Outdoor Dracaena with off shoots

Hi there, I have one that has two separate off shoots growing to the side. It has crowded the planter. I would like to take them out and replant without destroying the original and leaving room for the geraniums and lobelia to grow.

Any suggestions and advice is much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Adding photos for clarity.

 

Whether or not you remove the side shoots, your dracaena is becoming a large plant and is outgrowing the container it is growing in now. It may be worthwhile to move it, side shoots and all into a new, larger and deeper pot with perhaps enough room for a few smaller plants around the circumference. It certainly does look healthy!

 

Your plant is Cordyline australis. Except in the very mildest sites near salt water these have a tendency to lose the main top to cold and start over from the base periodically north of Coos Bay. This can be a gradual rather than abrupt process, for instance one I drive by frequently here on Whidbey Island has a taller central stem with leaves that are discolored. In combination with a couple basal sprouts that look a good green. When these plants do this it is always a signal that the older, middle part is on the way out. So I would be loathe to remove basal sprouts.

 

Thank you both for the replies. My goal from an aesthetic point is to have one Dracaenia in the middle with enough room for the 2 geraniums & lobelia to grow & be seen. So what should I do with the existing planter as I have a patio container garden & no room for a larger planter.
Thanks so much for your consideration.

 

Hi @Ron B. Segueing here a bit. I have a Cordyline australis (identified by @wendy Cutler a couple of years ago). It had bloomed then for the first time in our 13 years here and I think must have been several years old when we arrived. Age now: probably at least 20 years.

Well, it's blooming again this year and, unlike the first time, it smells AWFUL! I would go out to the area of the garden where it is and wonder where on earth that stink was coming from but it took a couple of weeks to narrow it down. Do you know if the smell I hate may be lovely to other noses or if the smell varies from year to year? I didn't see any reason to get rid of the plant before (and think it could be quite a challenge) but now I'm wondering if it's worth its keep.

 

I don't know, Margot. Cordyline australis - Wikipedia says "The flowers produce a sweet perfume which attracts large numbers of insects".
You might have to change your attitude. :)
Also, if you're going hijack the original poster's thread, you have to answer her second question, what to replace the Cordyline with.

@bella_rs, I have some ornamental flax plant that hasn't expanded beyond its one stem, nor has it grown much in its planter. Sort of purple leaves. Maybe a friend would like the cordyline.

 

Sorry, but I did not see the question about what to replace the Cordyline with - perhaps @bella_rs and I were both composing our messages simultaneously.

Dracaenas are often used for such plantings and I assumed that's what OP said it was . . . so why not get a Dracaena marginata which should grow a little less enthusiastically than the majestic Cordyline.

PS @wendy Cutler - though we all know Wikipedia is never mistaken, I beg to differ with it about the smell of Cordyline australis.

 

And what in the winter - dispose of it along with the annuals? Or else it would need to come in for the winter.

PS Margot - note that I'm @wcutler. User name wendy is someone else.

 

I am so sorry! I didn't realize!

Yes - many 'annuals' are perennials in warmer climates . . . why not treat dracaena the same? Either bring indoors or compost.

 

thanks for the suggestion, however what do I do to create space in the exisiting planter for my geraniums & lobelia? Any ideas?

 

We suggested giving the existing plant away (maybe your building would like it in their landscape, or a friend would like to plant it out) and starting over with something that doesn't take up so much room). Two suggestions were to use a real dracaena or some kind of flax that doesn't spread much.

 

Here in western Washington both red- and green-leaved Cordyline australis plants in 4 in. pots can be had cheaply pretty much anywhere bedding plants are sold. The green ones may often be seen presented under the apparently made up moniker "'Spikes' dracaena". So presumably all you have to do is periodically replace yours, just as you are buying new flowering annuals for your planter every year. (And it may also be the case that your existing Cordyline originated in the first place as a small inexpensive specimen you bought for use as a summer annual as well).

As for the other issue of the smell of the flowers not being liked surely it is simply a matter of cutting out and discarding the unwanted inflorescences.

 

It wouldn't be difficult but, like cutting all the flowers off a rose bush, there wouldn't be too much left to warrant keeping the thing in the garden. I'll give it some serious thought. So far I've left it be because I've got nothing else in mind to replace it with and - after being there so long, I figure it's earned it's keep in a sense.

 

Rose bushes aren't evergreen foliage plants. And as your picture shows very well Cordyline australis flower plumes tend to pop out of the sides of the leaf tufts rather awkwardly here and there, so that removing them would actually enhance the visual impact of the remaining growth rather than diminish it.

 

You are being very reasonable and objective while I am looking at the plant from my own narrow point of view. I actually find the flowers quite charming and think the plant without them is a bit of any eyesore, especially with dead leaves always hanging down and dropping. As I said though, I respect its right to live since it has been there for a long time so I've decided to put up with the smell and try to appreciate its 'architectural' qualities.

 

Thanks for your suggestions

 

I prefer the red ones myself such as 'Red Star' however these are even less hardy than the typical green Cordyline australis. I have seen something about hybridity being involved with the red which would explain the hardiness difference. And those instances where the leaves are broader.