Cordyline Calamity

Following the long spell of very cold weather we had in December, one of my cordylines (a Torbay Dazzler) seems to have suffered. The crown has died back and it generally looks a little sorry for itself. Does this have a chance of coming back in the spring? It is in a large planter.

TIA

 

As JWK says, even if the growing point is dead, Cordylines frequently sprout again from the base. If more cold weather is forecast, though, I'd make sure the pot and stem are wrapped to protect against further damage.

 

Hi

can you put in a frost free space for now as left outside the compost in the pot will freeze as well .. plus we are due another very cold snap today onwards ... it might be ok and grow back but another hit of cold may kill it outright

 

Does the stem feel spongy right at the base?
I'd guess the pot would have been frozen right through if the cold was anything like it was down here.

It's probably got a slim chance of making a comeback but could be a couple of years before you have anything decent to look at.

 

Lots of people reporting damaged cordylines, even the plain green ones that are growing in the ground and pretty big.
I've seen some damaged Phormiums around here as well.
My cordylines look ok at the moment but they are just the green ones, I've got a couple in pots, one a red leaved variety and a slower growing green slightly wider leaved version, but I put those in the garage for the duration of the cold weather, they are back in there now.

I could kick myself as on the first night of the freeze I left my Leucospermum out in a sheltered position with just fleece over it.
I've lost the tips of 60% of the shoots where they were touching the fleece, and the small flower buds that were in the tips of those shoots are now falling off.

 

Well I confidently left lots in the outer part of my glasshouse... The death toll is going to be bad. Things I thought were ok are now getting greyer and leaves are falling off. As with cordyline, you just have to hope enough dormant buds survived. In the horrendous winter 2010, with weeks of negative temps (rural Notts) my cordyline seemed to die. It took months before the basal bud started showing itself, and then grew on strongly.

 

My Cordylines also died back to the ground in 2010, well two did but one big one survived untouched, the ones that sprouted from the base grew lots of new shoots and looked like a big tuft of grass, I managed to get them down to one shoot each, but because other shrubs were by then crowding them in the new stems are fairly spindly, I'm not sure whey they haven't broken off as they are only 3ins in diameter and about 15ft tall.

 

Unless it rots away completely it could be quite a while before it comes back from below ground. I would give it at least 9 months and then probably leave it tucked away out of sight until May/June 2024

 

Thanks all for the advice, even the prognosis is terminal. I don't have a space big enough to store 3 of them over winter, although next year I will lag the stem as advised.
My stepdaughters have succumbed as well as one of friends. So the garden centres are going to be busy this spring!
Another cold week forecast but it is only dipping to -2°c for two nights in the Northwest, hope it doesn't damage my other two cordys.

 

It always used to be advised to run a strap or cord around the leaves so they were gathered up over the growing point. A neighbour in Northants managed to get the ones in his front garden to 10 feet (with 12" trunks) doing that, by which time he couldn't reach the crowns anyway Must admit my plain green, multi-stemmed one in a south east-facing border came through the winter of 2010 unscathed. It must make quite a difference if they're pot grown.

 

My Sunrise and Dazzler look like they have gone, the growing point appears to be completely brown, both are about 8ft tall. I don't know whether they shoot from the base as the standard green Australis sometimes do. The Acacia has mostly defoliated and my Coprosma Lemon and Lime has died and the Fatsias look sick. There seems to be a lot of casualties from the December freeze.

 

Better late than never...
Decided to cover my sad looking Cordyline yesterday

 

Hope I'm not speaking too soon but I had a look round today and the Cordylines look ok, unless of course this current freeze kills them.



Washingtonia is not looking so good though.

 

Latest on my cordylines. The Torbay Dazzler is now in the compost bin.
Now my Cordy australis - the green ones. One is fine no damage. The other has lost its growing tip to the frost. I have removed about10 dead leaves, the rest of the plant looks fine. If a cordy loses its growing tip, is that it? Or could it recover?
Looking around our area, a lot of people have lost their cordys this winter.