Cordyline australis

Cordyline australis
Top left - very old cordylines growing in Logan Botanical Garden on the west coast of Scotland. Cordylines produce a branched flowering structure from within the crown of leaves, sometimes at a fairly young age when the plant is only 1.5 tall, the branches of the infloresence are covered in many small individual flowers that are heavily scented. Every time it flowers the crown develops a new shoot which will grow into a new branch, this results in the multi headed trees you can se in this photo.
Top right - at RGC we like to plant Cordylines in groups to make a bold statement. They are often seen planted individually where we think their compact habits can make them look a little lonely. These plants are the left hand side of a pair of cordyline clumps growing on each side of the steps leading to the 'Desert' in the Carribean Home From Home where they frame the entrance to this part of the garden. Cordylines are very useful for this kind of composition becuase they are architectural and also compact and upright, and their crowns are not broad like a tree's canopy could be, so they do not cast much shade. 
Right - Young Cordylines en masse. There is a red form in the background that we subsequntly found not to be a good variety. Care should be taken when buying young cordyline varieties with leaves that look red because later in life some of them can fade to become a rather muddy brown colour. We will feature some coloured forms seperately in the plant directory at a later date. For now we will recommend some 'safe' forms that will hold their colour; Cordylines 'Purple Sensation' and 'Cardinal' are strong purples and have red stripes in the leaves, C. 'Purple Tower' is a rich purple.
You can buy these and many other Cordylines at various sizes on line or at the nursery from Urban Jungle, see their link on our Resources Page. 

You can find Logan Botanical Garden and many other great gardens listed a really useful website - gardens-guide.com, essential for anyone who, like us, loves visiting gardens, see their link on our Resources Page. 
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Top left - this unusual viewpoint shows how some of the fast growing plants used by RGC can quickly make a different kind of garden environment - under a jungle canopy. A happy cordyline can make a crown over head height on several stems from a small 80cm tall plant in 8 - 10 years, so it's not like waiting for a broad leaved tree to mature.Brilliant photo courtesy of emagen on flickr.com, see their link on our Resources Page.
Below left - a Cordyline on the left above the Easter Island head and a magnificent multi headed specimen in the middle of the photo have important structural roles in this composition, framing views and partially screening the back of the Hawaiian Garden so that you do not see it all at a glance.
Right - Cordylines transplant well and can be grown to large sizes in pots, making them readily available as mature specimens. This was a particularly handsome plant from the Palm Centre in west London, see their link on our Resources Page. with a nice branching structure, multi headed crown and even a young branch growing low down on the main trunk.