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April Gardening Tips
The temperatures are rising, the birds are singing and the sun is shining- Spring is here! The weather, rather than the calendar, dictate when to start working in your garden.
April 1, 2024
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Colorize Your Home for Fall with Creative Crotons
As the seasons change, sprinkle some color into your home with crotons. Known for their bold colors, crotons are beautiful tropical plants that can splash the vibrant fall color for indoors and outdoors.
With beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow, pink, purple, green and white, crotons are great additions to the garden – indoors or outdoors. Special note: crotons are tropical plants so they won’t survive a Michigan winter outdoors. Enjoy them for the fall and plan to bring them inside before the first frost hits (usually mid-October.)
Our Croton Crew
We carry several varieties of crotons, including:
- Croton Petra – Petra has upright leaves with variegated veins. Petra does well as an indoor plant, but needs bright light from a south-facing window to maintain its natural vibrant color.
- Croton Curly – True to its name, Curly has foliage that twists and curls to provide incredible texture to accent any landscape or container.
- Croton Magnificent – Magnificent adds an accent to the home and garden with brightly colored leaves. The young leaves are mottled yellow and green and change to bright red and orange as they get older.
- Croton Picasso’s Paintbrush – This grass-like croton will add a thrilling texture to your garden and containers.
- Croton Mammy – While the foliage on Curly twists, the foliage of Mammy waves.
- Croton Fantasy Standard – The Croton Fantasy Standard is a tree-form croton. The foliage resembles that of Petra with a spikier and variegated texture.
Decorate with Crotons
As houseplants, crotons add texture and color to dull interiors. Croton Petra is the best type of croton to use indoors because it stays brightly colored in indoor light conditions. Place Croton Petras around windows to keep its colors vibrant.
Crotons are great in the garden or containers. It’s a great time of year to refresh your summer containers with fall plants like ornamental grasses, mums and kale. Crotons will add a burst of color when mixed with these plants.
Crotons grow best in full sun, but many can tolerate, and even prefer, partial shade. Crotons are most attractive when grown in groups. They’re a great accent to green in the garden, or as a drizzle of color in containers.
Croton Care
- In containers, use a good quality potting mix that provides adequate water drainage.
- When planted in the garden, place them 2 to 3 feet apart.
- Water crotons frequently, but allow the soil to completely dry between waterings. New foliage will wilt when thirsty. Try not to let that happen, because it causes unnecessary stress to the plant.
- Plants indoors may become dusty over time. Take them outside occasionally and gently hose them off with a light spray of water.
- Bright sunlight will maximize croton colors. For outdoor crotons, full or shifting sun is ideal. Acclimated indoor plants respond well to medium light and will still provide continuous color.
- Be on the look-out for changes in leaf texture, which is usually a sign of stress from disease or insects. If you suspect a problem, bring in a sample and our experts will give you a “plantscription” for their care.
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