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Variegated leaf plants add contrast in the garden
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It is said that in Ireland there are 40 shades of green. If you look out in your garden, you'll probably notice the same thing, from yellow-green, especially in spring to emerald green at the height of summer to the deepest of forest greens. Some plants will even have a sort of russet-green or blue green as in Colorado blue spruce.
Perhaps there's just a bit too much green for your taste and you decide to introduce some contrast by adding plants with variegated leaves, that is plants that have colors other than green where green would normally be expected to appear.
Variegated leaf plants
Many plants will develop mutations (sports) that can then be propagated vegetatively (stem cuttings, for example or root or tuber divisions). Usually when a plant develops that type of mutation, the seeds will not produce the new, desired result, although it is always a possibility.
The variegated leaf plants that I have do not seem quite as hardy as their fully green-leafed siblings. Perhaps this is because their leaves don't have quite as much chlorophyll in them and chlorophyll is what allows plants to photosynthesize, or make, food. They also don't seem to grow quite as fast or as large as their fully green sibs either.
Another observation, flowers on some of my variegated hydrangeas are small and not as showy as on the green varieties. Some variegated leaf plants don't seem to have much in the way of flowers at all. In other words, you grow them for their attractive leaf color or pattern. On the other hand, they do make an interesting contrast against a wall of green.
Generally, plants with variegated leaves tend to be shrubs and include azaleas, dogwood (variegated red twig dogwood for example), hydrangeas, euonymous and even holly.
One herbaceous plant which frequently has variegated leaves is the hosta. There are hundreds of hosta varieties, many with white or cream edging on the leaves. The reverse is also commonly seen, green edging with white or cream centers. Generally, variegated leaf hostas do better in the shade, since the light area on the leaf is more likely to burn.
Variegated leaf plants look nice in front of darker or solid green leafed plants. Variegated hostas really brighten up a shady corner and come in a wide variety of sizes from really tiny for a rock garden to enormous.
Reverting to type
One of the odd things about these mutated plants is that they sometimes revert to type, that is, go back to their ancestral form. I have several very beautiful azaleas with white edged leaves. The flowers are double with an intense shade of dark pink. Of the four that I have, all are quite small, despite the fact that other azaleas planted at around the same time have grown much larger. And, interestingly, all have branches of solid green leaves on them. The fully green leaves on this variegated azalea are much larger than their bi-colored siblings and have a more rounded shape. The white edged leaves are more pointed. The azaleas have reverted to type, changed back to the original solid green leaves the variegated form sprung from.
Now, the question comes up: If I were to prune out the solid green leaves, would I succeed in keeping my azaleas filled with white edged leaves? Yes, I probably would however, there are two things to be aware of in this undertaking. Since the azaleas have been growing so slowly, I may just wind up with an even smaller plant than I started with. Secondly, in all probability, the plant will, at some point in the future, send up more solid green leaves. Since the plant is so small, I'm not sure I want to try that although pruning is the recommended way of dealing with plants that "revert to type."
Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener Program, call 727-7850.
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