whats the cold hardiness of crotons

[Josh-O]

I was wondering what Crotons are cold hardy down to 27-32F. Or if any at all? Looking forward to your feed back.

 

[Sandy Loam]

Hey Josh -- I suspect that you're about to receive dozens from responses from the croton experts, but I am not one of them. I only know about one type of croton because I only have one croton in the garden.  It is a Coton "Mammie" and it does not seem to suffer damage in my climate.  You can probably grow many types of crotons in your region (warmer winters than mine), but I leave it to the experts.  For the past three winters, my croton "mammie" has seen the following minimum lows (one night) and was undamaged:

2014-2015:  26 F

2013-2014:  27 F

2012-2013:  26 F

"Mammie" crotons are interesting-looking, colourful, and seem to be available fairly often at the big box garden retailers.

Good luck!

Edited November 17, 2015 by Sandy Loam

[Sandy Loam]

Having said this, I am willing to bet that if my temperatures had dropped half a degree colder, that croton would have been quite damaged but would have recovered in the spring.

[Matthew92]

That's interesting. I just recently heard on another forum that someone was testing multiple varieties and their Mammie wimped out at a far higher temp than all the rest (it was not that much below freezing if I remember right).

I do notice that in all the landscaping at Disney where I see a lot of borderline plants, they aren't used in ground. Don't know if that necessarily means there is too much of a risk of burn that far north, but still interesting considering the "zone pushing" I see there regularly.

Edited November 17, 2015 by Opal92

[Josh-O]

On 11/17/2015, 3:00:14, Sandy Loam said:

Hey Josh -- I suspect that you're about to receive dozens from responses from the croton experts, but I am not one of them. I only know about one type of croton because I only have one croton in the garden.  It is a Coton "Mammie" and it does not seem to suffer damage in my climate.  You can probably grow many types of crotons in your region (warmer winters than mine), but I leave it to the experts.  For the past three winters, my croton "mammie" has seen the following minimum lows (one night) and was undamaged:

2014-2015:  26 F

2013-2014:  27 F

2012-2013:  26 F

"Mammie" crotons are interesting-looking, colourful, and seem to be available fairly often at the big box garden retailers.

Good luck!

wow! I just looked at this species on the web and they are gorgeous!! 

Great suggestion

[_Keith]

Maybe I can grow a Croton afterall, well for a few years at least.

[Josh-O]

19 minutes ago, _Keith said:

Maybe I can grow a Croton afterall, well for a few years at least.

have you tried? I'm guessing yes??

[Tampa Scott]

On ‎11‎/‎17‎/‎2015‎ ‎5‎:‎17‎:‎51‎, Josh-O said:

I was wondering what Crotons are cold hardy down to 27-32F. Or if any at all? Looking forward to your feed back.

 

 You are in the same low threshold of temps that visit my area of central FL. Stay away from the very thin leaf plants ( Piecrust, Zanzibar and the like)  and you should be fine if you keep the frost off of them by covering or planting in protected areas of the garden. You may experience some leaf drop in the cold but they will survive.

   

Edited November 19, 2015 by Tampa Scott

[Sandy Loam]

Wow, TampaScott.  Is that a picture or your landscaping or someone else's?  My compliments.  That's some serious colour. 

[Josh-O]

8 hours ago, Tampa Scott said:

 You are in the same low threshold of temps that visit my area of central FL. Stay away from the very thin leaf plants ( Piecrust, Zanzibar and the like)  and you should be fine if you keep the frost off of them by covering or planting in protected areas of the garden. You may experience some leaf drop in the cold but they will survive.

   

Whoa!! That's some great color in your garden. Complete awesomeness

[Tampa Scott]

Thanks for the compliments. After the palms grew up a bit I decided I needed color to compliment the  palms.

 I should have also noted that all the green and yellow leaf Crotons have been unfazed by the cold. I do cover them with frost cloth  if they are at the edge of my canopy if a frost is forecast.

[Eric in Orlando]

I have never really noticed any difference in cold hardiness between the different cultivars of Crotons over the years. But after the long cool/cold winter of 2009-10 there sure was a difference in cool hardiness. Some like 'Magnificent' and 'Purity' were super sensitive and died or were severely injured. while others like 'General Paget' and 'Stoplight' weren't bothered.

 

 

 

[Ben in Norcal]

So, what do we think the lowest temperature one or more cultivars can handle then?  If there was a type good down to 30 degrees, I'd have a shot here.  

[Bazza]

I tend to use the Mammy variety more than other varieties because it seems to be the strongest - including cold hardiness. That said - we lost quite a few around here in those 3 straight "bad" years ('08-'10).

One thing I have noticed on cold damaged plants is once the cold weather is gone and Spring arrives it takes quite a while to get some new sprouts. The best approach is to NOT do any pruning until they have an opportunity to flush back out. It's surprising how well they recover if just left alone. That time period could be 30 days or more behind other plants like Hibiscus that are affected by cold.

The Eleanore Roosevelt (Sloppy Painter) variety is also a very strong performer.

Also, in designing if you can use them where they will be sheltered such as under a tree or large shrub canopy, you will achieve some built in protection for them. And many varieties actually benefit in color and leaf size from some partial shade.

 

[Sandy Loam]

Further to Bazza's comment about planting crotons beneath a tree canopy, shade has not caused mine to lose any colour.

I recently saw several large croton "mammy" growing in New Orleans, but I don't know whether they have been there for years or were recently planted.  If they survive winter in New Orleans unscathed, they should be capable of handling occasional lows of 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[Ben in Norcal]

19 minutes ago, Sandy Loam said:

Further to Bazza's comment about planting crotons beneath a tree canopy, shade has not caused mine to lose any colour.

I recently saw several large croton "mammy" growing in New Orleans, but I don't know whether they have been there for years or were recently planted.  If they survive winter in New Orleans unscathed, they should be capable of handling occasional lows of 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Huh - yeah, I'm warmer than NOLA.  My average temps are actually a little lower, but I'm pretty sure our absolute lows aren't as severe.  Anyone else have any triangulation points?

Saw some nice "mammy" crotons at my local nursery and was tempted to give them a shot.  They are decent size though, so not super cheap.

[Sandy Loam]

Here, croton "mammy" turns up in the big box nurseries every once in a while in that $12 size.  They are not a hard-to-findplant here because the Homestead, FL nursery suppliers create a steady flow of all things that grow.  I hope you can find them in a cheaper, smaller 3 gallon size because they are a plant that really "pops" if you need colour.

[Ben in Norcal]

18 minutes ago, Sandy Loam said:

Here, croton "mammy" turns up in the big box nurseries every once in a while in that $12 size.  They are not a hard-to-findplant here because the Homestead, FL nursery suppliers create a steady flow of all things that grow.  I hope you can find them in a cheaper, smaller 3 gallon size because they are a plant that really "pops" if you need colour.

Sandy - British, Canadian, or what?  That's not the first time I've noticed you using proper spelling convention. 

Sounds like "mammy" may be worth a try!

[Sandy Loam]

 

I agree. The colour is hard to beat.

Oops, I've done it again. Yeah, I have lived in the U.S. for a decade now, but I didn't grow up here and it's hard to force myself to spell "colour" without the "u". ...or "neighbour" or "centre", etc. the American way. Since this is an international forum anyway, I figure that I'll just go with whatever comes naturally. After all, there is only one country on the planet which spells "colour" without the "u".

Edited November 26, 2015 by Sandy Loam
.

[Ben in Norcal]

LOL.  I'm half-and-half (British and American) - and spent a decade in the UK right out of college.  So I sometimes slip into old habits!

[_Keith]

On 11/18/2015, 11:55:42, Josh-O said:

have you tried? I'm guessing yes??

Yep, tried a few of them.   Well, killed a few of them is a more accurate description.

[Josh-O]

7 hours ago, _Keith said:

Yep, tried a few of them.   Well, killed a few of them is a more accurate description.

at least you gave it a try  

[Moose]

Once they get established, there is an increase in hardiness. Slow growers should be avoided. A plant over 5 years old is much tougher than one planted out only a year

[RedRabbit]

Mine were defoliated from the freeze. Will they bounce back or are they just dead? They came with the house and I don't have any experience with crotons.

[Moose]

Plenty of crotons in Tampa, home of The International Croton Society. They are defoliated, keep them hydrated, the warm weather will pop new leaves