The Gift With Something Extra

Monday, May 2 was my eighth wedding anniversary. My darling husband Bob surprised me with two bouquets of flowers. One was a dozen yellow roses, the other was a lovely mixed arrangement.

Today, when I was about to change the water in the mixed bouquet, I noticed something. Included as foliage accents in the arrangement were two stems of Codiaeum variegatum, aka, Croton. These were not the one of the broadleaf multicolored cultivars, but rather, a narrow-leaved, yellow-spotted type. One of the stems was looking a trifle worse for wear, but the other was very healthy and vigorous.

Mixed bouquet. One of the Codiaeum stems is on the left in this photo.

Close-up of the Codiaeum cutting, still in the vase

Of course, me being the crazy plant lady, I had to take advantage of this. I removed the stem from the bouquet, re-cut the end, and stripped off a few of the bottom leaves. I then dipped the stem in rooting hormone, and placed it in a pot of moist vermiculite to root.

Codiaeum stem in vermiculite. The lovely little pot is an early Mother's Day gift from my stepson, Dave.

Now we will see. I haven't had much luck in the past with rooting Codiaeum cuttings, nor have I had particularly good luck growing Codiaeum plants (spider mites love them.) But if I succeed, it will be a lovely remembrance of this anniversary. Since I know he will read this: Thanks, Honey, for eight wonderful years!