Crotons or Codiaeum variegatum has been here in the country 'since time began', as is commonly said. In my mind it is a native species. However, my search shows it originated from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and western Pacific Ocean islands. That means it is a naturalized species in the Philippines. They grow favorably well here with us, and i love their many varieties and variations of leaves within a variety. Wikipedia said there are several hundred cultivars already bred in crotons. I even found a variety named 'Andreanum', oh maybe i should be planting that one. I hope to convince my neighbors that it is named after me! LOL.
We have a few of them near the side of the street, serving also as hedge. I noticed that this one plant shows a very distinct brightly orange leaves, with very less green patches like the rest of them. When pruning time comes i hesitate to do that in this special plant. It is at the leftmost part in the photo below.
A clump of them aesthetically grows shorter than the heliconias, so provided a good growth and leaf color contrast. But my special plant at the left-most portion stands out with its bright lighter hues. This clumps of growths also conceal an area in the property which i intentionally hide from the street. And when the heliconias bloom simultaneously, it also provides a good show to the passersby. But not many know that croton's sap is very toxic to humans! Don't be scared, i haven't heard of someone's death caused by croton poisoning.
Another perennial presence with us is the candle flower, Pachystachys lutea. The top left photo lives up to its name as candle flower, those golden structures are actually the bracts. The real flowers include the white protrusions shown at the right photo.
The above hedge is the continuation of our hedge next to the crotons and heliconia. It is planted on a sharp slope because of the street below. On top of the hedge are tall fruit trees like santol, duhat and citrus. Further down the candleflowers is a long queue of
Dracaena fragrans, which we already cut because they are already very tall and might bend to the passersby during typhoons.
At the other side of the street opposite the crotons are also
Dracaena fragrans, which we commonly call fortune plants. The name maybe came from its very seldom flowering habit. But we have been very "fortunate" as we get blooms every year! Some of you who fairly know how the flowers smell like, you decide if the owner is really fortunate at all. When the spikes bloom at the same time, you will not think twice in putting the axe on them, as in you will unhesitatingly guillotine them!
This is the last photo of this dracaena hedge, before my mother and sister decided to cut all of them to just a meter high. With that, flowering will be curtailed this year!
