In the garden and on the terrace, the dominant colors in our plants are greens of very different shades. Contrasts are often sought, and plants with nuances are added to break up this dominance of color. This is where the large group of variegated plants comes in, which are those whose leaves or stems display shades of white, cream, yellowish, or green that are lighter than the rest of the plant. They can be from trees to bushes, Perennial herbaceous plants or even annual plants that experience a single vegetative cycle, from autumn or spring to summer, for example. Although not widely used, the term variegated plants can also be heard to refer to them.
It's not usually a question of species that are different from their parents, but rather small mutations that cause this lack of chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for photosynthesis and giving plants their green color. Other times, this lack of pigmentation can have another cause. One of the possible causes is what is known as chimera: individuals who genetically have two types of tissues, which makes them prone to creating parts without chlorophyll, as if they were two plants joined into one.
Yone Martiarena, a passionate collector of variegated plants from Hernani (Gipuzkoa), describes her attraction to this botanical group: “A green plant has its flower and its color at a certain time, but a variegated plant is greatly enjoyed all season long and provides a lot of light in the garden and in the house.”
In this it coincides Fran Villegas, gardener at the Alhambra from Granada: “About 12 years ago, we planted a few variegated boxwoods (Buxus sempervirens 'Argenteovariegata') in the Alhambra forest, at the foot of the walls. They were planted to contrast with the predominant greens of so many shrubs, and the effect generated by these boxwoods. among the acanthus (Acanthus mollis) is fabulous.”
This virtue of illuminating dark corners is possessed by variegated shrubs as popular as the aucuba (Aucuba japonica 'Crotonifolia'), perfect for growing in shady situations, which increases its interest. Other classic shrubs are all the euonymus (Euonymus spp.), a large genus, both for the number of its species and varieties and for its gardening tradition. With euonymus, you have to be careful with one of the peculiarities of many variegated plants: their instability in displaying their unique genetics. When least expected, these varieties with yellowish or whitish leaves activate a completely green branch, spoiling the overall effect of its variegation. It is then that these green parts must be removed, since they have more chlorophyll and, therefore, obtain much more energy for the plant than the variegated parts. If they were not cut, the plant would suffer a reversal of forms: little by little, the green parts become more important and they take up more space, to the detriment of variegated ones.
For this reason, a variegated plant will always grow more slowly than a non-variegated plant of the same species, which doesn't suffer this loss of chlorophyll. Martiarena emphasizes this point: "These plants are often smaller and more delicate than if they were completely green." Therefore, they require special care in their cultivation.
Asier Bilbao, another collector of variegated plants in Gipuzkoa, puts his finger on the sore spot with this issue, since many people tend to dislike them: "At first they seemed sickly to me, but now, however, I see the beauty of their different tones." And that initial thought is not entirely misguided, because there are also viruses that cause discoloration in the leaves of species such as durillos (Viburnum tinus), something very common that is seen in the hedges that are created with this species.
“My first variegated plants were some as common as a pothos (Epipremnum aureum), the phytonia (Fittonia albivenis) and the typical tapes (Chlorophytum comosum 'Vittatum'). Now I have others, like a beautiful one Monstera variegated or a Ficus elastica "'Tineke' is even lighter than the usual ones and I found it in France," explains Bilbao. The world of variegated varieties is of great interest to many growers and has a huge number of followers on social media, as evidenced by he hashtag #variegatedFridays on Instagram, For example.
“Variegated plants make us fall in love with their rare beauty,” says Mishara García, an expert grower and connoisseur of this type of plants, “you just have to see the Monstera 'Thai Constellation'. Although my favorite is the Philodendron 'Pink Princess,' which has variegations ranging from pale pink to fuchsia, which, when combined with its intense green, creates a unique contrast. This craze is leading to variegated indoor plants reaching exorbitant prices, even thousands of euros, due to the scarcity of certain varieties.
But we can start an interesting collection without spending a lot of money with some of the varieties that Yone Martiarena recommends: “The incense plant (Plectranthus coleoides 'Marginatus'), the variegated agapanthus (Agapanthus var.) or the aspidistras like the 'Milky Way', so beautiful.” Albication, another term coined by the Catalan botanist Pius Font i Quer for this phenomenon of variegated plants, has a legion of peaceful followers.
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