Stripes, Spots, and Edges
Variegated leaves have patches with little or no chlorophyll, which show as white, cream, or yellow. Most variegated plants began as rare mutations that gardeners kept; since the pale parts make little food, these plants often grow more slowly.
Variegated Chinese Privet
Ligustrum sinense ‘Variegatum’
A hedge shrub with small leaves edged in cream. The pale edges have little chlorophyll, so the green centers do most of the food-making.
Variegated Lily Turf
Liriope muscari ‘Variegata’
Grassy leaves striped green and yellow, with spikes of purple flowers and black berries. Like mondo grass, it isn’t a grass but a relative of asparagus.
Variegated Rubber Plant
Ficus elastica ‘Variegata’
A variegated rubber fig, whose milky sap was once tapped to make rubber. The rubber fig grows wild in the forests of northeast India.
Variegated Cape Ivy
Senecio macroglossus ‘Variegatus’
It looks like ivy, but it is a climbing member of the daisy family from South Africa, with thick, waxy, cream-edged leaves.
Polka Dot Plant
Hypoestes phyllostachya
Its leaves are splashed with pink spots, as if someone flicked paint on them. It comes from Madagascar.
Moses-in-the-Cradle
Tradescantia spathacea
Its leaves are green on top and purple underneath. Its small white flowers sit in boat-shaped bracts, like a baby in a cradle.
Gold Dust Croton
Codiaeum variegatum ‘Gold Dust’
Dark green leaves sprinkled with golden dots, as if dusted with paint. The gold spots have little chlorophyll, so the green parts do most of the food-making.
Moonshadow Euonymus
Euonymus fortunei ‘Moonshadow’
Each leaf has a bright gold center and a dark green edge, the reverse of many variegated plants. It can creep along the ground or climb a wall.
More in Looks, Scents, and Surprises
The garden is alive and changes through the year. Some plants flower, fruit, or rest only in certain seasons, so what you see depends on when you visit.
See them for yourself
Every plant here grows on our campus in Bhaktapur. Walk the garden on your visit.
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