Plant Library

Other Names:  Camellia sinensis f. macrophylla

Description:

An evergreen shrub or small tree, that is primarily grown for its stunning variegated foliage; large, deep green glossy leaves are splashed with pale yellow; provide rich, acidic, moist, well-drained soil

Ornamental Features

Yellow Tea Plant has attractive buttery yellow-variegated dark green foliage which emerges light green in spring on a plant with an upright spreading habit of growth. The large glossy pointy leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter. It features showy lightly-scented white round flowers with gold eyes at the ends of the branches from late winter to early spring.

Landscape Attributes

Yellow Tea Plant is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Yellow Tea Plant is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Yellow Tea Plant will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub does best in partial shade to shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth, but will die in standing water. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for rich, acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in both summer and winter to conserve soil moisture and protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Yellow Tea Plant makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Its large size and upright habit of growth lend it for use as a solitary accent, or in a composition surrounded by smaller plants around the base and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.