aucuba japonica

[tinman10101]

hello all. now that my garden is filling out and lack sunlight in many areas (actually funny saying that in santa clarita 😁), I've been looking for more shaded accent plants.  reading on one of @Tracy topic of Acacia cognata, i threw one in heavy shade and fingers crossed, i hope it grows half as nice as his.  

one plant ive been trying to find is some variegated species of aucuba japonica.  the first time i saw the variegated "ooba nakafu"was at HBG (huntington gardens), it jumped out with full contrasting fabulous colors.  it was a gorgeous site.   specifically are the following varieties i am in search of or any other cool ones you might know:

these are from plant delights and if anything i would purchase from them but there must be some sources in socal that carry this plant.  please let me know your experiences if any or nursery suggestions.  

thanks in advance.

tin

[tinman10101]

i realize that most of these plants are more common on the east coast and perhaps that is why they are not so readily available in the west coast

 

[Chester B]

Acuba is sold at every garden center and big box store here in Oregon.  Private nurseries tend to have more varieties.  Cistus nursery does do mail order and carries a number of Acuba.  What I can tell you is they tend to grow these from cuttings so no two plants of the same variety are exactly the same.  They can vary a great deal and do sometimes have sections that revert green so you need to cut them out

[tinman10101]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

Acuba is sold at every garden center and big box store here in Oregon.  Private nurseries tend to have more varieties.  Cistus nursery does do mail order and carries a number of Acuba.  What I can tell you is they tend to grow these from cuttings so no two plants of the same variety are exactly the same.  They can vary a great deal and do sometimes have sections that revert green so you need to cut them out

Thank you so much for this ... I will try to contact Cistus Nursery.  

[Merlyn]

I was considering Aucuba Japonica for some shady areas, but hadn't seen the solid-to-mostly-solid yellow leaves.  The yellow center looks like it might have another name too, "Picturata" at Monrovia.  So that might be distributed to local nurseries too.  Wilson Bros Gardens in GA carries the Picturata name. 

[tinman10101]

Do you grow any @Chester B? Any pics of so?

[Jack Lord]

Somewhat common and readily available on the East Coast. I would not doubt you have loads of mail order options.

Basically treat it like a Camellia. Shady location and good organic soil that stays moist. You would probably need to stay on top of watering during the California Summer. Should do well there.

I have two that grow on a shady slope underneath a Honeysuckle Tree volunter which is my "stand in Live Oak." The one drawback is the deer tend to like them.

 

[tinman10101]

6 minutes ago, Jack Lord said:

Somewhat common and readily available on the East Coast. I would not doubt you have loads of mail order options.

Basically treat it like a Camellia. Shady location and good organic soil that stays moist. You would probably need to stay on top of watering during the California Summer. Should do well there.

I have two that grow on a shady slope underneath a Honeysuckle Tree volunter which is my "stand in Live Oak." The one drawback is the deer tend to like them.

 

Thanks for the info. Fortunately, No deer hear although my wife loves them. 

How readily do they spread out?

[Jack Lord]

3 hours ago, tinman10101 said:

Thanks for the info. Fortunately, No deer hear although my wife loves them. 

How readily do they spread out?

Not insane, but they do not stay small. Casual pruning will be fine.

[Merlyn]

I was looking at the "Picturata" version to add a little color to some of my shady areas.  I did read that they can have issues with root knot nematodes, does anyone have any direct experience?

[tinman10101]

Were you able to find some somewhere Arthur?  I found some online if you want me DM you but they won't ship to Florida or California because they are both Agricultural states.  Picturata is number one on my list.