Cultivar · genus Dracaena

Tricolor

Dracaena marginata · ‘Tricolor’

Variegation traitTricolor

‘Tricolor’ — reference photo — AI illustration: Horta

Guide

Written and kept by people who grow it. Every section carries its source.

Three Colours on One Leaf

This cultivar carries narrow, arching leaves marked with cream stripes, and as those leaves age the margins deepen to crimson, giving the plant its three-colour name. It grows as an erect shrub with only sparse branching, a slightly more upright and architectural habit than the plain species. The RHS recognises it with an Award of Garden Merit, a mark of its reliable garden and houseplant performance.

Source: RHS

Watch Under Glass

Grown under glass, this cultivar can draw red spider mite and scale insects, the same sap-feeders that trouble dracaenas generally. It is otherwise described as generally free of disease.

Source: RHS

Rarely Needs Pruning

Unlike dracaenas grown for shaping into bushy or standard forms, 'Tricolor' is noted as needing no routine pruning. If growth does turn weak, it can be cut back hard, to within about 15cm of the base, in spring to renew it.

Source: RHS

Care recipe

Each fact carries its confidence tier — and says whether it belongs to this cultivar or is inherited from the species.

Care notes reviewed by Horta

Light: ai:claude-sonnet-5
Humidity: ai:claude-sonnet-5
Soil: ai:claude-sonnet-5
Care: ai:claude-sonnet-5

LightOwn

Bright, indirect

Waterfrom Dracaena marginata

≈ every 18 days

HumidityOwn

Medium

Temperaturefrom Dracaena marginata

16–27 °C

Soil mixOwn

peat-free, loam-based potting compost

PropagationOwn

semi-hardwood cuttings or leafless stem sections in spring with bottom heat

FertilizingOwn

balanced liquid fertiliser applied monthly from spring to autumn; keep just moist in winter

Growth ratefrom Dracaena marginata

Moderate

Floweringfrom Dracaena marginata

Rarely flowers indoors

ToxicityLocked · species

Toxic to cats & dogs

Saponins — vomiting (occasionally with blood), depression, anorexia, drooling. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

Sources: ai:claude-sonnet-5 · ASPCA

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow ‘Tricolor’ yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — and a clear photo of your plant are exactly what keep this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.