Old Croton Find

[bahadawn]

Here are 4 old crotons, all over 7 feet tall. May I have help with their names? The pictures posted out of order. There are two photos of each plant. Fawnridge just posted on Rags thread that one of his plants looked like a Stoplight that lost it's color over time. Perhaps this is what happened to this purple plant, too? The plants look pretty rough; there's not much care being paid to this yard. They also look like they have good potential to very pretty plants. I'm contemplating asking the owner for cuttings...

 

[Moose]

Photos 1 & 4 look to be Morti

Photos 2 & 7, Stewartii

 

[Bullwinkle]

Photo 3 looks to be Stewartii also

 

[Crazy for Crotons]

#5 looks like an out of color Baron le Compte.

 

[bahadawn]

Ron, Mike & Ray - thank you for the I.D.'s.

One more thing, if I may, Ray. When a croton goes out of color, is that "all she wrote" for the plant? Or, is there a chance it will color up again? I looked up Baron Le Compte on the Wiki, and it indicates that if the plant has lost color, it should not be propagated. If I took a cutting from this plant (which, as you can see is mostly dark purple with a tiny bit of orange showing up) are the chances slim that it will grow with any color other than purple? I actually like dark purple colored plants - so I wouldn't be terribly disappointed, but just curious about the wiki info.

 

[fawnridge]

Ron, Mike & Ray - thank you for the I.D.'s.

One more thing, if I may, Ray. When a croton goes out of color, is that "all she wrote" for the plant? Or, is there a chance it will color up again? I looked up Baron Le Compte on the Wiki, and it indicates that if the plant has lost color, it should not be propagated. If I took a cutting from this plant (which, as you can see is mostly dark purple with a tiny bit of orange showing up) are the chances slim that it will grow with any color other than purple? I actually like dark purple colored plants - so I wouldn't be terribly disappointed, but just curious about the wiki info.

Cuttings will usually look exactly like the mother plant. However, there is a better chance that you can force new growth to come back with color or even sport if you hack the plant way back.

 

[bahadawn]

Thanks, I will take a little cutting and see what happens.

 

[Moose]

Leslie - it is my opinion that if you propogated the Baron Le Compte, you have a good chance it could color up on the new growth. Fertilizer and a good soil mix with an acid Ph really helps with coloring. Some benefits this plant has not had in many a moon - it is worth a try.

Most collectors do look for outstanding colors when selecting plants for their gardens. Simply certain plants look better than others of the same cultivar. Its all about the COLOR!

Ron, Mike & Ray - thank you for the I.D.'s.

One more thing, if I may, Ray. When a croton goes out of color, is that "all she wrote" for the plant? Or, is there a chance it will color up again? I looked up Baron Le Compte on the Wiki, and it indicates that if the plant has lost color, it should not be propagated. If I took a cutting from this plant (which, as you can see is mostly dark purple with a tiny bit of orange showing up) are the chances slim that it will grow with any color other than purple? I actually like dark purple colored plants - so I wouldn't be terribly disappointed, but just curious about the wiki info.

 

[Rags]

Two Oldies...

 

[Crazy for Crotons]

It can take awhile but blacked out crotons can be brought back to "life".

 

[ScotTi]

These 3 were blacked out when found 3yrs ago. They look as they may come around. Lots of TLC given here.

 

[ScotTi]

These 2 are on death row, they need to shape up this year or they are out of here. Planted in ground early this year in lots of sun.

 

[bahadawn]

I am encouraged to experiment with these cuttings, and I will keep you posted on the progress.