The Mike Harris Collection

Moose

Moose

Esteemed Member
7,058
10/09/09
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Coral Gables, FL Zone 10b
Weissmanii 1M.JPG
I attended the South Florida Palm Society garden tour this past Saturday. Mike Harris' garden was the second garden visited. His crotons were simply amazing! My crotons are but humbling offerings compared to his. Didi and Greg have done an outstanding job taking care of them. Did not see any croton scale nor spider mites anywhere! :cool:

The sunlight was not cooperating on many of the shots. I need to get back to his garden this fall in the early morning or late evening so they will photograph properly. An empty SD card will be a must.

A very nice Weissmanii. When Frank Brown wrote his first croton book in 1960, he mentioned that very few could even identify this cultivar. Through the efforts of collectors and The Croton Society, this cultivar has made a huge comeback. Judy Glock taught me to "look for the thumb" on a true Weissmanii
 
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Moose...thanks for posting these beautifully taken fotos of WEISSMANII and TORTOISE SHELL. Foto hints that I use: although one of the best times of the day to take great fotos of plants is early morning or late afternoon as you mentioned or try an overcast day where you cast a minimum of shadow or none at all. Make sure that the direction of the sun is over your right or left shoulder even if its cloudy. Never use a flash for a more true color and try a mono-pod (trypods are to clumsy) to eliminate the shake in your fotos...works for me !
 
donroberth said:
Moose...thanks for posting these beautifully taken fotos of WEISSMANII and TORTOISE SHELL. Foto hints that I use: although one of the best times of the day to take great fotos of plants is early morning or late afternoon as you mentioned or try an overcast day where you cast a minimum of shadow or none at all. Make sure that the direction of the sun is over your right or left shoulder even if its cloudy. Never use a flash for a more true color and try a mono-pod (trypods are to clumsy) to eliminate the shake in your fotos. Works for me!
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Moose should use a tripod, I've seen him tremble in the presence of a nicely grown croton. :p C'mon Ron, more photos please.
 
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Another not very commonly encountered cultivar, the Prince of Orange. It has a rather slow growth rate as well. Thanks to the sharing by collectors - this cultivar is slowly making it to more and more gardens. :cool:
 
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This is one amazing cultivar, the Green Dragon. It appears to have some Thai hybrid in its parentage. It is doing extremely well in Mike's soil! :eek:
 
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This is a real beauty! :cool: Not sure about its identity. :confused: The tag may have read Dreer Hybrid? :confused:

The colors were much more intense in person. Any guesses as to a definitive name? :)

Update: This is Fascination
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I have this one.It is an unnamed variety.One of these might get into the next croton auction.The leaves get huge!!


Moose said:
This is a real beauty! :cool: Not sure about its identity. :confused: The tag may have read Dreer Hybrid? :confused:

The colors were much more intense in person. Any guesses as to a definitive name? :)
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Ron, Nice! The Monarch, Grandma and Cornbread are really looking outstanding. You don't think it's all that extra oak leaf mulch that drops on them continuesly do you? Mike has done a great job with this peice of property over the years.
 
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Jeff Searle said:
Ron, Nice! The Monarch, Grandma and Cornbread are really looking outstanding. You don't think it's all that extra oak leaf mulch that drops on them continuesly do you? Mike has done a great job with this peice of property over the years.
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Jeff - I am a firm believer in the use of oak leaf compost. Crotons seem to respond very well to its acidic properties. Earth worms also seem to relish it. I find that it is a major key to developing large leaves and with superior colors. It is incorporated into my container mix. It is my practice when planting in the ground, to mix oak leaf compost with other amendments into the native soils. A top layer of it is also added before application of the mulch.

Ralph Davis was so convinced as to the benefits of oak leaves that he instructed his gardner to rake the yards of his neighbors to be used on his collection. This is strong evidence IMO.

Mike's garden is absolutely wonderful. His additions of crotons in the landscape really aids in making all his other plants really stand out. Truthfully, every croton he has looks superior to mine.

The next photos are of a croton tagged Ann Rutherford. Personally having never seen a true confirmed Ann Rutherford, I am unable to concur as to its identification. Mike can only go with the ID he recieved it as. I have also gotten an Ann Rutherford myself that ended up not being "the real deal". Hopefully Mike's plant will be Ann Rutherford. The true name may not really matter as this is one beautiful, healthy and nicely colored plant - thats the reason we plant them as garden bling. :cool:
 
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Coppinger's Hybrid 1M.JPG
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One of the Moose's absolute favorites, Coppinger's Hybrid. :cool:

Update: According to Bob Alonso - the original name for this cultivar is Cutler's Gulfstream
 
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