Series#2...Mr Ralph Davis

[Jeff Searle]

Another one of the great croton legends of all time, Mr Ralph Davis lived in North Miami Beach. During the many years that Mr Davis collected and grew his crotons he apparantly was more dedicated than anyone else in achieving larger and larger leaf varieties. His known plants are;

Davis #1
Davis #2
Davis #3 ( Honeycomb)
Davis #7
Davis #14
Davis #87
Inca
Dr Frank Brown
Ruby Davis
President Eisenhower
The Clown
Playboy
Moon Glow
Paisley

I'm sure there are plenty more to add.

 

[pocomo]

Sure there are but a lot of them don't seem to have a name. Need to have some way of identifying them. Not just "that one" and "that one"...

 

[Jeff Searle]

Sure there are but a lot of them don't seem to have a name. Need to have some way of identifying them. Not just "that one" and "that one"...

I agree. Unfortunately, plant names can get lost pretty easy, especially if it's a croton that dosen't catch on quickly. And back then, there were no computers to save information, no digital cameras, cell phones w/ cameras, etc, etc.

 

[Jeff Searle]

This upcoming spring, I will be planting several more crotons that are known to be from the original Davis yard. Many of these sport big leaves and or are ones that I have never seen before. They will be planted in a designated area set aside for his known cultivars and those from Henry Coppinger. Eventually as they get bigger, I will propagate them and get them out there. I just have to come up with some method of identification, so they don't end up with numerous different names or numbers. Any suggestions?

 

[kwtimo]

Jeff, would it make sense to just stick to numbers to possibly simplify things?

 

[Jeff Searle]

Jeff, would it make sense to just stick to numbers to possibly simplify things?

Normaly I would say "yes", but in this case, being Ralph used the number system quite a bit, I don't think that would make sense. I think it would confuse matters worse.

 

[Moose]

Nice thread but lacking photos. May be a bit boring to the novice visiting our forum for the first time. Everyone loves pictures!

I got your Inca right here. Thank you Marie for propagating this beautiful cultivar and making it available.

 

[Moose]

Uncertain if this is a Ralph Davis created hybrid. Chris (pocomo) procured this plant from the Ralph Davis estate many years ago. Was it his intentional hybrid? A volunteer seedling? Perhaps one he never named or numbered?

These questions will probably never be answered. Its pretty and thought it worthy to be included in this thread.

 

[kwtimo]

Jeff, would it make sense to just stick to numbers to possibly simplify things?

Normaly I would say "yes", but in this case, being Ralph used the number system quite a bit, I don't think that would make sense. I think it would confuse matters worse.

Ok, Jeff. As per our conversation then, would it make more sense to just use letters for future classification? Anyone else have any thoughts on this? I know that I am excited to see these crotons develop, and it would be great to have some kind of agreed upon system in place for when they are released down the road.

 

[Marie Nock]

This upcoming spring, I will be planting several more crotons that are known to be from the original Davis yard. Many of these sport big leaves and or are ones that I have never seen before. They will be planted in a designated area set aside for his known cultivars and those from Henry Coppinger. Eventually as they get bigger, I will propagate them and get them out there. I just have to come up with some method of identification, so they don't end up with numerous different names or numbers. Any suggestions?

Jeff, Kurt Decker gave the Davis Collection that he had to Stan Wood. It might be good to see the system that Stan is using so that we don't see different IDs on the same plants. As I remember from the tour that Kurt had about 12 years ago, it was a huge collection.

 

[Jeff Searle]

Jeff, Kurt Decker gave the Davis Collection that he had to Stan Wood. It might be good to see the system that Stan is using so that we don't see different IDs on the same plants. As I remember from the tour that Kurt had about 12 years ago, it was a huge collection.

I can only imagine how beautiful the collection was when first planted and for years beyond. But when the group met there this past summer, we all noticed that the plants were in decline and could use some help. I've thought about offering some fertilizer and insecticide to Stan and try to get them back in shape. When there last, there were a few plants that had died, hopefully not the "only" plant of that cultivar.

 

[kurt decker]

I can add a bit to this. The davis collection was just that, a collection. Most of the plants turned out to be named varieties that we are now refamiliarized with. The entire group was in deplorable shape. Almost nothing was identifiable. Everthing had been cut too many times. It was nothing like the krukonis property, which was almost untouched. I doubt there were more than a couple of dozen unique plants, if that. Davis #87 confuses people, they think he made a lot of new plants. I called that one #87 because it is on page 87 of dr. Brown's book. Took about 3 years for that plant to recover enough to id, and propagate.

 

[Moose]

Here is Playboy. Unfortunately its not grown much since planted. Hopefully its developing a nice root system and will start cranking.