Cordyline Success and failure.
Before I moved I had never had any Cordyline in the garden.
In the front garden were two lovely specimens standing sentry next to the front.
My new friends where growing through gravel. Good idea as these characters like it moist but well drained. They don’t need much care, except for pulling off the tatty lower leaves. Result, I love a tough plant.
There were a lot of weeds growing through the gravel. I kept pulling and pulling them out and layered bark mulch over the gravel to keep the weeds away.
One day when I got home from work, I noticed something sticking out the ground between the Cordylines. A Cordyline baby!
I suspect the straight one at the back was the original, and the other was an off shoot. Taking away the weeds must have made them happy.
I love free plants, so I decied to gently remove the new addition.
I moved all the bark and gravel away. Annoying, but wait, what’s this? another baby!
Now this is where I should have only taken the larger off shoot to pot up. In the name of experimentation and laziness, I couldn’t be bothered to shift the bark and gravel again, I took both to pot up.
There’s life right yet.
As the above picture, the bigger one thrived and the little one didn’t make it. I likely hurt him when getting him out. Maybe I should have left him with mum to grow stronger before ripping him away.
You live and learn, at least I have one new free plant.
Nicki has gardened for many years in Sussex. You can find Nicki at https://twitter.com/makinggardens and https://instagram.com/makinggardens
