Variegated Pittosporum

Pittosporum tobira ‘Variegata’

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 8a-11 (7b?) Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Evergreen Flowering Shrub

Height at Maturity: 4-8′ depending on pruning

Width at Maturity: 5-8′ depending on pruning

Spacing: 4-5′ for solid hedges; 12′ or more for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Broad, Bushy, Dense, Mounding, Upright

Growth Rate: Moderate to Fast, slower in shade

Flower Color: White

Flower Size: Small, inconspicuous against foliage

Flowering Period: Mid Spring

Flower Type: Single

Fragrant Flowers: Yes

Foliage Color: Mint Green, Creamy White

Fragrant Foliage: No

Berries: No

Berry Color: NA

Sun Needs: Full to Mostly Sun. All Day Filtered Sun, Morning Sun With Afternoon Shade. Morning Shade with Afternoon Sun

Water Needs: Very Low when established

Soil Type: Clay (Amended), Loam, Sandy, Silty

Soil Moisture / Drainage: Well Drained Moist to Dry

Soil pH: 5.5 – 7.0 (Acid to Neutral)

Maintenance / Care: Very Low

Attracts: Visual Attention

Resistances: Deer – more info, Disease, Drought, Dry Soil, Heat, Insect

Description

Variegated Pittosporum, also known as Japanese Mock Orange, is a handsome, dense and mounding evergreen shrub featuring attractive, variegated creamy white and light grayish blue-green foliage. The flowers go unnoticed against the foliage, however are pleasantly fragrant, perfuming your yard for weeks during spring with the sweet smell of orange blossoms. Trims well for hedges and can be trained to form a small or bonsai. Grows in full sun and part shade.

Landscape & Garden Uses

Growing in a rounded mound 4 to 8 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide (depending on pruning), the Variegated Pittosporum can be grown as a large shrub or small tree. As a shrub, its dense foliage makes it ideal for use as an evergreen hedge or background, or to frame corners or fill voids between widely-spaced windows in home foundation plantings. As it grows, which it does rather quickly, lower branches can be removed to desired height and you have a small focal point specimen tree for use in sunny to partially shaded landscape borders and home foundation plantings. Excellent for bonsai. A fine addition to fragrance gardens, white theme gardens, rock gardens, tropical look gardens and the Xeriscape (low water needs).

Suggested Spacing: 5 feet apart for a solid hedge; 12 feet or more apart for space between plants

Note: For our customers who live and garden North of USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 8a, where this Pittosporum variety is not reliably winter hardy, you’ll be happy to know it can be grown in containers that can be brought indoors during winter and placed back outside when temperatures warm up in spring.

Growing Preferences

Variegated Pittosporum is easy to grow in most any moist but well-drained loose soil and full sun to partial shade. It will need some water while establishing itself however is exceptionally drought tolerant when established. No pruning is necessary, however plants can be pruned to shape or control size, as a formal hedge, or lower branches can be removed to form a very attractive small tree.

Note: For helpful advice from our experts, click on the Planting & Care tab above on desktop computer monitors or below on mobile devices

Plant Long & Prosper!

Meet The Wilson Brothers & Staff

Questions? Contact Us

Received another good size plant from WB. Highly recommend.————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

I am very familiar with the regular mock orange so when I saw this variety I was excited. The plant arrived and I was surprised how large it was. I am keeping it in a large container. She is a bit sparse right now but I am sure within the year and next she will become more dense. The fact that the plant is an evergreen is huge in Seattle.———————————We are so glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG

Wilson Bros Gardens is one of my absolute favorite nurseries! The quality, size and health of their plants far surpasses many other mail order nurseries. All 3 of the Japanese Mock Orange plants I received are in extremely good health, with strong branches, new leaves branching out all over and healthy root systems. They traveled cross country and were packaged very securely in a strong cardboard box, so there was no damage when they arrived. I should also mention that the soil was still moist after a 7 day trip! I am truly impressed with this nursery and I happily recommend them to everybody!———————————————-WBG Reply: Hi Emily, Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review of the Variegated Pittosporum-Japanese Mock Orange. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the kind words!
Beth Steele | Wilson Bros Gardens

Your company was new to me and I was delighted with the informed salesperson, prompt delivery and clean and healthy plant I received. I will order again and recommend you highly. ——– WBG Reply: Hi Patirica – Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review! We’re glad you found us and sincerely appreciate your business. Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. We’re at your service! – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens