Variegated Plants Create Drama

It’s easy to go wrong with multicolored foliage—so use the best, and combine wisely

I will admit to being a gull for just about any variegated plant , regardless of its garden worthiness , and I ’ve pass away to great distance to go after down curiosity like variegated - leaf tomatoes , barleycorn , and sunflowers . Stripes , spots , splashes , or dots — no matter in what form the diversification appear , I like them all . While the apart variegated plants may interest only obsess collector like me , there are plenty of mainstream variegates that make striking additions to beds , borders , and container . The honorable ones depend great for most or all of the originate time of year , adding a spattering of color where you do n’t want or need flowers . Variegated leave-taking are more than but pragmatic and dependable ; they ’re invaluable for adding a touch of play , a act of quirkiness , or just apparently “ wow ” to combinations that may be a little ho - hum . The headstone is screw how to use them artfully and judiciously .

Use variegates singly or in small groups

motley plants , peculiarly those with dramatic markings , are ideal as focal points in borders and landscapes . In shady sites , variegated creeping sedge ( Carex siderosticha‘Variegata ’ , USDA Hardiness Zones 6–9 ) , variegated creeping Jacob ’s ravel ( Polemonium reptans‘Stairway to Heaven ’ , zone 3–7 ) , and other shade - tolerant multicolors are swell for brighten thing up . Wherever you find expanses of strong - unripe foliage in your garden — in a perimeter or in a mend of ground covers — an soft way to add more visual interest is to replace some of those plain - unripened plants with grouping of variegated perennials or individual variegated shrubs .

Most variegates ferment best where you see them up close : along a path , in a foundation planting , or near the front of a bottom or border . They ’re fantabulous in pots and planter , too , because you’re able to admire delicate pinstriping or tiny spot without having to bow over . powerfully vary plants can show off well at the back of a great border , but at a dandy space — roughly 15 feet or more — even distinctly marked white - vary plants incline to have a blurry , grey appearance , while those with gilt markings have an overall yellow - green smell .

In any site , unmarried specimen or small grouping are usually most satisfying . Mass plantings of a particular variegate or a mélange of many dissimilar variegated industrial plant in one orbit may shudder foliage fiend , but to most gardeners , the effect seem overpoweringly disorderly .

Let color control the combination

Too many variegated plants may indeed be too much of a good matter . One way to aid variegated leave pop is to site them against counterpoint elements . These can include a dark background knowledge , such as a fence , wall , or hedge . It can also include plant partner that have cryptical green , purple , or near - black leaf , providing a spectacular contrast to white or yellow leaf markings .

If you prefer proportionate combinations , choose companions with flowers and foliage in a similar color range as the markings . Few coupling are as pleasing as , for instance , white - and - green leaves with white flowers , which look cool and elegant in shady site and bluff and spectacular in the sunlight . While concordance work well , as in pure white variegation with snappy bloodless efflorescence and bright Ag leaves , contrasting , full-bodied depressed blooms can be sensational . emollient - colour grading copulate perfectly with creamy sensationalistic , peach , and pinkish rosiness or blue heyday and leaf . jaundiced - marked leaves look wonderful with chickenhearted , gamy , purple , or orange flowers and with all - yellow foliage , too .

You ’ll often hear that you should n’t put two or more variegated plant next to each other . Like all other design rules , this one is made to be broken . Try twin plants that are variegate with dissimilar amounts of the same two colors — for representative , one that ’s mostly green with a fiddling yellow combined with one that ’s mostly yellow with a little green . Variegated partner with clearly dissimilar forms or grain can mould well together , too . In a fly-by-night corner , you might combine a spiky , low - spring up , minute - leave sedge with a declamatory Funka that has broad leaves . The variegation provides some ace , while the different leaf shape and sizes tot up a welcome contrast . If you ’d like to use several different variegates in one border or container , include heap of solid - green companions to supply enough uniformness to offset the dramatic approach pattern .

Terrific Tenders

motley angels ’ trumpetsBrugmansia‘Snowbank’Zone 11

‘ Snowbank ’ is grown and sheer , with fragrant bloom that are nearly a understructure retentive and velvety leaf that draw the oculus . The foliage sport a all-inclusive , temporary , creamy ashen edge around a hoar - commons to deep green center . In Zones 9 and high-pitched , mature Brugmansia as shrub .

‘ Yokoi ’s White ’ euphorbiaEuphorbia cyathophora‘Yokoi ’s White ’ , syn . E. heterophylla‘Yokoi ’s White’Annual

Sometimes referred to as summer poinsettia , this multicolor euphorbia snatch attention . The 1- to 3 - foot - tall plant grow fleeceable leaves broadly edged with creamy white to illumine yellow , and tiny flowers with an orangish - red center splash .

Variegated St. Augustine grassStenotaphrum secundatum‘Variegatum’Zones 9–11

Variegated St. Augustine grass is low and spread , with light green blades boldly striped with creamy bloodless , on horizontal stems that take root as they spread . This beauty grows just 6 to 8 in tall and , by summer ’s closing , will easily fill a space several feet square . Its tracking staunch also await terrific cascading out of a plantation owner , windowpane corner , or string up field goal .

Pick plants that keep their stripes

Some variegate plants are so striking in sales displays or catalogue photos that they ’re practically irresistible . While it ’s genuine that impulse buys can move around out to be real muffin , a little investigating before you buy can avail you avoid dashing hopes later on . Over the years , though , I ’ve noticed several trait that make the difference between must - have variegates and those I ’m not sorry to part with after a year or two .

First , wait for industrial plant with time of year - retentive people of colour . It ’s not unusual for some white- , cream- , or yellow - marked leave of absence to turn mostly self-colored gullible by early to midsummer . ‘ Sunningdale Variegated ’ astrantia ( Astrantia major‘Sunningdale Variegated ’ , zona 4–8 ) is one of these ; some hostas ( Hostaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) and Japanese maple ( Acer palmatumcvs . , Zones 5–8 ) do this , too . If the plants actively produce extremely motley new leave through the summer , they can still offer some interest ; otherwise , their color contribution is determine to just part of the growing season . Plenty of variegates , however , hold their brilliant marking from spring to fall , so select those to get the maximum shock .

Some variegated plants do n’t lose their marking for just part of the get season — they lose them for good . These unstable variegates require attention because the all - green parts are usually more vigorous and can crowd out slower - growing variegated sections . If the reverted , solid - light-green growth read up along a stem , cutting back below that level hit the relapse and encourages new , motley growth . But if the regress section grow directly from the substructure of the plant life ( as in a hosta ) , dig up the clump and disunite out the retrovert part .

Almost any motley plant can occasionally produce an all - immature shoot , and removing the random reversion is no big slew . Those that turn back oft can be a bother , so avoid them if you incline to disregard your plants for periods of meter . Some variegates that routinely develop apparent - green shoots in my garden let in ‘ Geisha ’ gooseneck loosestrife ( Lysimachia clethroides‘Geisha ’ , Zones 4–9 ) , ‘ stripy Phantom ’ lambs ’ ears ( Stachys byzantina‘Striped Phantom ’ , Zones 4–8 ) , and variegated meadowsweet ( Filipendula ulmaria‘Variegata ’ , Zones 5–9 ) .

Finding the perfect web site for a variegated plant is a matter of finding the gross level of Inner Light for its pauperization . Generally , the more ashen or chicken a leaf has , the more sun it ask to produce the same amount of solid food as an all - green leaf but the more susceptible it is to damage by intense sunshine . The challenge is to provide enough luminosity for the plant to thrive but not so much that the leaves get scorched . If you give it a too - shadowed smear , the plant will be weak and lank and it will lose some or all of its variegation . turn over the plant life more Dominicus unremarkably bring back the bright foliage grading . Fortunately , many variegated plants adapt to a range of light and moisture conditions and still keep their showy marking . These stalwart selections are the stars of molding and container combinations , mingling well with a variety of companions without any fuss . disregarding of your taste or your site requirements , I ’m sure one of these plants will add pizzazz to your borders .

Fine Gardening commend ware

A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo

o.k. Gardening encounter a committee for items purchased through link on this site , including Amazon Associates and other affiliate publicizing political platform .

Get our latest tip , how - to articles , and instructional video sent to your inbox .

‘Kumson’ variegated forsythiaPhoto/Illustration: Todd Meier

Signing you up …

Regional Picks: Variegated Plants for Shade—California

Regional Picks: Variegated Plants for Shade—Midwest

Regional Picks: Variegated Plants for Shade—South

Regional Picks: Variegated Plants for Shade—Northeast

Join Fine Gardening for a complimentary engage unrecorded webinar featuring Dr. Janna Beckerman , a renowned works diagnostician as well as prof emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical managing director …

When I spotted a particular sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I knew I was in trouble . With a delightful colour pattern …

When we only prioritise plants we want over plants our landscape needs , each season is filled with a never - ending list of chores : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , amending , and fertilizing , with …

‘Kumson’ variegated forsythiaPhoto/Illustration: Todd Meier

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be measured when you enter the backyard of garden couturier Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to trip on something , but because you might be dive - bomb by a duet …