Hi there,

When we moved into our house two years ago, there were small (like a foot
tall) green plants with spikey leaves in the front garden, which the
previous owners had recently planted.

Two years later, these small plants are now about 7-8 foot tall or more!
I'm
just trying to find out what the name of the plant is, and whether anyone
can ID it from a photo?

My Mum has a gardening book, and our plant looks similar to something called
'Dragon Tree' (or 'Dracaena'), but our plant doesn't have a trunk as such,
but has leaves sprouting from it from the ground up, so I thought this might
be a slightly different species?

The photo can be found he http://tinyurl.com/q5gjt

From the ID, I hope to find out how tall it grows, and about whether it can
be dug up and replanted elsewhere in the garden (that doesn't block the
living room window!), or even in a large plant pot (I doubt it though!).

Thanks for any help,

Stephen

"ste-m" wrote in message

When we moved into our house two years ago, there were small (like a
foot
tall) green plants with spikey leaves in the front garden,

I'd say it's a Yucca. It would grow into a multibranched "tree" in a
warm climate but you could cut off the top and replant that in a pot
or move the whole thing while it's still small. Tough as old boots.

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "ste-m" contains these words:

Hi there,

When we moved into our house two years ago, there were small (like a foot
tall) green plants with spikey leaves in the front garden, which the
previous owners had recently planted.

Two years later, these small plants are now about 7-8 foot tall or more!


My Mum has a gardening book, and our plant looks similar to something
called
'Dragon Tree' (or 'Dracaena'), but our plant doesn't have a trunk as
such,
but has leaves sprouting from it from the ground up, so I thought this
might
be a slightly different species?

The photo can be found he http://tinyurl.com/q5gjt

Dracaena isn't hardy enough to have survived winters, and yucca
(which is) is rather slowgrowing in the UK.

From the pic, description and speed of growth, I think it's cordyline
australis, aka "cabbage palm". and "Torquay palm". They aren't cabbages
or palms but a lot of them grow in Torquay, and mature trees have the
exotic look of a palm.

If so, starting in a year or so the lower leaves will die and drop off
successively , leaving a bare very fibrous rough textured "trunk" with a
big head of fresh leaves at the top (and huge heads of tiny honey
scented flowers in summer) . They do grow fast in mild areas , I think
the tallest one here is around 40 ft . Higher than that and they tend to
get snapped by gales and start regrowing from the base.

However, you can easily keep them to a more manageable size by just
cutting off the trunk. New, multiple heads will sprout from below, often
making a branched plant with multiple heads. I don't think you're going
to want either shape growing that close to a window, unless the view out
is truly awful :-), and I wouldn't want the roots that close to the
house walls.

Moving them is hard work because even young plants quickly send out
enormous root systems. I moved two unwanted 5-footers from a neighbour's
garden to mine last year and it took two of us a good half day. One
died immediately, the other died at the top but the base resprouted this
spring and now has 5 strong new heads growing from the base.

If you just want an easy way out, you could saw it off at ground
level and apply a stump killer.

Janet.(Isle of Arran)

I will go with cordyline as well but if it's a cordyline then I don't think
it is australis because the leaves look a tad too broad. It certainly seems
to have a very thick trunk for an australis at this stage of growth and I
would have thought that the lower leaves would have died by now. Cordyline
indivisa perhaps.
Incidentally the word Dracaena gets used for cordylines and it is incorrect
but widely used.
"This tree was formerly called 'dracaena' - whence 'Dracaena Avenue' in
Falmouth in Cornwall"
http://www.habitas.org.uk/gardenflora/cordyline1.htm

Having said all that the taxonomy of these things seems a bit confusing.
Every time I see a Cordyline it looks slightly different to the last one I
saw,broader leaf, different rib colour or shade etc. I think there has been
a massive promiscuous going on at some stage:-)

In reply to ste-m ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

It's not a dracanea, it's not a yukka, it's not a cordyline d'australie, but
it's a cordyline dracaenoides.

HTH

Unc

"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...
"ste-m" wrote in message

When we moved into our house two years ago, there were small (like a
foot
tall) green plants with spikey leaves in the front garden,

I'd say it's a Yucca. It would grow into a multibranched "tree" in a
warm climate but you could cut off the top and replant that in a pot
or move the whole thing while it's still small. Tough as old boots.

Thanks for that - tough as old boots, so I guess the roots will be tough
too! Might have to get help with this one!

Stephen

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "ste-m" contains these words:

snip

The photo can be found he http://tinyurl.com/q5gjt

Dracaena isn't hardy enough to have survived winters, and yucca
(which is) is rather slowgrowing in the UK.

From the pic, description and speed of growth, I think it's cordyline
australis, aka "cabbage palm". and "Torquay palm". They aren't cabbages
or palms but a lot of them grow in Torquay, and mature trees have the
exotic look of a palm.

Thanks for this, it certainly looks exotic!


If so, starting in a year or so the lower leaves will die and drop off
successively , leaving a bare very fibrous rough textured "trunk" with a
big head of fresh leaves at the top (and huge heads of tiny honey
scented flowers in summer) . They do grow fast in mild areas , I think
the tallest one here is around 40 ft . Higher than that and they tend to
get snapped by gales and start regrowing from the base.

40ft? Blimey! Like having a Leylandi in front of the house! :-S I've just
took some better pictures and it looks as though the lower leaves are
already starting to go brown and die off.


However, you can easily keep them to a more manageable size by just
cutting off the trunk. New, multiple heads will sprout from below, often
making a branched plant with multiple heads. I don't think you're going
to want either shape growing that close to a window, unless the view out
is truly awful :-), and I wouldn't want the roots that close to the
house walls.

The view isn't bad, but look out it's like a scene from Jack and the
Beanstalk! :-)


Moving them is hard work because even young plants quickly send out
enormous root systems. I moved two unwanted 5-footers from a neighbour's
garden to mine last year and it took two of us a good half day. One
died immediately, the other died at the top but the base resprouted this
spring and now has 5 strong new heads growing from the base.

If you just want an easy way out, you could saw it off at ground
level and apply a stump killer.

Janet.(Isle of Arran)

Thanks Janet,

Stephen

"Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" wrote in message
...

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "ste-m" contains these words:

snip
From the pic, description and speed of growth, I think it's cordyline
australis, aka "cabbage palm". and "Torquay palm". They aren't cabbages
or palms but a lot of them grow in Torquay, and mature trees have the
exotic look of a palm.

If so, starting in a year or so the lower leaves will die and drop off
successively , leaving a bare very fibrous rough textured "trunk" with a
big head of fresh leaves at the top (and huge heads of tiny honey
scented flowers in summer) . They do grow fast in mild areas , I think
the tallest one here is around 40 ft . Higher than that and they tend to
get snapped by gales and start regrowing from the base.

However, you can easily keep them to a more manageable size by just
cutting off the trunk. New, multiple heads will sprout from below, often
making a branched plant with multiple heads. I don't think you're going
to want either shape growing that close to a window, unless the view out
is truly awful :-), and I wouldn't want the roots that close to the
house walls.

Moving them is hard work because even young plants quickly send out
enormous root systems. I moved two unwanted 5-footers from a neighbour's
garden to mine last year and it took two of us a good half day. One
died immediately, the other died at the top but the base resprouted this
spring and now has 5 strong new heads growing from the base.

If you just want an easy way out, you could saw it off at ground
level and apply a stump killer.

Janet.(Isle of Arran)

I will go with cordyline as well but if it's a cordyline then I don't
think it is australis because the leaves look a tad too broad. It
certainly seems to have a very thick trunk for an australis at this stage
of growth and I would have thought that the lower leaves would have died
by now. Cordyline indivisa perhaps.
Incidentally the word Dracaena gets used for cordylines and it is
incorrect but widely used.
"This tree was formerly called 'dracaena' - whence 'Dracaena Avenue' in
Falmouth in Cornwall"
http://www.habitas.org.uk/gardenflora/cordyline1.htm

Having said all that the taxonomy of these things seems a bit confusing.
Every time I see a Cordyline it looks slightly different to the last one I
saw,broader leaf, different rib colour or shade etc. I think there has
been a massive promiscuous going on at some stage:-)

Thanks for that Rupert - I saw a similar looking plant in Tesco a few days
ago and I think that was a Cordline, but as it has distinct yellow markings
in the centre of the leaves, I thought it wouldn't be; but as you say, they
seem to come in all colours and varieties.

Thanks,

Stephen

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...
In reply to ste-m ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

It's not a dracanea, it's not a yukka, it's not a cordyline d'australie,
but it's a cordyline dracaenoides.

HTH

Unc

Thanks Unc - that's quite a few similar suggestions I've got now - I'm just
going to upload the better pictures so we can clear this up once and for
all!

Thanks,

Stephen

Hi there,

Sorry for the tiny picture I included below, it wasn't very useful for a
clear ID, and as such, I've had 3-4 different suggestions.

To clear this up, I've just been in the garden and have took a few more
photos, so hopefully, you won't mind taking another look and confirming the
name of it?

http://tinyurl.com/r225r - Full picture

http://tinyurl.com/pklgd - Picture of the centre section

http://tinyurl.com/mztz8 - Picture of the base section

Thanks for all your help, it's appreciated.

Stephen



"ste-m" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

When we moved into our house two years ago, there were small (like a foot
tall) green plants with spikey leaves in the front garden, which the
previous owners had recently planted.

Two years later, these small plants are now about 7-8 foot tall or more!
I'm
just trying to find out what the name of the plant is, and whether anyone
can ID it from a photo?

My Mum has a gardening book, and our plant looks similar to something
called
'Dragon Tree' (or 'Dracaena'), but our plant doesn't have a trunk as such,
but has leaves sprouting from it from the ground up, so I thought this
might be a slightly different species?

The photo can be found he http://tinyurl.com/q5gjt

From the ID, I hope to find out how tall it grows, and about whether it
can be dug up and replanted elsewhere in the garden (that doesn't block
the living room window!), or even in a large plant pot (I doubt it
though!).

Thanks for any help,

Stephen

On 6/10/06 14:29, in article , "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)"
wrote:

snip
I will go with cordyline as well but if it's a cordyline then I don't think
it is australis because the leaves look a tad too broad. It certainly seems
to have a very thick trunk for an australis at this stage of growth and I
would have thought that the lower leaves would have died by now. Cordyline
indivisa perhaps.
Incidentally the word Dracaena gets used for cordylines and it is incorrect
but widely used.
"This tree was formerly called 'dracaena' - whence 'Dracaena Avenue' in
Falmouth in Cornwall"
http://www.habitas.org.uk/gardenflora/cordyline1.htm

Having said all that the taxonomy of these things seems a bit confusing.
Every time I see a Cordyline it looks slightly different to the last one I
saw,broader leaf, different rib colour or shade etc. I think there has been
a massive promiscuous going on at some stage:-)

The Torbay Palm or cabbage palm has a clear trunk as far as I know. I don't
think they ever have leaves going all the way to the ground. David Poole
will know better than I but I don't recall seeing them like this one.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

On 6/10/06 17:02, in article , "Sacha"
wrote:

On 6/10/06 14:29, in article , "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)"
wrote:

snip
I will go with cordyline as well but if it's a cordyline then I don't think
it is australis because the leaves look a tad too broad. It certainly seems
to have a very thick trunk for an australis at this stage of growth and I
would have thought that the lower leaves would have died by now. Cordyline
indivisa perhaps.
Incidentally the word Dracaena gets used for cordylines and it is incorrect
but widely used.
"This tree was formerly called 'dracaena' - whence 'Dracaena Avenue' in
Falmouth in Cornwall"
http://www.habitas.org.uk/gardenflora/cordyline1.htm

Having said all that the taxonomy of these things seems a bit confusing.
Every time I see a Cordyline it looks slightly different to the last one I
saw,broader leaf, different rib colour or shade etc. I think there has been
a massive promiscuous going on at some stage:-)

The Torbay Palm or cabbage palm has a clear trunk as far as I know. I don't
think they ever have leaves going all the way to the ground. David Poole
will know better than I but I don't recall seeing them like this one.

Just one other thought, though almost certainly wrong. Could it be a
Cordyline indivisa?

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 6/10/06 17:02, in article , "Sacha"
wrote:

On 6/10/06 14:29, in article , "Rupert
(W.Yorkshire)"
wrote:

snip
I will go with cordyline as well but if it's a cordyline then I don't
think
it is australis because the leaves look a tad too broad. It certainly
seems
to have a very thick trunk for an australis at this stage of growth and
I
would have thought that the lower leaves would have died by now.
Cordyline
indivisa perhaps.
Incidentally the word Dracaena gets used for cordylines and it is
incorrect
but widely used.
"This tree was formerly called 'dracaena' - whence 'Dracaena Avenue' in
Falmouth in Cornwall"
http://www.habitas.org.uk/gardenflora/cordyline1.htm

Having said all that the taxonomy of these things seems a bit confusing.
Every time I see a Cordyline it looks slightly different to the last one
I
saw,broader leaf, different rib colour or shade etc. I think there has
been
a massive promiscuous going on at some stage:-)

The Torbay Palm or cabbage palm has a clear trunk as far as I know. I
don't
think they ever have leaves going all the way to the ground. David Poole
will know better than I but I don't recall seeing them like this one.

Just one other thought, though almost certainly wrong. Could it be a
Cordyline indivisa?

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Rupert also thinks it might be indivisa --a few lines back in this post. He
is probably wrong.:-)

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Rupert \(W.Yorkshire\)" contains these words:



I will go with cordyline as well but if it's a cordyline then I don't
think
it is australis because the leaves look a tad too broad. It certainly
seems
to have a very thick trunk for an australis at this stage of growth and I
would have thought that the lower leaves would have died by now.
Cordyline
indivisa perhaps.

I have what the nursery grower claimed was a seedling cordyline
indivisa, (have to say, his labelling is not great). It has much broader
leaves than the OP's pic, the underneaths are a powdery blue . But it's
a slow thing and certainly hasn't make the rapid growth of the OP's, (
still barely 2 ft tall with no trunk, after 2 years)

snip
Janet.

I think on this occasion his labelling is correct. It sounds exactly like a
pukka indivisa unlike the one I bought last week from Homebase labelled as
such. Nice wide leaves but missing the obligatory blue - a bargain which is
to be planted in wet shade as an experiment:-)

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 6/10/06 18:54, in article , "Rupert
(W.Yorkshire)"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 6/10/06 17:02, in article , "Sacha"
wrote:

On 6/10/06 14:29, in article , "Rupert
(W.Yorkshire)"
wrote:

snip
I will go with cordyline as well but if it's a cordyline then I don't
think
it is australis because the leaves look a tad too broad. It certainly
seems
to have a very thick trunk for an australis at this stage of growth
and
I
would have thought that the lower leaves would have died by now.
Cordyline
indivisa perhaps.
snip

Just one other thought, though almost certainly wrong. Could it be a
Cordyline indivisa?

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Rupert also thinks it might be indivisa --a few lines back in this post.
He
is probably wrong.:-)


Whoops, sorry! I didn't see that and I should have.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

I do not believe you.You were trying to steal my moment of Glory:-)

On 6/10/06 18:54, in article , "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 6/10/06 17:02, in article , "Sacha"
wrote:

On 6/10/06 14:29, in article , "Rupert
(W.Yorkshire)"
wrote:

snip
I will go with cordyline as well but if it's a cordyline then I don't
think
it is australis because the leaves look a tad too broad. It certainly
seems
to have a very thick trunk for an australis at this stage of growth and
I
would have thought that the lower leaves would have died by now.
Cordyline
indivisa perhaps.
snip

Just one other thought, though almost certainly wrong. Could it be a
Cordyline indivisa?

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Rupert also thinks it might be indivisa --a few lines back in this post. He
is probably wrong.:-)


Whoops, sorry! I didn't see that and I should have.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/