garden adventurer WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY L.A. JACKSON
Getting Gaudy: The Colorful Crotons After all the Christmas baubles and bangles have been put away, the ol’ homestead often seems void of cheerful color. The garden is normally a great place to find visual relief, but with winter strengthening, opportunities for such eye candy are becoming fewer. Houseplants can provide some optical interest, but many come in a singular color: green. Not so with croton (Codiaeum variegatum). This gaudy dandy of a plant looks like an escapee from a Mardi Gras float. Reds, pinks, yellows, greens, purples, oranges, coppers — these are the colors of croton. And such a cacophony of hues is streaked, splattered, splotched, blotched or dotted on vibrant vegetation that ranges from broad, four- to six-inch-wide, onefoot-long leaves to skinny strap-like shoots and fancy fronds that mimic oak foliage. Readily found at local garden centers, croton is an easy plant to grow indoors. Being a sun-lover, this pretty should be placed in a bright, south-facing window, but don’t let the leaves touch the glass — they can be bit by the winter cold. Dry conditions indoors can cause a croton to drop leaves, so keep it away from air vents, and water when the top of the soil in the pot feels dry to the touch. Also, it is not a bad idea to occasionally mist their leaves. Crotons are usually found as one- to twofoot-tall specimens in garden shops, but don’t expect them to stay that way. Some of these fancy plants can reach six feet tall and about as wide, so if you want to keep them from becoming biggies, prune the end of each stem back a few inches to a joining leaf or axil in the spring. Frugal gardeners take note: The cuttings can be easily rooted in water. 124 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
Croton
