Aldric
The Madagascar Dragon Tree
Meet Aldric, a lucky-dip Madagascar dragon tree. He arrived with a UK plant passport from the Netherlands and is settling into the garden room after being repotted from an 8 cm to a 10 cm pot.
His botanical world
According to Kew's Plants of the World Online, Dracaena marginata is a synonym of Dracaena reflexa var. angustifolia, an evergreen shrub or tree native to the western Indian Ocean — including Madagascar and neighbouring islands such as Mauritius, Réunion and the Seychelles. It is valued for its elegant, upright stems and long, narrow, sword-shaped leaves with fine reddish-purple margins.
He prefers bright indirect light, careful watering (allow the top half of the compost to dry), and a minimum of 13°C. Cuttings root readily, making him a good candidate for future propagation — a classic architectural houseplant with a touch of the tropics.
Growing journal
Our First Meeting
Aldric came to us as part of a lucky dip collection of plants. We didn't know quite what to expect when they arrived, which, of course, was part of the fun.
Today it was Aldric's turn to be properly introduced.
He's a Dracaena marginata, commonly known as the Madagascar dragon tree, with a slender woody trunk and long, narrow green leaves edged with a lovely reddish colour.
But Aldric had a little surprise waiting for us.
When we lifted him from his nursery pot, we discovered an extraordinary collection of roots, all curled around the bottom, with hardly any room left to grow.
It seemed he'd been waiting for a little more space.
So we gently loosened his roots and gave him a slightly larger pot, with fresh compost and perlite. He now has a new home and, of course, a name.
His first measurement is 17 cm.
I wonder how much he'll grow over the coming months.
For now, we'll give him time to settle, watch for new growth, and learn a little more about what makes a Madagascar dragon tree happy.
And so Aldric's growing journal begins.
Next time: We'll see how he's settling into his new home.
