Cordyline

Cordyline is the spike. A fountain of narrow sword leaves, bronze-red in ‘Red Star’ and ‘Red Sensation’, gives a planter a center and a shape before anything else fills in. It looks the same in June as it does in October, which is more than we can say for most things in a summer pot. The young, trunkless plants at the nursery are what go in a planter, not the 30-foot trees they become in New Zealand.

In the Upstate

NC State lists it as hardy in zones 9 to 11. Greenville is 8a, and a pot runs a zone colder still, so an Upstate winter is a gamble it usually loses outdoors. Some people bring the pot into a garage or a bright room from November to April, which NC State says works. If you leave it out, count it as a one-season plant and be pleasantly surprised if it makes it. Summer is easy: it takes heat, wind, and a missed watering better than most.

In a container

It is the height and the structure in the pot, the thing you build the rest around. As sold it is a trunkless fountain of leaves. NC State notes a container plant slowly forms a trunk and can reach 15 feet over many years, so it is a long-term plant only if you overwinter it. It has a taproot and wants a deep pot. Water when the top inch of mix is dry, and keep it evenly moist through July. It does not need swapping mid-season.

Care

Water steadily in summer and much less if you bring it inside for winter. Feed with a slow-release at planting. Pull off the lower leaves as they brown, which they will, one at a time from the bottom. Watch for mealybugs and spider mites on an indoor plant. The one thing that kills it here is a hard freeze in a pot left outside.