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Fallopia Varieg As a Deciduous Shrub

20 years ago

On my "lessons learned from Great Ct Gardeners" thread on the New Eng forum,I forgot to mention one 'trick' that i want to use in the future. at various gardens i visited, i kept seeing what i thought was a Cercis silver cloud- bright white and green variaga, fountain shape, 4-5' tall. i'd get up close and find that it was FALLOPIA varieg. Has the mass and visual impact of a shrub. and CERTAINLY easier to grow than other things equivalent to it. Also, it is NOT invasive, just runs a little- even in the most advantageous of moist conditions. SO.... i gonna try this- when I want a clean true white variega shrub to brighten up a spot. I have a swath of it in one area, up against a stucture, but i'm gonna plop it out in the beds and let it be an easy-care 'shrub'!

best, Mindy

Here is a link that might be useful: Ct Lessons I learned

Comments (14)

  • 20 years ago

    I am LOVING this! Planted one last spring as a very small qt. size and this yr. it is 5.5'x 3.5'. It is gorgeous, will definitely be adding more.

  • 20 years ago

    When doing that don't forget that slugs could devour it overnight.

  • 20 years ago

    Assuming it really is that tame all it has to do is revert and you've got the typical plant in your border.

  • 20 years ago

    I have it for 4 years and there is no sign of reversion so far.
    Don't see invasive tendencies, either.

  • 20 years ago

    I have it in 4 different areas in my yard and luckily haven't had any slug problems. However, the leaves on my plant in afternoon sun gets some brown edges b/c I think it prefers shade and moisture-my other plants are sited better-well they have shade at least-not much moisture. Have never had any green shoots either in the 8 years since I planted my first one.

  • 20 years ago

    That is what left out of 3x3' plant (most damaged stems are pruned already) when slugs issue was left unaddressed after previous series of rains
    {{gwi:265213}}

  • 20 years ago

    I wasn't familiar with this plant so I looked it up on the Monrovia site. I don't know, anything described as "spreading indefinitely by underground runners" isn't going on my plant list. I'm still trying to eradicate the aegoppodium that was here when we bought the house. Pretty foliage, though.

  • 20 years ago

    2 years and no issues here. I have it in full sun - dry and unwatered and it looks fabulous. Super tall and easy to trim. Juicylucy Plant Twin...are you stalking me in the nurseries? LOL

  • 20 years ago

    I have had it 6-8 years. I am agnostic on the spreading issue. So I planted mine in big plastic pots---my favorite nusery has a garbage bin full of them---sunck into the ground except for the top 2 inches.

    I have definitely had one or two roots make it outside the cage and promptly pulled. But with control it is well behaved.

    No sign at all of reversion.

    8-10 feet tall and gorgeous.

  • 20 years ago

    I yielded to an invitation at a university trial garden a couple of years ago to pull some up and try it, so I did and really like it. But then I have a lot of space I need to smother weeds out of, and it's great for that--in our case a sunny edge of the driveway that's well seeded with crabgass. I haven't found it invasive at all yet, just a very happy and handsome spreader and occupier that will elbow aside plants that can't tolerate competition. Asters and glads that stuck their ground are growing and blooming happily so far in the middle of the clump, but I don't know how long that can continue. One thing not always mentioned about it is that around bloom time (about now) the leaves develop a rust coloration in their patterning, at least here, not a disease but definitely something to take into account in positioning. In our zone it dies back totally in winter. No reversion. 4-5 feet tall.

  • 20 years ago

    Ugh, why didn't anyone tell me this is a Japanese Beetle magnet?!?! I've spent the past several days picking gazillions of beetles off of it, probably won't be adding more after all :~)

    Ademink, I swear I'm not stalking you although it sure seems like it! The only explanation is that we both have excellent taste in plants ROFL!

  • 20 years ago

    rosie, thanks for your info, but you forgot to tell us your location and zone so we can see if your post has any relevance for us!! i'm in z. 5 just north of boston and this fallopia and most all perennials die to the ground here in winter. in my 4 years of experience with this plant, it has never taken on a rusty coloration and it has never been a jap beetle magnet. i'm knockin' on my head (and then my shovel handle just in case that's not good enough.)
    best, mindy

  • 20 years ago

    Mine are TOTALLY untouched by JB's! Weird! They seem WAY too interested in the wild grape vine on the fence. I say eat away, little nasty thangs - I don't care about THAT plant. LOL

  • 20 years ago

    Mine has been in 7 years in p.shade moist spot. It has sent out about 5 runners, but it is a stunning plant. The jb have been all over it. I sprayed mine with rose spray. They are leaving it alone now. It's about 6ft x 5ft. Great plant!