Cordyline australis Coral™

Cordyline australis 'LEL C01' Coral™ is a variety of False Dracaena with a very harmonious and ornamental colour combination. Its long, narrow leaves stand upright before opening out into the shape of a small palm with a characteristic architectural silhouette. The original and stylish foliage of this cordyline is coral pink, striped with greenish brown. With moderate growth, it forms a short stipe that gradually elevates the tuft of leaves up to 1.70 to 2 m over time. After several years of cultivation, the plant flowers with impressive and attractive large cream-white panicles. Well-suited to the climate of the Atlantic coast or the south, it will need to be grown in a pot in colder regions and sheltered in winter.

Cordyline, sometimes nicknamed False Dragon Tree, is a genus that has moved through several botanical families and is now classified among the Asparagaceae, whose type genus is asparagus (Asparagus). There are about fifteen wild species of Cordyline native to a wide area of the western Pacific. Cordyline australis is a species from the south of New Zealand, the largest in the genus, as in its native land it often exceeds 6 m in height, with old specimens even reaching 20 m and forming a branched trunk like a tree. Its very slender leaves reach 1 m in length but only 5 cm in width, and the flowering in large white panicles is pleasantly fragrant. It is no wonder that breeders are interested in this naturally attractive plant to produce ever more ornamental cultivars.
John E. Bleck, an American horticulturist, fertilised a Cordyline 'Albertii' with multicoloured foliage dominated by green and yellow, with pollen from the dark purple 'Purple Tower' variety to obtain Cordyline Coral. This new variety was protected by a patent in 2009 before being released to the market. Significantly smaller than the typical wild species, this pretty Cordyline forms a plant about 1.70 m tall and 1.50 m wide in ten years. Its growth rate is moderate to relatively fast compared to other varieties. It develops long, ribbon-like leaves 40 to 90 cm long but only 2 to 3 cm wide. Their dominant hue is a coral to salmon pink, with variegations in green, brown, and purple tones. The colour of the foliage can fluctuate with the seasons, and emerging leaves are generally brighter than mature ones. The rosette is dense in its centre and opens out like a palm on the periphery, giving the plant an incomparable architectural form. It rises gradually, borne by a stipe (the equivalent in Monocotyledons, which include the Asparagaceae, just like Palms, to the trunk formed by Dicotyledon-type plants). After several years of cultivation, the plant produces spectacular flowers in the form of large, branched panicles. While the individual flowers are small, their abundance creates a real spectacle for many weeks, in cream-white tones, exuding a delicate fragrance.

Requiring very little maintenance, apart from being sheltered in winter in cold regions, Cordyline Coral is the ideal plant to create an exotic scene in gardens on the Atlantic coast and in the south. Plant it alongside palms, like the superb Syagrus romanzoffiana with its coconut palm appearance, add a few clumps of Hedychium, the magnificent ornamental Gingers with floral spikes evocative of the tropics, and why not even one or two Banana Trees to add to the sense of escape. If your climate is too harsh to consider outdoor planting, this Cordyline will adorn your conservatory or can be treated as an orangery plant, left in the garden during the fine weather and then overwintered in a cool, bright room in winter.