Sun Crotons
While this list is by no means complete, nor is it a guarantee of success, if you need sun crotons that will do well in a West or Southern exposure, with some part of the day shaded, we have found that these varieties, which can be found without too much difficulty, are more likely to succeed than some other selections:
Andreanum
Batik
Congo
Curly Boy
Dreadlocks
Eleanor Roosevelt
Fantasia
Freckles
General Padget
Gold Dust
Mammie & Yellow Mammie
Mango
Nestor
Picasso's Paintbrush
Pie Crust
Red Tortilla
Rex
Rooster Tail
Stewartii
Stop Llight
Sunny Star
Yellow Banana
Blazing Florida Sun & Heat Tolerance
Despite rampant advice to the contrary, very few Crotons have a preference for all-day-long, full-on exposure. This is especially true during nonstop, relentlessly blazing hot Florida summers. Not counting cloudy and rainy periods, the majority of Crotons prefer some small daily relief from incessant sun, especially during dry spells and drought, if only for a few hours.
Ironically, once the root system is established in the ground many varieties can and will survive adverse conditions including drought, a complete lack of fertilizer or the touch of a gardener’s caring hand. But their growth is often slow or stunted.
What we have also found to be true is that few Croton varieties—apart from Mammie, Stoplight, Gold Dust, Yellow Banana & Yellow Mammie—can be counted on to look gorgeous after withstanding the harshness of being planted with little or no relief from summer sun beating down on their heads from sunup to sundown.