Can someone ID this plant for me, please?

Factual Questions
1

Any gardeners out there? Hubby and I just moved to Okinawa (very tropical weather), and we have a yard with areas of full sun and shade. We went a little crazy buying plants, and I don’t know anything about this one or where to plant it. Please help me not kill it! I would post a pic but my husband is in Tokyo for the next 2 weeks and has our camera with him. So here goes:

-It is a shrub/bush thing, currently about 2 ft. tall.
-The leaves are about 10" long (when they are “full grown”) and are of various bright colors. Some are very dark green with bright pink veins, some have white veins, some are bright yellow, some are bright green, most have several different colors. They are pretty thick and sort of waxy.
-It has a woody stem.

Anyone have a clue?

Thanks in advance!

2

Croton Codiaeum variegatum

Croton Mania!

3

It sounds like a croton, (Codiaeum variegatum pictum)

If so, here are some links:

http://www.crotons.org/
http://www.floridata.com/ref/C/codi_var.cfm

I hope this helps, and good luck. I have tried to grow them as houseplants, with no sucess.

4

That’s it! Thanks so much. I don’t have much of a green thumb, but everything grows like crazy here, so hopefully it will survive.

5

Definitely sounds like a croton (Codiaeum species). Indoors, they’re pretty picky. I don’t know how well they grow on Okinawa.