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About this plant
What makes this plant special
'Emerald Gaiety' won the RHS Award of Garden Merit for its vigour and light-catching foliage. The dark green, grey-flecked leaves are bordered with broad bands of creamy white that turn rosy in winter. Free-standing, it makes a bushy hump about 1 m high and 1.5 m wide, while a wall or fence lets it climb to some 3 m.
Spindle tree Euonymus
Spindles (Euonymus) are shrubs, small trees and creeping or climbing plants, mostly from Asia, with one native European species. The group combines evergreen species with glossy, often variegated foliage and deciduous species grown for their fiery autumn colour. The small flowers are inconspicuous, but the four-lobed pink to red capsules that split open to reveal brightly coloured seeds are a real feature in autumn.
Euonymus fortunei
Wintercreeper is an evergreen, creeping to mounding shrub from East Asia that can also climb walls and trees by means of clinging aerial roots, much like ivy. It is grown for its small, often variegated leaves in green, cream or gold, which sometimes take on pinkish tints in winter. Garden forms are compact and slow-growing.
Location and soil
Grows in sun or shade, even fairly deep shade, though variegated forms colour best with some light. It accepts most soils, including chalky ones, provided they do not stay wet, and tolerates urban conditions and salt spray. Very hardy; established plants cope with some drought.
Pruning and care
Trim lightly in April to keep the plant dense and tidy; for low hedges and edging, clip just the leafy tips. Stems that touch the ground may root, so keep spreading growth in check. Remove any shoots that revert to plain green on variegated plants. The berries are not edible.
Use in the garden
A versatile evergreen for ground cover on slopes and banks, low hedges and edging as an alternative to box, rock gardens, containers and window boxes. It can also be trained against a wall or fence to cover it with year-round foliage.
Plant characteristics
Botanical
| Family | Celastraceae |
| Genus | Euonymus |
| Species | fortunei |
| Cultivar | 'Emerald Gaiety' |
Flowering
| Flowers | inconspicuous |
Foliage
| Evergreen | yes |
| Colour (foliage) | green, white, variegated |
Growth habit
| Height | 50 cm |
Location
| Winter hardiness | -20 °C |
| Soil type | neutral |
| Location | sun, half shade |
| Soil moisture | moist, normal |
Use
| Type (use) | shrub, hedge plant, ground cover, in group |
Care
| Pruning | yes, april |
