If Foliage grows in a large pot, it will highlight a courtyard, patio or indoor situation. Occasional pruning checks excessive growth and encourages base growth, and old leggy bushes that have become ungainly may be rejuvenated by cuttings back to 30-60 cm above ground level. Readily propagated, cutting the stems in late autumn and winter. Various variegated forms may be sold under this name, some more colorful than others. Leaf color will remain the same throughout the plant’s life. A good-looking foliage tree or shrub, the Butter Knife Bush (Cunonia capensis) gives continual interest in an outdoor or indoor location. An evergreen ranging from 2-8 m in height and 1.5-4 m across, this multi-branched plant has claret colored twigs and branches.
Flat, erect, lime green stipules, resembling butter knives, appear throughout the warmer months; these open to reveal a pair of small light green leaflets, tinged bronze, which mature into large dark green leaves. Masses of cream spikes of blooms cover the Butter Knife Bush in late summer and autumn. These are followed by brown berries. A very hardy plants for temperate to warm temperate areas. It will grow in any reasonable soil in sun or shade, and tolerates dry or cool conditions but not severe frost. In harsh situations it will remain a small shrub but given good soil and regular moisture the Butter Knife Bush will rapidly grow into a tree.
