Plant Finder

Other Names:  Forest Cabbage Tree, False Dracaena

Group/Class:  Design Edge Series

Brand:  Sprint Horticulture

Description:

Young leaves on this variety begin dark red, then mature to burgundy-brown with luminous pink and lime green stripes; tends to be clump forming; perfect for adding a lush, tropical feel to the garden or patio containers

Ornamental Features

Electric Star™ Cordyline is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental upright and spreading habit of growth. It has attractive burgundy foliage with lime green stripes and tinges of pink which emerges dark red in spring. The sword-like leaves are highly ornamental and remain burgundy throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Electric Star™ Cordyline is an open multi-stemmed evergreen tropical plant with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This tropical plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should never be pruned except to remove any dieback, as it tends not to take pruning well. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Electric Star™ Cordyline is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

This plant is native to the tropics and prefers growing in moist environments with evenly warm conditions all year round. In our climate, it is usually grown as an outdoor annual in the garden or in a container. If you want it to survive the winter, it can be brought in to the house and provided with special care, and then returned to the garden the following season. In its preferred tropical habitat, as a shrub it can grow to be around 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. However, when grown as an annual or when overwintered indoors, it can be expected to perform quite differently, and its exact height and spread will depend on many factors; you may wish to consult with our experts as to how it might perform in your specific application and growing conditions.

This tropical plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Electric Star™ Cordyline makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.