Other Names:  False Dracaena

Description:

Slender trunks feature 5 ft. wide burgundy-red, sword like foliage; eye-catching in poolside planters, containers, or garden beds; heat and drought tolerance once established; fragrant, white panicles bloom in early summer; adaptable as houseplant

Ornamental Features

Bauer's Cordyline is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental upright and spreading habit of growth. It has attractive burgundy evergreen foliage. The sword-like leaves are highly ornamental and remain burgundy throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Bauer's 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.

Bauer's Cordyline is recommended for the following landscape applications;

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

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 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 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 particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Bauer's Cordyline makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Its large size and upright habit of growth lend it for use as a solitary accent, or in a composition surrounded by smaller plants around the base 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.