Codiaeum for winter colour
These vibrant foliage plants come in rainbow shades to bring brightness to the season
Codiaeums (crotons) have beautiful foliage in a myriad of colours that really appeals during winter. Choose red and orange-leaved varieties to contrast with green-leaved plants or provide a splash of colour with a zesty yellow form.
Originating in India and Malaysia, codiaeums are part of the Euphorbiaceae – a family that includes poinsettias and spurges. These plants all produce sap (latex) when damaged, which can irritate skin. Among my favourites are Codiaeum
variegatum ‘Evansianum’, which has broad, rainbow-coloured leaves. Young growth is yellow and green then ages to red and burgundy. Or, for a citrussy blast, try
codiaeum ‘Mme Mayne’. The youngest foliage is pure lemon-yellow while older leaf blades evolve to green with yellow veins.
Codiaeum leaves have a rubbery texture and darken as they age. During winter plants may lose some of their older leaves, either due to lower light levels or cooler temperatures. Place out of cold draughts and give enough water to keep compost lightly damp but never saturated. They suit a temperature between 16–25C (61–77F), but prefer the higher end. A bright position with several hours of sunshine is necessary to keep the intense foliage colours.
Some codiaeum varieties reach 1.5m (5ft) tall, but respond well to having their stem tips removed to encourage sideshoots, which creates a bushier, shorter specimen.
Propagation
If stems become bare at the base, propagate some fresh plants and place together to create a bushier specimen. Take cuttings in late spring, using either an air-layering method or tip-cuttings rooted directly into fresh compost. l Air layering. Although slightly long winded, the air-layering method gives excellent results because the cutting remains connected to the stem until it has produced roots. Remove a ring section of epidermis (waxy outermost layer of cells) from a young
stem, dust the exposed surface with hormone rooting powder and cover with dampened moss. Place a layer of polythene around the moss and hold in place with tape or wire. Over the next eight to 12 weeks roots will form from the open section of stem and grow into the moss; dampen the moss if it starts to dry. Once you see good root growth, remove the polythene and cut the stem from the mother plant just below the new roots. Plant the cutting and moss ball into damp fibrebased compost, submerging roots. Tip cuttings. Cut a stem with three or four leaves from the mother plant just above a node (stem joint from which a leaf grows). Dust the cut stem edge with hormone rooting powder and insert into a pot filled with equal volumes of dampened compost, Perlite and Vermiculite. Cover with clear polythene to retain humidity and place in a light position at 18–20C (64–68). After six to eight weeks, gently tug the cutting to see if it has rooted into the compost. If so, gradually remove the polythene over the next two weeks to give the cutting time to acclimatise to room humidity.