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Cordyline australis 'Torbay Red' AGM

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© RHS

Characteristics

Plant type

Tree

Habit

Bushy

Fragrance

Flower

Resilience

Hardiness

H3 (half hardy - unheated greenhouse/mild winter)

Colour

Flower

Cream in Summer

Foliage

Dark Bronze and Dark Red in Autumn, Spring, Summer and Winter

Fruit

White in Autumn

Size

Ultimate height

2.5-4 metres

Ultimate spread

1-1.5 metres

Time to ultimate height

2-5 years


Preferred common name

cabbage tree 'Torbay Red'

Family

Asparagaceae


Cordyline are palm-like evergreen shrubs or tree-like perennials, with rosettes or tufts of linear or anrrowly lance-shaped, leathery leaves, and terminal panicles of fragrant, cup-shaped flowers followed by small. spherical berries

'Torbay Red' is a small evergreen tree with a stem bearing a dense tuft of leathery, deep bronze-red, sword-shaped leaves to 75cm long and, when mature, large panicles of tiny, fragrant cream flowers

How to grow

Sunlight

  • Full sun
  • Part shade

Aspect

  • South-facing or East-facing
  • Sheltered

Cultivation

Grow in well-drained soil in a sheltered position in full sun or partial shade

Soil

  • Well-drained or Moist but well-drained
  • Acid, Alkaline or Neutral
  • Sand, Clay, Chalk or Loam

Propagation

Propagate from suckers

Suggested planting locations and garden types

City/Courtyard Gardens, Coastal, Cottage/Informal Garden, Flower borders and beds or Patio/Container Plants


How to care

Pruning

Not usually pruned

Pests

May be attacked by scale insects and glasshouse red spider mite

Diseases

May be affected by Cordyline slime flux