Where you live, I'm going to assume the Croton will be grown in a pot, indoors most of the year. Codiaeum variegatum will grow into a small tree - around 12' tall max, but you can keep it as medium shrub - under 5' tall with pruning. Because you're going to have it inside the house until the weather stays above 55 degrees at night, watch for spider mites. If you'd like to see what they look like in zone 10, in the ground, click here.

ooh, I wasn't expecting a tree. Are all crotons that large? This one looks more like polka-dotted grass with leaves under 5 inches in a 3" pot.

The smaller leafed varieties can be kept to a smaller size. I've not seen the one you bought, but considering that there are an infinite number of varieties of Crotons, that's not unusual. I have around 300 named varieties in my garden, but I know of collectors who have over 1000.

Many of the plants that we grow in our zone as "houseplants" can be 20 to 40 foot trees. Go to Hawaii sometime - you'll be amazed!

I haven't grown that variety of croton, but at work I care for 6" pots of generic crotons that stay around 8 to 10" high and tall, 10" pots that max out at about 15", and 14" pots that max out at about 2 to 3 feet. I'm sure they would get larger eventually in bigger pots, and larger still in the ground in the tropics.

They are REALLY susceptible to spider mites, so plan to treat periodically with a horticultural oil, especially in winter - follow directions carefully. It's likely they will succumb to mites long before you have to worry about them becoming a tree...

watergal - I remember "houseplants". When I lived in NJ, I had 150 of them spread throughout the house. Now that I'm in South Florida, I have 2 - a pair of Rabbit Foot Ferns in hanging baskets!