make space)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Miniature-BABY- ... 0968143509

[GREVILLE]

Kept a couple of these as bedding before putting them in the greenhouse for the winter. However, one was mutilated by slugs and never got its winter holiday and the following year the other didn't make it to the following season.