Dagger plants jazz landscape
Daggers have become extremely popular in the garden in recent years. I'm not talking about knives, but the kind of leaves found on plants like the new Electric Pink, Purple Sensation and Cardinal.
You may be wondering what kind of plants these are, and after I tell, you still may be a little confused. These plants are all varieties of cordyline. The cordyline you are most familiar with is the Hawaiian Ti plant.
Cordylines like Electric Pink are much different. They have common names like New Zealand cabbage tree, cabbage palm and Giant Dracaena. They are even called Ti plants, although they are much easier to grow and much more cold hardy. A few years ago, there were only a handful of varieties, with Red Sensation and Red Star being the most popular. Now producers are growing dozens with a wide range of colors and variegation.
Though I refer to them as dagger-like, landscape designers call them architectural plants. Place them in large mixed containers or in the flower border, and suddenly you have that look others hire a professional to achieve.
Every year I go to California to see plant trials. While there, I take the opportunity to see what is in western landscapes and mixed containers at shopping malls. Invariably I get jealous of the way they are able to use phormiums, or New Zealand flax. The bold, sword-like leaves are colorfully variegated and just scream, 'Look at me!' But the heat and humidity of most of the country is just too much for the phormium.
Well, guess what? The cordylines give the same look and are much better suited to summer extremes. Electric Pink stands out from a great distance with its maroon leaves edged in a shocking hot pink. It is clump-forming and reaches 2 to 4 feet tall and wide.
One of the most beautiful plantings I have seen had it as the thriller plant in a large mixed container. It was combined with the Sweet Caroline Sweetheart ornamental sweet potato that had equally colorful lime-green foliage cascading over the rim.
Cardinal also is clump-forming and should reach 4 feet tall, although its habit will be a little more upright before arching. These leaves are a variegated red-purple.
Purple Sensation is almost the reverse of Electric Pink. It has purple-maroon on the outside with reddish-pink in the middle. It is the tallest of the three, reaching 6 feet.
The cordyline has taken off so fast that there has not been sufficient time to collect a lot of data on size and cold hardiness. Most of the country will treat these as annuals. The catalogs are touting these varieties as perennial in zone 8. This most likely will occur only with mulch and near-perfect winter drainage. I have seen photos of them in the Pacific Northwest practically covered in snow.
Grow cordylines in fertile, well-drained soil. They need plenty of sunlight but will tolerate afternoon shade. Many gardeners enjoy them indoors during the winter, placing them in brightly lit areas of the home and reducing the amount of water they receive.
