Cordyline banksii Electric Flash - Cabbage Tree

Cordyline banksii 'Electric Flash' is a hybrid variety of cordyline with contrasting foliage in unusual colours, both dark and electric! This trunkless bush strongly resembles Phormiums and develops several upright to arching clumps of ribbon-like foliage. With a purple-brown colour, edged and streaked with cream-yellow and light olive green, the leaves offer vibrant and modern colours all year round. It is compact, it only reaches 1.5m (5ft) in all directions, so is suitable for small gardens and pot cultivation. Its fragrant summer flowering with long panicles of trailing small cream-white flowers, is equally decorative. It is a tender plant that withstands sea spray, heat, and drought and prefers moist soils. Use it to add an exotic touch to a coastal garden bed or in a pot on a sunny terrace.

Cordyline banksii is a perennial tree-like plant from the agave family endemic to New Zealand. In nature, this plant only reaches a height of 3-4m (10ft in-13ft) and forms an erect and bushy shrub with a barely visible trunk, branching very little and never thinning out unlike its cousin, Cordyline australis. Cordyline banksii is found in diverse habitats but is generally found on the coast and in low-altitude mountains. It therefore tolerates coastal conditions, combining sea spray, heat, and drought, as well as cooler oceanic climates. It thrives in well-drained, normal, slightly fertile soils, not too dry but moist.

The 'Electric Flash' variety is a Chinese horticultural creation by Krishna Bhuvanendra Kumar in Zhejiang in 2008. It is distinguished by its light foliage, streaked and bordered with cream-yellow and olive-green shades, grey-green on the underside.  Slow-growing, this variety will reach 1.5m (5ft) in all directions. Its leaves are long and narrow, sword-shaped, pointed and slightly arched, and measure 40 to 90 cm (16in to 35in) length and 3 to 7 cm (1in to 3in) in width at the base. They have numerous parallel veins and are richly coloured. Flowering occurs from September to October on mature plants. Each branch can develop once it has produced a flower stalk. The small cream-white flowers are honey-scented and delicately fragrant and carried by large dense panicles measuring 60 to 100 cm (24in to 39in) in length. The fruit is a white rounded berry measuring 5 to 7 mm (0.2in to 0.3in) in diameter and is highly appreciated by birds.

Resistant to wind and sea spray, it is a good plant for coastal areas. The Cordyline 'Electric Flash' can be planted in the centre of a flower bed, in a pot on a balcony or terrace, or in the ground in gardens with coastal climates. It can withstand temperatures down to -5°C (23°F), allowing it to be grown anywhere in a large pot that can be moved from the terrace to the conservatory in winter. In pots, it is necessary to pay close attention to watering and feeding. This remarkable plant, along with banana trees, proteas, cannas, Grevillea, bamboo, giant miscanthus, or castor oil plants, will bring a truly exotic aspect to our gardens and terraces. Consider combining its fairly light foliage with the bright blue spikes of the  Viperine of Madeira or the almond green and purple foliage of Pittosporum 'Tom Thumb'.