Aucuba - Gold Dust or Green

Gold Dust Aucuba is a striking shade-loving evergreen shrub with foliage heavily speckled with golden yellow and irregularly variegated giving an overall green-yellow appearance.  Aucuba are dioecious with the berries growing in abundance on the female plants. The tiny maroon flowers bloom in early spring, while the bright red berries that ripen in fall and last until spring.  Best foliage color in partial sun and rich, moist and well-drained soils.  Deer resistant.

MAINTENANCE NEEDS: Low maintenance.   Water weekly.  Keep young plants out of the direct sun, or leaves will develop black spots.  Root rot can be a problem in poorly-drained or overly moist soils. Southern blight, leaf spot, scale, mealybugs, and nematodes are occasional issues.

LANDSCAPE USES:  Accents or Group Plantings, Borders, Woodland Gardens, Wildlife Gardens, Naturalized Areas,  Coastal Exposure, Urban Gardens, Foundational Plantings, and Hedges.

COMPANION PLANTS: Cast Iron Plant, Holly Fern, Camellia

IMAGES: Photo by Maggie, Aucuba japonica 'Variegata', (2) Wouter Hagens, Aucuba japonica 'Variegata' A, CC BY-SA 4.0, (3) Kurt Stüber [1], Aucuba japonica4, CC BY-SA 3.0

*As plants have ranges in appearance they may not appear as the images shown.