In your garden plans, don’t overlook the value of foliage that remains decorative throughout the year. Trees and shrubs with attractive variegated leaves or in color other than green make satisfying (and permanent) focal points of interest, while the infinite range of green foliage plants can be used to create a particular background or frame. Top marks to the shade-loving Gold Dust Tree (Aucuba japonica Variegate) for year-round showy foliage and the ease with which it can be grown. This indispensable shrub grows into a bushy. Heavily leaved plant’s 2-2.5 m tall and 1-1.5 m wide. Large oval, bold green leaves strikingly splashed, speckled or marbled with gold, have entire or toothed edges.
Female plants will bear clusters of red berries during winter if a male plant is grown nearby. A shrub for temperate and semi-tropical climates, the Gold Dust Tree does best in well drained, fertile soil, given moderate watering during the growing season. It has good frost resistance. Choose a position on shade, or semi-shade, as the leaves become scorched or bleached in hot sunlight. Seen to best advantage as mass planting; as screen; under large trees, or as contrast to dark surfaces of buildings or fences; and it adapts well with other foliage or flowering plants.
