PlantFiles: Variegated Japanese Knotweed, Speckled Mexican Bamboo
Fallopia japonica 'Variegata'

I planted a 3qt pot of this during the middle of a heat wave last summer. My garden is mostly shaded, and already full of hostas, so Fallopia Japonica seemed like a good, indestructible, choice to provide both foliage and height variation. It was well watered at first but, just like the rest of my garden, as the summer progressed it was subjected to increasing neglect. It never really grew at all-- just three branches of dainty, speckled leaves. I thought I had lost it over the winter, but just in the last week it has emerged and is growing with surprising gusto. I'm a little afraid of this plant. Probably best to keep slow moving pets away from it. Beautiful but deadly?

This is a beautiful carefree shrub...this variety is large. Green/white varigated leaves with reddish/pink veining and red stems. Large near white panicles form in August. It really attracts bees and butterflies. The only problem I have is that it tends to be very invasive sending out runners similar to trumpet vine.

A very lovely plant which literally glows. The strange thing about its variegation is that it will always clump the heaviest at the top leaves while the lower leaves are mostly green. Much less invasive than the green form, especially when grown in part shade. I'm thinking about trying it in woodland shade this year (2008). I won't suggest growing this variety in full sun.

This plant is actually considered an invasive species here in Maryland. It tends to take over in areas where the soil has recently been disturbed. It will also poison the soil and crowd out other species. It's a beautiful plant, when it's kept contained and under control. But be careful, because it can get out of hand, very quickly. I have a stand of it growing along the edge of the woods behind my house. It will get up to 8 feet tall. If it starts to get out of hand, it seems to stay under control if you just pull the shoots out of the ground, and then keep them trimmed. However, once it gets rooted in a certain area, I don't think it ever truly goes away.

It grows very quickly, so I imagine it would make a fine privacy screen. If anybody wants any, come on up to my place and you can take as much as you want. I don't worry...it'll be back!

This is a terrific decorative deciduous shrub/large perennial here in my zone 7 North Georgia garden. It dies completely to the ground in the winter, then grows to 4-1/2 to 5 tall feet by summer's end and suckers to form a nice clump. The pretty green-and-white foliage develops an additional soft rust tone as summer progresses, echoing the red stems.

It suckers vigorously in loose soil but is controllable and otherwise has been totally carefree. Although it would quickly run and overwhelm smaller plants in a well-dug flower border,it's very good in the shrub border by our driveway. Note, although its plant family, Polygonaceae, is full of nasty plant thugs, such as Japanese knotweed, this one's just a little pushy and there's been no indication so far that it would be invasive in our climate.

As we move into fall here in North Georgia, It's covered with its dainty little sprays of white flowers for yet another feature, and it's also a-hum with thousands of pollinating insects. Interestingly (what inspired me to drop a note here as people really need to know these things!), is that an astounding number of them are flies. My husband says he noted an unpleasant scent as he walked by, but when I went out and took a sniff it was very mild and seemed pleasant enough. But in any case, not a plant for by the kitchen door. Ours is 50 feet away and I haven't had to shoo a fly out of the house since it started blooming. Just coincidence?