A Yuletide show from this green aucuba and its red berries.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
Based on varied opinions, aucuba (Aucuba japonica) is either an overused evergreen shrub in the landscape or a dazzler that is quite capable of delivering the visual goods, especially in shady spots.
While it is true in some neighborhoods you can’t throw a rock without hitting an aucuba, this just shows its dependability since being introduced to American gardens from East Asia in the late 1700s.
But does dependable translate into pretty? It depends on the aucuba—and sometimes, the time of year. For instance, there are all-green aucubas, which stay, well, green all year long. That’s dependable but also dull. However, aucubas are dioecious, meaning there are male and female plants. In the case of all-green aucubas, this creates a classic Christmas color combination because the female plants can produce clusters of chubby, bright red berries, often in time for—and in tune with—the Yuletide season.
Then, there are the flashy aucubas. Commonly called “gold dust plants,” they are splattered with flecks of rich yellow. Variegata is the cultivar typically associated with the “gold dust” tag, but other intriguing choices are available that show off broader, more scintillating—yes, that’s a real word— swipes, strokes or streaks of yellow. Check your local garden centers for such sassy selections, or if online buying at regional e-nurseries is your thing, Wilson Brothers Gardens (wilsonbrosgardens.com) in McDonough, Georgia, has an impressive inventory of beyond-Variegata cultivars.
Late fall is a prime time to plant woody ornamentals such as aucubas, which can be confidence-builders for gardeners who think they are cursed with brown thumbs. Once established, these tough plants are drought-tolerant and will do just fine in areas of dry shade found under stands of trees. Aucubas are also ideal plants for city gardeners because these pretties aren’t bothered by most urban pollutants.
There is, however, one important requirement for a happy aucuba: drainage. This shrub can suffer from root rot in a soggy site, so locate it in a shady area of well-worked soil not prone to turning into a bog when it rains.
A typical aucuba can stretch upward of 5–10 feet in height, but an annual spring pruning can keep this bush to desirable size. There are also compact, 4-foot-high aucubas such as Rozannie (all green) and Dwarf Gold Dust (variegated) worth hunting for, either locally or online.
November in the Garden
• If you are finished with your veggie patch for the season, yank out old plants and rake up any debris. This tidying up will help prevent soilborne diseases and overwintering insects from coming back to play in next year’s garden.
• At garden shops, African violets might look crowded in their little pots, but they like it that way—and flower better in confined containers. So resist giving a $4 plant the elbowroom of a $40 pot.
Tip of the Month
Like aucubas, Japanese camellias (Camellia japonica)—which, depending on the cultivar, can blossom from late autumn into the spring—are popular evergreen shrubs ideally planted in the fall. But if you want extended flower power across the seasons, consider adding a few sasanqua camellias (C. sasanqua) because they typically bloom earlier than their Japanese cousins. Ditto for the small, cute blossoms of tea camellia (C. sinensis), a conversation-starter bush that is the source of tea drinks. It even has an interesting South Carolina connection: Charleston Tea Garden (charlestonteagarden.com), located on Lowcountry’s Wadmalaw Island, is open to the public for fun, educational tours.
L.A. Jackson is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.