Other Names:  Boxleaf Azara

Description:

A graceful, layered evergreen shrub or small tree with tiny, glossy green foliage with cream margins; petal-less cream flowers along the branches have a delicious vanilla fragrance; tremendous as an accent under taller trees, or as a hedge or screen

Ornamental Features

Variegated Box-Leaf Azara is clothed in stunning clusters of fragrant creamy white pincushion flowers along the branches from late winter to early spring. It has attractive dark green foliage edged in creamy white with hints of buttery yellow. The tiny glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter. It features an abundance of magnificent scarlet berries with orange overtones from early to mid summer.

Landscape Attributes

Variegated Box-Leaf Azara is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a stunning habit of growth which features almost oriental horizontally-tiered branches. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

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 is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Variegated Box-Leaf Azara is recommended for the following landscape applications;

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

Planting & Growing

Variegated Box-Leaf Azara will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.