Growing the Picturata Aucuba

Size and Appearance

The Picturata Aucuba is a rounded evergreen shrub that grows 4 to 6 feet tall, and at least that wide, in less than 10 years. It will slowly grow larger, and could eventually become 10 feet tall and wide, if left untrimmed. The branches stay close to the ground, and it covers a large area. Unlike many other shade plants it doesn’t grow tall over the years and expose the ground beneath it, and the leaves are densely arranged, keeping this plant very full and bushy. The bark is dark brown when mature, and green on young stems. The adjective ‘picturata’ means ‘painted’, and this is an excellent description, because each leaf looks like someone took a paintbrush and colored the center a rich golden yellow. Some of the paint splashed onto the rest of the leaf too, because the green margin has golden spots scattered among the green. This pattern is unique among Aucuba shrubs, which usually have foliage that is uniformly mottled green and gold. The leaves are up to 6 inches long and 4 inches wide, with an oval shape, a leathery texture and a smooth, glossy surface. The leaf edge has a few slight serrations along it, and a pointed tip.

Aucuba have separate male and female trees, like holly bushes, and if you have a male tree nearby you will be rewarded with clusters of bright red berries from late fall through the winter. These are not taken by birds, and they last on the bush for months.

Using the Picturata Aucuba in Your Garden

This plant is ideal for shady spots where other shrubs won’t grow, but it is too lovely to just be a plant of ‘last resort’. It is colorful and bright all year round, and does wonders for your beds of green bushes in any slightly or completely shady part of your garden. It can be grown indoors in a cool room all year round or just during winter, and stood outdoors in its pot to decorate a terrace, or place it right in your beds in that dull shady corner. In the warmest zones it can be grown outdoors in a pot all year round.

Hardiness

This shrub will grow outdoors all the way from zone 6 into zone 10 – and of course in any zone if you bring it indoors for the winter.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

The Picurata Aucuba will grow happily in some sun, especially morning sun, in cooler zones, but its great strength is the ability to grow in full shade, even the dark shade beneath evergreen trees and large shrubs. It also grows well on the north side of buildings. Not only is it incredibly shade tolerant, it grows in any well-drained soil, including poor urban soils and the depleted soil beneath trees, even when it’s filled with existing roots. It is best to dig a good-sized hole for planting, if you can, so that it can establish quickly, but it certainly holds its own once established, and keeps on growing strongly.

Maintenance and Pruning

Free of pests of diseases, and ignored by deer, the Picturata Aucuba is also tolerant of salt air, and of drought (once established). Some mulch and regular water for the first few years will really help in the most difficult spots. It needs no particular attention at all, and will warn you if it is dry by drooping its leaves. You don’t need to trim, as it stays bushy, but you can trim a little for neatness if you wish. Use hand pruners, not hedge trimmers, so that you don’t cut the leaves. Bare stems will re-sprout if you have to cut hard.

History and Origin of the Picturata Aucuba

You would find the Japanese Aucuba, Aucuba japonica, growing wild in Japan, and in Korea and China as well. It was brought to Europe from Japan in 1783, and grown in greenhouses and homes at first, with the name Gold Dust Aucuba. It tolerated the gloom and air pollution of dirty 19th century cities, and became very widely grown. As so often happens, people became tired of seeing it, and it fell out of favor. A new generation, free of prejudice, is discovering it again, and how attractive and incredibly useful it is. We know very little about the different varieties, and we have no idea where the variety called ‘Picturata’ came from – just that it is probably the brightest and most striking of them all.

Buying the Japanese Spotted Aucuba at the Tree Center

Lift the curse of shade on your garden with the magic spell of the Picturata Aucuba. The enthusiasm for this great plant grows every year, for outdoors and as a houseplant. So order now, because this variety is not widely available, and always snapped up as soon as we have it in stock.

Growing the Sawtooth Aucuba

Size and Appearance

The Sawtooth Aucuba is an evergreen shrub that will be about 7 feet tall and wide within 10 years, and grow to 10 feet tall and wide in time. It forms a broad, bushy plant with many branches, or it can be trimmed into a form more like a multi-stem tree. The older branches are dark brown, with a smooth to slightly rough surface, and the young stems are green. The foliage is the big attraction with this shrub. The leaves are large, up to 10 inches long and 4 inches wide, with a smooth, glossy surface, a deep green color, and a pronounced sawtooth edge, with large ‘teeth’ along both edges. These are not sharp, and they give the plant a distinctive, almost tropical look.

The parent species of this plant is dioecious – it has separate male and female trees. The Sawtooth Aucuba is a female tree, and it flowers early, usually in March or April. The flowers are not showy, and hang in clusters from the base of the leaves, several flowers in each cluster, with small, purplish-white petals. If there is a male tree nearby to pollinate it, the flowers develop over summer into green berries, a half-inch across, which turn bright red in late fall. Birds don’t eat them so they stay for months, making a lovely show. This variety carries the heaviest crop of berries of any Aucuba.

Using the Sawtooth Aucuba in Your Garden

This plant is your answer to those shady places where nothing will grow. It brings great foliage and rich green to dark corners. It even out-performs the yellow-spotted aucubas for shade tolerance. Use it beneath evergreen trees, up against a dark wall, or as a hedge or screen in shady areas. It can be trimmed into a tight wall of green, or allowed to grow more naturally, when it will still be dense and bushy.

Hardiness

This is one of the hardiest types of aucuba, and it grows well in zone 6 if not planted in an exposed position. It thrives all through the warmer zones, from zone 7 to zone 10.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

In zones 6 and 7 you could grow this shrub with some morning sun, or winter sunshine, but it loves the shade so much it prefers at least some shade, and is perfectly happy in dark, full shade all day long, all year round. It grows in most garden soils, including poor soil, and it competes well with existing tree roots, after a bit of extra attention while it becomes established. It grows well in urban areas, tolerating construction soil and air pollution. Any well-drained soil will be fine, although we do recommend you enrich the soil with organic material when planting, and water regularly for the first couple of years.

Maintenance and Pruning

The Sawtooth Aucuba is normally free of pests and diseases and ignored by deer. Once established it is very drought tolerant, and it takes the salt air of coastal regions without burning. If you don’t feel like trimming, don’t, because it always stays bushy. If you want a neater look, and to keep the base full and green, trimming the upper parts narrower is easy to do in spring or early summer. Don’t use shears, as this will cut the leaves. Instead use pruners, and just cut back to the last couple of leaves on a stem. Even bare stems will usually re-sprout on established plants.

History and Origin of the Sawtooth Aucuba

The Japanese Aucuba, Aucuba japonica, can be found growing wild in the forests of Japan, China and Korea. The first plants were brought to England from Japan in 1783 and grown as a greenhouse plant at first. That first plant had leaves splashed with gold spots, and it is called ‘Variegata’, or the Gold Dust Aucuba, which is still a great plant to grow. It was widely grown during the Industrial Revolution, because it would tolerate the gloom, smog and smoky air of 19th century cities. There are many varieties, some brought from Japan and China, others developed in Europe and America, but they are often confused, and we know almost nothing about their origins. The Sawtooth Aucuba is officially called ‘Serratifolia’.

Buying the Sawtooth Aucuba at the Tree Center

If your garden is cursed with shade, the Sawtooth Aucuba is the blessing you need. This is the most shade-tolerant of all the varieties of Japanese aucuba, so it is in high demand. Order now while our supplies hold out, because they will soon be gone.

Gold Dust Aucuba plants are the most tolerant and suffer the least damage grown in warmest locations of zone 7 and below. Those living in cooler locales can still grow the plant as a houseplant or in containers and bring the pots indoors when the cool temperatures of winter strike. If your location sometimes receives cooler weather, grow the Gold Dust Aucuba in a protected location in the landscape and pile mulch around the roots to assist in winter protection.

Growing Gold Dust Aucuba Plants

Although the plant typically has a slow to moderate rate of growth, regular feedings throughout the growing seasons of spring through summer help speed things along. If you are growing the Gold Dust Aucuba in a container, use a water-soluble blend or slow-release granules. The shrub takes on a dense, rounded and upright form and may require pruning to control its size or shape. Pruning is best done spring through summer, which will also thicken its growth, creating even more density.

One of its attributes is its low maintenance requirements, and it’s rarely bothered by pests or disease problems. However, when grown indoors spider mites can occasional be a problem but are easily treated with Neem or an insecticidal soap. Once established, it is fairly tolerant to drought conditions and is moderately tolerant to salty environments, making it suitable to grow along coastal locales. Gold Dust Aucuba won’t perform well and can develop root rot problems if planted in soils that are too heavy and retain too much water like clay. It’s best to amend these sites with organic materials or grow on a mound. The shrub tolerates the pollutants found in city locations.

Uses on Your Property

Besides growing well as a houseplant, Gold Dust Aucuba fulfills a variety of needs within the landscape. Whether you are looking for a formal or informal hedge or screening plant, the tall-growing shrub fits that need perfectly. With a bit of spring pruning you can control its size, or allow it to grow to full-size and take on its natural form. However you’d like to use it, it’s dense habit of growth makes perfect use for privacy or outlining a portion of your landscape as a hedge.

Many times, shady locations of the garden lack color, but this isn’t so with Gold Dust Aucuba. It makes a bold statement with its green and yellow foliage used as a backdrop in woodland gardens or used as a specimen to draw attention to the area. With its lush evergreen habit, you are sure to bring color and interest to the area all year long. It also works well used as a foundation planting.

Gold Dust Aucuba grows well in tubs, pots or planter boxes, provided it receives regular water when the soil begins to dry. Dress up a shady entranceway or porch with its bright foliage. In addition, if you live in a coastal area where many plants don’t tolerate the salty conditions, Gold Dust Aucuba thrives, provided you don’t plant directly along the ocean’s edge.

Planting Location

Besides being a shade-lover and performing best in a shady to partially shady location, Gold Dust Aucuba grows in a wide range of soils (provided they drain well). However, for the best results, plant the shrub in fertile soils that have good drainage. When planting multiple plants or close to a structure, always consider the shrub’s mature height and width so you give them adequate room to spread without interference. Although relatively drought-tolerant, for the first season of growth and while the roots establish themselves, water deeply once to twice weekly, depending on your local weather conditions and especially if your conditions are hot and dry.

History and Origins of the Gold Dust Aucuba Plant

Aucuba japonica is native to the shaded and moist woodlands of Japan, Korea and China. In 1783, it was introduced in England by John Graeffer and thrived in heated greenhouses. By the 19th Century, it became widely cultivated by gardeners nicknaming it the “Gold Plant” due to its colorful yellow and green foliage. In the 1860s, Robert Hall, who introduced Hall’s honeysuckle that now has become invasive in the Eastern United States and taking over large swaths of woodland areas, introduced the plant to gardeners in the U.S. Since then and due to its hardy nature and shade-tolerant qualities, the plant has become an old-time garden favorite.

All of our Aucuba plants are grown their entire lives in containers in a nursery environment with all their needs and considerations met. Be assured when your receive one of our Gold Dust plants it’s been nurtured to live a long, happy and healthy life in your garden environment.