- Carithers Flowers Main Website- Wikipedia: Variegated Pittosporum

Variegated Pittosporum

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This small evergreen plant also goes by the names Japanese cheesewood, kohuhu, kohukohu or Black Matipo. Cultivars also grow them under the name ‘Nigricans’ because of its blackstems. The majority of the Pittosporum species exist as ornamental shrubs or plants and are valued for their beautiful and fragrant blooms which always have five petals. The Pittosporum is a genus which includes 200 species of flowering shrub and hedge. Most variegated varieties have light green foliage with cream-colored edges. Without heavy pruning, the Variegated Pittosporum will bear orange blossom scented flowers in the spring. In horticulture, it’s valued for its colored foliage and for its tolerance of some horticulturally difficult growing conditions. The shrub will grow eight to twelve feet high with a twelve to eighteen inch spread.

Growing Recommendations - Variegated Pittosporum

In order to hydrate the seeds before planting, they must be placed in a pot of warm water for about six hours. By doing this, the chances of successfully sprouting greatly increases. Dig a hole a foot deep by a foot in diameter in a place where they will receive no less than six hours of direct sunlight a day. Fill the holes with generic potting soil and put one seed case about six inches deep into the potting soil of each hole. Let them sit for a week without watering. After the week is over, water them twice weekly but only enough to make the soil damp. Continue to water at the same rate and you should expect to see the hedges sprout in about a month. The plant should be pruned into a round shape once it has finished flowering. Remove the dead and broken branches before using loppers to create the round appearance. Start from the bottom and work up and maintain tree growth by removing lower branches as they appear. The Variegated Pittosporum is a hardy, quick-growing shrub adaptable to most conditions and has the desirable habit of holding its foliage right at ground level.

Photos of Variegated Pittosporum

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