Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Cordyline (Cordyline fruticosa)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called ti plant, good luck plant, Hawaiian ti.

About Cordyline

Cordyline fruticosa · also called ti plant, good luck plant · tropical

Cordyline fruticosa is a tropical evergreen with sword-shaped leaves in green, pink, red, or burgundy. Grown indoors as a colourful upright accent and outdoors as a hedging plant in frost-free climates. Toxic to pets through saponins.

Cordyline fruticosa, the ti plant, is an evergreen woody shrub native to the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and tropical Australia, grown for spear-shaped leaves in green, red, pink, and purple.

Grows as an upright cane crowned with a tuft of strappy leaves and benefits from high humidity; toxic to dogs, cats, and horses (saponins), causing gastrointestinal upset and oral irritation.

Cold limit: USDA 10-12 (indoor in most US homes) · RHS H1b (18-27°C)

Sources: plants.ces.ncsu.edu, bloomscape.com

What cordyline's hardiness rating actually means

Cordyline is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA 10-12 (indoor in most US homes) — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Cordyline has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for cordyline as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can cordyline go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when cordyline can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Cordyline hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is cordyline cold hardy?

Cordyline is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Cordyline can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 10-12 (indoor in most US homes)); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature cordyline can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Cordyline has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is cordyline?

Cordyline is rated USDA 10-12 (indoor in most US homes) and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can cordyline survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to cordyline below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.