Cordylines add a touch of the tropics to a garden, they go beautifully under palms and they take up very little room within a garden. They are perfect for adding the layers of foliage in a tropical garden and look good from the moment they are planted, giving an instant look to the garden. Cordyline fruiticosa cultivars add year round colour to the garden and in the cooler months the leaf colour is more intense. They can be grouped to create a bold combination of colours or a softer combination, they can also be mass planted.
From my own experience, I have found Cordylines easy to grow and need little maintenance. The majority of cordylines prefer bright light with protection from the direct sun, most of mine are under the light shade provided by the palms. Some of the cordyline fruiticosa cultivars can take some morning sun and colour best with some sun on them. They cope with the cooler winters here, as they are grown in sheltered positions where the frost does not settle on them
The leaves on cordylines vary
greatly, they may be long and slender, short and wide or somewhere in
between. They may be held erect or they may flop down at the ends. Leaf length
also varies from
a few centimetres to a metre.
The leaves also come in
many colours, or
combinations of colours, including many shades of greens, reds,
pinks, purples, white, cream, yellow and orange and up to seven different
colours may be found on one leaf. The native species are mostly green, but
occasionally variegated forms are found. The leaf stalks (petioles) maybe coloured or edged in colour. They
can grow 1m - 5m depending on the species or cultivar.
Cordylines don't seem to mind what type of soil you have as long as it is well drained. I grow mine in a clay soil. They prefer regular watering during the warmer months for optimum growth. In winter I cut the watering back and only water if the soil becomes too dry, although when they are established I have found that they need little water in winter and don't mind dry soils. The only problems that I come across with my cordylines are snails, slugs, and the occasional caterpillar. I use an animal safe snailicide to control the snails as I have frogs and lizards and do not want to harm them.
Cordyline fruiticosa has been around for many
years, it was first documented some 1000 years ago when it arrived in Hawaii
with the Polynesians in their canoes. They believed that it had divine
power and wore fres
h leaves around their necks, waist and ankles. They
also hung the leaves around the house to
dispel evil and mass planted them around homes for protection. The Pacific
Islanders found many uses for cordylines, the leaves were used to make
raincoats, sandals, hula skirts, and used as thatch for houses. The leaves
were also used as plates, and fresh leaves were used to wrap packages in and to
wrap food in to cook. Children even found the cordylines leaves be great fun, they used
them to slide down steep grassy slopes on. The stalk was also used
as a sign of surrender. The cordyline roots were also versatile, they
could be baked and eaten as a confection, boiled and used as a laxative. The
roots were found to be versatile as well, they were fermented and made into beer,
or
distilled to make a high-grade colourless brandy; this was popular in
Hawaii when kings ruled the islands, as contraband.
