Aucuba japonica 'Picturata' 2Ltr

Aucuba japonica 'Picturata'

A brilliant choice for lighting up the darkest, most difficult corners of the garden. This vigorous, rounded evergreen shrub bears glossy, dark green leaves with toothed edges, each boldly splashed with a dramatic central yellow blotch and speckled with smaller yellow spots — genuinely eye-catching foliage that holds its colour all year round. Small purple flowers with yellow stamens appear in spring; this is a male form, so no berries follow, making it a tidy, low-fuss choice rather than a fruiting one.

Remarkably tolerant, 'Picturata' will grow in full shade, full sun or anything in between, and copes well with dry soil, pollution and salt-laden coastal winds — ideal for tricky spots where little else thrives. It forms a substantial, bushy shrub reaching 2.5–4m in height and spread over 10–20 years, making it equally at home as a specimen plant, in a mixed border, or clipped as a dense, impenetrable hedge or screen. Falls into pruning group one, so trim hedges in spring, and even old or leggy plants respond well to hard renovation pruning.

Each plant is hand-selected before dispatch.