Year ‘Round Interest with Juliet™ Cleyera

Year ‘Round Interest with Juliet™ Cleyera

by | Mar 18, 2021

Plants with variegated foliage are very popular landscape selections.  As flowers fade on other plants, the colors of variegated foliage continue to add interest through multiple seasons.

A very adaptable shrub that has been around for a long time, now has a selection with beautiful variegated foliage.  Juliet™ cleyera offers green and white evergreen foliage that can brighten up a garden year around.  New foliage adds additional interest with a maroon tinge.

Variegated foliage of Juliet™ cleyera. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County

Like other selections of Cleyera, Juliet™ needs to be matched to an appropriate spot to accommodate its mature size.  Shrubs will reach about 8 feet in height with a spread of about 5 feet.  Plants may look best when left to grow in a more natural form with light selective pruning.  This shrub is probably not suited for planting in front of home windows but used as a specimen or as a nice screen plant.

Once established, cleyera is a low maintenance plant and is adapted to grow well without routine irrigation.  My home landscape has very well drained soil and I have not needed to apply supplemental irrigation to two cleyera shrubs in over 20 years.  Consider a spot that receives full sun or partial shade for your plants.

An added advantage of cleyera shrubs in general is that bees are attracted to the flowers so it makes an additional nectar source for pollinators in the spring.

Plant Mutations

Plant Mutations

by | Jul 7, 2016

Many of the plants in our gardens have been developed and discovered that offer interesting characteristics. These may include leaves with variegations, dwarf growth habits, or even contorted stems.  We enjoy these plant differences and many of these plants are big business in the nursery trade.  In nature, it is likely these interesting plant mutations would not survive as they are less likely to be able to reproduce successfully.  Horticulture professionals keep these plants available most often by propagation through cuttings and tissue culture.

Sometimes in the landscape, nature prevails and we see one of our favorite plant varieties revert back to its original or “wild” form. You may see a stem on a variegated plant that has larger leaves that are all green.

'Butterfly' Japanese maple has beautiful variegated foliage. One stem has reverted to an original form with large green leaves. Prune out this stem. Photo by Beth Bolles

‘Butterfly’ Japanese maple has beautiful variegated foliage. One stem has reverted to an original form with large green leaves. Prune out this stem. Photo by Beth Bolles

These stems often grow more vigorously and can use nutrients and energy that the remainder of the plant needs.  As soon as you see these different stems, prune them back to a connection with another stem that exhibits the plant characteristics you want.