PlantFiles: Gold Dust Plant, Variegated Japanese Aucuba, Japanese Laurel
Aucuba japonica 'Variegata'

I've had success in zone 6b (SE Massachusetts) with this plant. Zero degrees F killed a few leaves, but other than that, it remained healthy and green. As others have suggested, there is potential for this plant in zone 6 gardens.

I grew this plant in Richmond, Virginia for years. It lined my house on the wall on the north side of the house, which was shaded for most of the day. I never did anything to protect it from the cold or snow. In the winter I would cut off several large cuttings and place them in a vase of water. They would brighten up the house for weeks at a time and would root while in the vase. My plants did occasionally have black leaves, but I would periodically cut them back so there was usually new growth.

I purchased mine ten years ago when I bought my house. It is in a dappled shady spot that would get no direct sunlight. It grew very slowly, but in the third year of having it, it exploded, & now is one of the main attractions of my backyard & seems VERY healthy!!

There is a very simple, beautiful contemporary house near me with many of them in front doing great and it is a beautiful site. The must do very well here in Dallas.

I am neutral about this plant because I have tried to grow 2 of them - only 1 seems to be surviving. Slowly but surely the leafs and the stems on the other one are turning black. As it is in shade, I believe it has a fungus or is diseased. I have sprayed it well a few times but it continues to die little by little. It is approx 2 years old and growing in a large pot.

I didnot know what this plant was until today. I didnot know it needed to be in shade. Mine is in sun and its doing great. I love the color.

Acuba Golddust is about as carefree as you can get. I am growing 7 plants in full shade from deciduous trees, with some receiving dappled morning sunlight in the summer. Drought tolerant, easy to transplant, even easier to propagate and attractive year round.

I inherited this plant 2 years ago when we moved to a new house. Didn't know what it was until yesterday. So in the last 2 years, I've done very little to it - it gets some water twice a week because the lawn sprinklers water the adjacent area of grass, but no additional. It's in a partially shaded spot under another large yucca-type plant and our soil is on the clay side. It has grown quite a bit this past winter, about a foot, with average rainfall for this area, and it looks quite pretty. Only negative is that last summer, the exterior leaves scorched black. It will probably do so again this summer. Seems to bounce back though.

I live in an apartment and I have a Gold Dust plant in a pot inside my apartment. My plant looks beautiful and healthy.

I grow this in the shadiest possible corner of my yard in Sofia, 2300 feet AMSL, zone 6b. Have had no problems whatsoever with Gold Dust Plant. It has been crushed by loads of cleared snow, and has regrown vigorously. Its site never seems to dry out.
There is one thing you should keep in mind with this plant and that is - avoid DIRECT sunlight. I've seen plants in such sunny situations and they look horrible, all burned and ailing.
I've seen hedges of this in Prague, Czech republic, tall plants in Bratislava, Slovakia, and they were all wonderful.

Aucuba is beyond its reported hardiness zone here in the Connecticut River Valley near Hartford, but I'm told they do well on the Connecticut Sound and Long Island. I rooted two cuttings taken in Richmond, VA in 2001 and planted one on the north side of my house and one to the north of a yew hedge; both locations are bright shade. The first winter I protected the young plants with an overturned peach basket full of oak leaves. Since then, they have slowly grown to about 4' without protection or pampering, and are lush and full. Aucuba does best in cool damp climates like the Pacific Northwest, so here they are merely a curiosity. I've heard they are massive in Ireland.

I have this plant. It's been pretty tough. I cut it back down to the ground when I didn't know what it was and it came back. This should give a clue that pruning won't kill it. It will put off new buds from the sticks left after pruning but I recommend testing on your own plant. Mine is in full sun but I have to make sure it gets water once a week when it gets into the 80's or higher. It doesn't like frost. I have a PVC frame around mine and cover it on frosty/freezing nites and that prevents the black tips. My plant is less than 4 ft high and has taken 6 years to grow that tall from being cut back to the ground.

I had one of these in a sheltered spot next to the house where it got a little late afternoon sun. It thrived for years, even when I cut it back severely several times. I threw the cuttings in a pile in the shade of a pine tree and a year later found two little new plants sprouting from them. I also took a stem cutting and grew a plant indoors.

Deer DO eat this shrub in my yard, however. That's the only negative to it. I bought another one and the deer ate it to the ground over the winter. It came back nicely and this winter I will put up some kind of protection around it.

I recently moved into a house with 2 of these in the yard. They obviously like the conditions, close to the house, south side, mostly shade, zone 7. The larger one is about 7 ft tall and at least 5 ft around, both very full and healthy looking. Can anyone tell me about cutting them back? They have grown to partially block the entry sidewalk. When to cut back-spring? fall? and how much without hurting the plant? Thanks.

I love the way this plant looks, but I have had no success getting it to grow in my San Diego garden. It burns up in the sun and fails to thrive in the shade. I've tried several plants in different areas in my garden, but they always die. Almost everything thrives in my garden, but this plant has been quite a disappointment to me.

Deer hate this plant/bush. But I love it, only I cannot get it to grow in a pot. I've kept it in shade and check it every week only to find the the stalks are getting soft. I'll try the method of just putting them in water for a few weeks.

My friend's mother from Maryland gave me a start of this plant last January (2007). I brought it back to Oklahoma on the plane with me wrapped in wet paper towels in a plastic bag. I put it in a container of just regular tap water. In about 30 days, roots started growing, then about 3 months after I put it in water, a small puple flower appeared close to the water line. I was so amazed by it I took a close-up of it, which I'll try to send. It reminded me of a very tiny water lily. I haven't seen any other pictures of these flowers like this.

Very nice plants! One of a very few evergreen plants in this area that have a tropical look. Had some varigated sports that I took cuttings from - turned out quite nice- hope to post pics soon.

I have two of these plants which were planted in 1987. They stand 3-1/2 feet tall at this time. I have never seen any "fruit" on these- probably due to the lack of gender or nearby opposing gendered plants.

I live in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is between the two other PA locations listed.

They have been a hardy plant set, considering they're located on the border of the driveway where salt and road contaminants can get washed into their beds easily.

I, too, have experienced the blackened tips of the plants- though I wasn't sure if this was winter damage or sunlight. (They are located right next to the house on the east side, and receive light only between the hours of 10am and noon during the winter.) The black tips snap off on their own during early summer, and I do not usually see them until the following spring again.

I don't know if they have a propensity for attracting ants, but the only place I've found them in my entire yard was around the base of these. Again: they are located next to the pavement, which is certainly a place ants like to build.

I'd recommend these, provided you have the right sun location and lack deer.

This plant supplies great foliage for the area of my shaded patio. It grows slowly and if a male and female plant are close to each other the female plant may produce bright red berries all winter long. pokerboy.

It sure isn't fast growing, but my experience has been that it is quite easy-going. It's very disease resistant, and pretty drought tolerant. On top of that it's beautiful all year around.

Edgewood, Wa. I have one growing in the woods behind my house. It is in the shade and I keep it trimmed to block any future development. It is a bush that stands 10-14 foot tall and is just as wide. Is a bright spot in the dark green of the woods. I have broken off limbs about 8-12 inches long and stuck them directly into the soil. The have rooted, no hormone, just keep them moist. Make a great looking hedge.

After I bought this plant, and my mom told me she'd grown this successfully years ago in the San Jose, CA, area, which has semi-coastal influence, I almost threw it out. I live in the border area of Sunset zones 8 & 14 in N. California, which gets very hot in the summer. I planted it in full shade last year, and it's growing like crazy now, the new light green leaves contrasting beautifully with the older growth. It's only about 1 ft. tall now, so I look forward to more growth in the future.

UPDATE - 03/03/2010
Yikes, 6 years later, and my poor plant has been destroyed by the neighbors! They cut back an oleander and a walnut tree to the west, making my shady area into an afternoon-sun area. Black leaves, no new growth - it's sad. Rest in pieces, Aucuba.

you can't kill it. I've had to have several trees removed in my back yard, and each time these bushes are right in the way of the truck access. they cut them down to nubbs, and one year later there 3 feet tall again.

In my area, this plant is like "Deer Candy". Deer have completely destroyed my 3 plants.

I've found that sun damage results in blackened leaves.

Can only tolerate sunny spots in cooler regions...direct sun can cause sunburn and defoliation. Flowers are very small. Pest problems include nematodes. Must have well drained soil or the roots will rot.

This plant is dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers are produced on separate individuals. The female plants will produce attractive clusters of bright scarlet fruit in the late fall and winter if there's a male plant close by.

Probably the best-known aucuba, has dark green glossy leaves spotted with yellow. Requires shade from hot sun; accepts deep shade. Nice container plants for shady terraces, or plant underneath trees where they will tolerate low light and successfully compete with tree roots.