11” Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’

Bios

Seen in open gardens across Asia and Asia Pacific both as groomed plants or as hedging emerald gaiety is an evergreen that requires little or no care. This hardy ground cover is a favourite among landscape designers and home gardners for their tiny, two coloured leaves that love the sun. Happy in open gardens, or in bright indoor settings here is a plant that goes by the industrial phrase “fit and forget”.

Adopting and caring for a fortunei

Adopting: If you are looking for low, or no care gardening options Fortunei emerald gaiety is a great option. Here is a no fuss, no stress plant that will demand very little of you.

Locating: Here is a plant that is perfectly at home in hot and humid tropical sun. If you are growing them indoors a sunny balcony, window sill or even an open terrace are ideal to get the best from this species. Locating them in low light or no light areas will mean that the plant will lose its beautiful variegation.

Potting: Since these plants are natives of the tropics they need porous, well-drained soils. They do well in a 30:30:30:10 mix of coco-peat, compost, coarse sand and Perlite.

Watering: Fortunei do well in soils that are not too overly moist. It’s a good idea to hold off watering them until the top layer of soil is dry to touch. Droopy leaves are a sign that the potting mixture is parched and the plant needs to be watered.

Fertilising: If your potting mix is right, these plants will not require too much fertiliser. However nourishing them with an organic liquid fertiliser two or three times a year will help them do well. If you are using a chemical mix, ensure that they don’t touch the stalk or its leaves. This could damage the plant.

Did you know

Did You Know: Left to their own, emerald gaiety can grow wild and uncontrolled. Groom them and they can be quite an eye catching.