Ti Plant
Cordyline fruticosa
Also known as: Hawaiian Ti, Good Luck Plant, Palm Lily
The most colourful and most forgiving screening shrub in the tropical palette, in dozens of leaf colours from deep burgundy to hot pink to near-black. Fast to fill, easy to grow, and long tied to good luck in Filipino and Pacific gardens. One honest caveat we will not bury: unlike santan, ti plant is toxic to cats and dogs, so it needs siting thoughtfully in a pet household. ₱200 to ₱800 per plant.
Pricing Guide (per plant)
| Size / Spec | Price (PHP) |
|---|---|
| Medium (1-2 ft) | ₱200–₱400 |
| Large (3-5 ft) | ₱400–₱800 |
Volume Discounts
- 50+ plants:Volume pricing on mass planting and screening runs, quoted per project
Plant material only. Prices vary by cultivar: rare and multi-colour types (Tricolor, Rainbow, Black Magic) sit at the top of each tier, and the common Red Sister sits at the bottom. Delivery and installation are quoted per project. On colour-specific orders we confirm the cultivar before delivery, because a 'Red Sister' run should not arrive half-Firebrand.
Request Project Quote →About Ti Plant
The ti plant (Cordyline fruticosa) is one of the most versatile and forgiving tropical shrubs you can plant. It comes in more colour variations than almost anything else in the tropical palette, from deep burgundy to bright pink to green and cream, and it delivers colour, texture, and screening with very little fuss. A quick name note, because it trips people up: you will see it sold as both Cordyline fruticosa and Cordyline terminalis. They are the same plant. Cordyline fruticosa is the accepted botanical name today and Cordyline terminalis is the old synonym still floating around the trade. Ti also carries cultural weight. Across the Pacific and in many Filipino gardens it is grown as a good luck or protective plant around the home, which is part of why it turns up in so many older Philippine gardens and why it moves so well as a gift and housewarming plant. One thing we state plainly rather than bury: ti plant is toxic to cats and dogs. The ASPCA lists it as toxic to both, with saponins as the toxic principle. For most gardens that is not a dealbreaker, but in a pet household it changes where you put it.
Common Applications
- Colour accent planting. More leaf-colour options than any other tropical shrub, so it carries a bed without needing flowers.
- Privacy screening in mass. Planted in blocks it builds mass and coverage quickly, with colour the whole height of the screen.
- Container and patio planting. Holds its colour in pots and takes the confinement well, which makes it a staple for lobbies and terraces.
- Understory planting. Works beneath trees and palms, where the red and near-black cultivars hold colour better than variegated ones.
- Poolside colour. Minimal leaf drop, no fruit, and non-aggressive roots, so it sits close to a pool deck safely.
- Gift and housewarming plant. The good luck association makes it move as a gift plant in a way most landscape shrubs do not.
Where You'll See It
- Tropical beds and borders in residential gardens
- Mass-planted colour blocks and screening runs
- Poolside and patio containers
- Understory planting beneath palms and trees
- Hotel and resort colour planting
- Older Philippine gardens, planted for luck
Why Architects Choose It
- More colour range than any other shrub in the tropical palette, from burgundy to near-black to hot pink
- Genuinely forgiving, it tolerates neglect, mistakes, and a wide range of light
- Fills fast, so a colour block or screen reads quickly
- Propagates trivially from stem cuttings, which keeps landscape stock cheap and available
- Pool-safe: minimal litter, no fruit, non-aggressive roots
- Cultural weight as a good luck plant, which clients respond to
Project Types Best Suited
- Residential tropical gardens
- Colour-block and mass planting
- Poolside and container planting
- Hotel and resort landscaping
- Understory and shade planting
- Plant rental and gift planting
Specifications
- Botanical name
- Cordyline fruticosa (L.) A.Chev.
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Synonyms
- Cordyline terminalis Kunth (the old name still used in the trade); Convallaria fruticosa L.
- PH and common names
- Ti, Hawaiian Ti, Good Luck Plant, Palm Lily
- Native range
- Tropical Southeast Asia to the western Pacific; long cultivated across the tropics
- Habit
- Evergreen shrub; upright stems topped with rosettes of colourful strap leaves
- Height
- Landscape stock to about 5 ft; can reach 3-4 m over many years
- Leaf colours
- Red, burgundy, pink, cream, green, near-black, and striped, depending on cultivar
- Sun
- Part shade to full sun. Best colour with some direct sun, but harsh open sun scorches most cultivars
- Water
- Moderate. Adaptable to wet or drier conditions once established
- Soil
- Adaptable; prefers well-drained
- Propagation
- Very easy from stem cuttings. 6-12 inch sections root in 2-4 weeks, which is the standard nursery method
- Toxicity
- Toxic to cats and dogs. The ASPCA lists ti plant as toxic to both, with saponins as the toxic principle. Not toxic to humans
- Pet safe
- No. Site it out of reach in a pet household, or use santan instead in reachable spots
- Pool safe
- Yes. Minimal leaf drop, no fruit, non-aggressive roots
Ti Plant (Cordyline fruticosa) Supplier in the Philippines
The ti plant is the most colourful and most forgiving shrub in the tropical palette. It comes in more leaf-colour variations than almost anything else you can plant here, from deep burgundy through hot pink to near-black, and it delivers colour, texture, and screening with very little fuss.
It is also cheap, fast to fill, and propagates from a cut stem laid on wet soil. That combination is why it is everywhere.
We supply it at ₱200 to ₱800 per plant.
See Ti Plant in our guides to tropical garden design, low-maintenance gardens, and pool landscaping.
The Honest Bit: Ti Plant and Pets
Worth stating plainly, because most plant listings skip it entirely.
Ti plant is toxic to cats and dogs. All parts contain saponins, and the ASPCA lists Cordyline fruticosa (under “Ti-Plant”) as toxic to both species.1 Ingestion typically causes vomiting (occasionally with blood), drooling, loss of appetite, depression, and dilated pupils in cats.1
The realistic picture: the saponins taste bitter, so most pets spit it out and large ingestions are uncommon. Cases are rarely life-threatening. But a determined leaf-chewing dog can still make itself sick, and “rarely serious” is not the same as “fine.”
This is not a reason to avoid the plant. Ti is genuinely one of the most useful shrubs we plant, and in a garden with no pets the question never arises. It is a reason to think about where it goes:
- In a pet household, put ti in raised beds, containers on stands, or back-of-border positions, out of casual reach.
- For the reachable spots, use a genuinely pet-safe alternative. Santan is the one we would point at: the ASPCA lists Ixora coccinea as non-toxic to both dogs and cats.2
- We flag this on any planting plan for a pet household, without being asked.
One thing we will not do is call heliconia “pet-safe” to give you a second option. It is not on the ASPCA’s toxic list, but it is not on their non-toxic list either, which means nobody has assessed it. That is a different claim, and we say so on its page.
Humans: ti plant is not toxic to people. Ti leaves and roots have a long history of food, medicinal, and ceremonial use across the Pacific. The concern is specific to cats and dogs.
Is It Cordyline fruticosa or Cordyline terminalis?
Both. Same plant.
Cordyline fruticosa (L.) A.Chev. is the accepted botanical name today. Cordyline terminalis Kunth is the old synonym, and Kew files it as exactly that.3 The nursery trade never updated, so you will see both on labels, and both are correct in the sense that they get you the same plant.
Older names like Convallaria fruticosa also turn up in references.3
There is one genuine trap in the botany, which matters if you are checking a database rather than a label: Cordyline fruticosa Göpp. is a different name by a different author, and it is a synonym of Dracaena angustifolia, an unrelated plant. The ti plant is the (L.) A.Chev. one. Author strings are not decoration.
The Good Luck Plant
Ti carries real cultural weight. Across the Pacific and in many Filipino gardens it is grown as a good luck or protective plant around the home. That is part of why it turns up in so many older Philippine gardens, and why it moves as a gift and housewarming plant in a way that almost no other landscape shrub does.
We mention it because it is a genuine reason people buy it, not because it is a botanical fact.
Popular Varieties
- Red Sister: deep burgundy and red leaves. The workhorse landscape colour.
- Pink Diamond: pink and cream variegation.
- Florida: green with pink margins.
- Black Magic: dark purple, almost black.
- Candy Cane: pink and green striped.
- Firebrand: bright red new growth.
Growing Requirements
- Sun: part shade to full sun. Colours get more vibrant with some direct sun, but harsh open sun scorches most cultivars. Black Magic and the red types hold their colour in shadier spots better than the pink-and-green variegated ones do.
- Water: moderate. Adaptable to wet or drier conditions once established.
- Soil: adaptable, prefers well-drained.
- Space: 1-2 m depending on cultivar and how dense you want the block.
Landscape Uses
- Colour accent throughout the garden
- Privacy screening, planted in mass
- Container and patio planting
- Poolside colour
- Understory planting beneath trees and palms
- Tropical beds and borders
Size & Pricing
Plant material only:
| Size | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Medium | 1-2 ft | ₱200 - ₱400 |
| Large | 3-5 ft | ₱400 - ₱800 |
Prices vary by cultivar: rare and multi-colour types sit at the top of each tier. Delivery and installation are quoted per project.
Care Tips
- Remove lower leaves as they yellow.
- Cut leggy plants back hard. Ti reshoots readily from old stems and returns bushier.
- Fertilize every 2-3 months during the growing season.
- Propagate from stem cuttings: 6-12 inch sections root in 2-4 weeks.
Sources
Footnotes
-
ASPCA, Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants list, “Ti-Plant (Cordyline terminalis / Cordyline fruticosa).” Toxic to dogs and toxic to cats. Toxic principle: saponins. Clinical signs: vomiting (occasionally with blood), depression, anorexia, hypersalivation, dilated pupils (cats). Accessed 2026. https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/ti-plant ↩ ↩2
-
ASPCA, Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants list, “Iron Tree (Ixora coccinea),” also listed as Flame of the Woods. Non-toxic to dogs and non-toxic to cats. This is the basis for recommending santan as the pet-safe alternative. Accessed 2026. https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/iron-tree ↩
-
World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the dataset behind Plants of the World Online. Accepted name Cordyline fruticosa (L.) A.Chev., family Asparagaceae. Cordyline terminalis Kunth and Convallaria fruticosa L. are listed as synonyms. Note that Cordyline fruticosa Göpp. is a separate name and a synonym of Dracaena angustifolia. Accessed 2026. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:533580-1 ↩ ↩2
Sourcing & Supply
Origin
Sourced from Luzon growers by colour and size, from medium (1-2 ft) through large (3-5 ft) stock. Rare and multi-colour cultivars are sourced to order.
Supplier Relationship
Working relationships with growers carrying the full colour range. Because ti propagates so readily from cuttings, common cultivars are cheap and reliably available; the constraint is cultivar-true stock, not volume.
Quality Control
Colour and size are matched on mass-planting and screening runs so blocks read evenly, since ti colour varies plant to plant even within a single cultivar. We confirm cultivar on colour-specific orders, because a Red Sister run should not arrive half-Firebrand and you will not be able to tell from a young plant.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Ti Plant cost in the Philippines?
Medium Ti Plants (1 to 2 ft) run ₱200 to ₱400. Large plants (3 to 5 ft) run ₱400 to ₱800. Multi-colour cultivars (Tricolor, Rainbow, Black Magic) command premium pricing within those tiers, and the common Red Sister sits at the bottom of them.
Is Ti Plant toxic to pets?
Yes. The ASPCA lists ti plant as toxic to both cats and dogs, with saponins as the toxic principle. Ingestion typically causes vomiting (occasionally with blood), drooling, loss of appetite, depression, and dilated pupils in cats. The saponins taste bitter, so most pets do not eat much and serious cases are uncommon, but it is not a pet-safe plant and we will not pretend otherwise. In a pet household, site it out of reach or use santan in the reachable spots.
Is Ti Plant safe for humans?
Yes. It is not toxic to people. Ti leaves and roots have a long history of food, medicinal, and ceremonial use across the Pacific. The toxicity concern is specific to cats and dogs.
Is it Cordyline fruticosa or Cordyline terminalis?
Both names refer to the same plant. Cordyline fruticosa is the accepted botanical name today, and Cordyline terminalis is an older synonym still used across the nursery trade. If you see either on a label, it is the same ti plant. Kew lists Cordyline terminalis Kunth as a synonym of Cordyline fruticosa (L.) A.Chev.
Is Ti Plant pool safe?
Yes. Ti plants produce minimal leaf drop, no fruit, and non-aggressive roots. The colourful foliage holds up well in poolside humidity. Plant 1 m or more from the pool edge to keep fallen leaves off the deck. Note that pool-safe and pet-safe are different questions, and ti plant is only the first.
How fast does Ti Plant grow?
Moderate. From a 1 ft starter, expect around 1 ft of growth per year in Philippine lowland conditions. Landscape plants reach about 5 ft, which is the practical ceiling for the stock we supply. Growth slows in deep shade.
Does Ti Plant need full sun?
Partial sun gives the best colour. Full sun in open exposure scorches leaves on most cultivars. Filtered sun, or morning sun only, produces the deepest colour. Black Magic and the red cultivars hold their colour in shadier spots better than the green-and-pink variegated types.
Can Ti Plant be propagated from cuttings?
Yes, easily. Cut 6 to 12 inch stem sections, lay them horizontally on moist soil or stand them vertically, and roots emerge in 2 to 4 weeks. This is the standard nursery method, which is why landscape-ready ti plants are so widely available and so cheap.
