Codiaeum variegatum 'Angel Wings' - Croton

nice colouration...

Thank you for posting...I've always wondered what this was called. We have a variety of this here in NYC and it's widely used in all kinds of landscaping projects. It pairs up nicely with just about everything and makes a blah area come to life. Nice!

Beautiful colours !

Janeplant; Terratoonie:

Thanks! :>)

Bathgate:

It must be used as a temporary outdoor shrub in summer. This is a very tropical shrub which cannot tolerate any cold. It would never survive outdoors in NYC during winter.

Delonix - not many things do. Hats off to Kale :) Most displays are only up for a week or two. Here is a pic of what I'm referring to. It's being used with Chrysanthemums. It looks very similar but leaves are spade shaped http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/282235-chrysanthemums/member/bathgate

That's definitely Crotons with the Chysanthemums. They look very good together.

The Croton in your photo is a variety called 'Petra'. It's a very common variety. There's hundreds of varieties and they're all extremely sensitive to cold.

That's very interesting. It is such a colorful plant. I usually see them used for indoor displays - table tops, reception areas and such. The weather so far has been cool, but not below freezing 50º F or so.

Codiaeum variegatum is extremely sensitive to cold weather it usually dislikes morning temps below 60ºF (16ºC); although, it will survive. Even consistently cool temps in mid 50's for daytime highs will affect this plant...usually the leaves will start falling off.

In the U.S. Codiaeum variegatum grows best in extreme south Florida or Hawaii. It's grows pretty well in San Diego...however, in some years (like this past winter) cool weather can cause them to loose some leaves.

I think I may have killed a few unknowingly.

I have killed some in the past, also.

I have several in my yard. Most have been doing very well for quite a while. Luckily, I live in urban San Diego, CA. I don't get frost or much cool weather in winter. Last winter (in January) I had one morning low of 37ºF (3ºC), which was the coldest morning low in many years. Typically, I only get a few morning lows of 41ºF (5ºC) during the whole winter. My average morning low in January here is around 50º (10ºC) the average high is around 70ºF (21ºC).

The Weather in the New York is pretty bizarre too. Right now it's 68ºF which is what we normally get in May. Last year it snowed before the leaves fell off the trees. Hurricane Sandy meandered up the east coast then turned and made a direct bullseye to my backyard. It was the "Storm of the Century" We've also been having small earthquakes for the past couple years. Things are just so weird, I don't know what "normal" means anymore, LOL!

Yes, I agree "normal" or "average" is not so common anymore.

I know the east coast has been having such strange weather and the unusual earthquakes in the last couple of years (from what I've read).

So sorry to hear you were affect by Hurricane Sandy! It was such a horrible storm which affected so many people. :>(

Believe-it-or-not San Diego, along with Honolulu, HI is on the list of a potential hurricane strike (I believe Savannah, GA. is on this same list) Luckily, these cities have not been affected by a hurricane in a very, very long time. San Diego had a direct hit by a hurricane back in 1852...so we're way overdue. Back in 1852 the population was very low. If the same hurricane hit now it would be catastrophic...as our homes are not made to tolerate such a strong storm. The last time we were affected by a strong tropical storm (El Cordonazo) was back in 1939, it was a direct hit on Long Beach, CA., though.

I hope it's one thing you don't ever have to worry about. Anything that hits Savannah, eventually comes up here. We've had hurricanes before, but nothing like Sandy. She was so enormous, we had over a full day of hurricane force winds and surf. Whole neighborhoods were swept away or totally condemned. It just shows that nature always wins.

I have had croton but only as a houseplant, D1. I got rid of it because I now have a cat who will sample just about anything. I understand that the oil from the plant is toxic.
Like Bathgate, we, here in Eastern Canada, have had three days of high wind and strangely warm weather as a result of the storm that spawned tornadoes in Illinois...70 km. winds for 36 hours! It must have been a huge thing. What a terrible disaster in the Philippines too! Our weather is so unpredictable that we can't trust our weather office to get it right three days out of the week! How are the ocean water temps off of San Diego, D1?

Bathgate:

I hope I won't have to deal with a hurricane hitting San Diego in my lifetime; however, anythings possible.

I did see the many news stories how the whole eastern seaboard was affected by Hurricane Sandy. It was so very sad seeing so many people suffer! (for such a long time) :>(

Lorilyn57:

I saw the huge storms on the Weather Channel the other morning. Some of those little cities in the mid-west were completely destroyed! So, so sad! :>(

Hopefully, you didn't have any damage from the strong storms!

Lorilyn57:

I forgot to answer your question "How are the ocean water temps off of San Diego, D1?"

The ocean waters off San Diego averages around 66ºF (19ºC), so it's pretty darn cold at this time of the year. The warmest the ocean temp got this past summer was 76ºF (24.4ºC).

I have uncountable plants that are poisonous. Euphorbia's Brugmansia,Oleander, Nightshade,on and on. The three cats are fine. They do eat grass,and I suspect they nibble on fern fiddleheads.
I'm the only one to suffer...I got agave juice on my bare triceps. It burned as if it had been a real fire.

I know you have to be careful around plants in the Euphorbiaceae family. I got a horrible dermatitis twice from touching my purple wings vine (Dalechampia dioscoreifolia). I didn't realize it was this vine until it happened the second time. LOL! (it wasn't funny at the time, though).

I think its true that the more it happens? The more sensitive you become .Sort of counter intuitive.
Don't you get less sensitive to rattlesnake venom the more you are bit? Not sure on that...and will never test that...

I not sure. I wouldn't want to test the rattlesnake's theory, either.

The ONLY plant in gardens I have read that has been a real threat to pet health were Sago palms...all of it is toxic. And dogs sometimes eat for some reason seeds of that plant with fatal results. Other plants said to be poisonous like Diffenbachia,last i read turned out to be more uncomfortable then poisonous. Like eating a green pineapple.

And that is a great looking Croton- huge by California standards.

I know Macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs, also.

This Croton is much nicer now. When I took this photo it was still recovering from a severe wilt and lost several leaves. I thought the soil was moist and it was so severely dried out all the leaves wilted. This plant definitely needs regular watering.