I find variegated plants very difficult to resist! I have to be very careful not to go overboard with them in the garden. I must admit though, there are some variegations that are less attractive than others.

Indeed! Some variegated plants are attractive, striking, and useful/valuable in the garden - and some just look sick... - like the one in that picture :-)

i was historically accused of having .. and 'ANYTHING BUT GREEN' garden ... back in the day ...

that did not include just variegation ... but also color ...

ken

I am a great fan of variegated foliage. Many blooming plants only look good for a week or two a year, while a variegated plant can look good almost year around. Al

If the variegation is yellow, I think the plant looks sick. If the variegation is white, it appeals to me. But I've found that variegated plants may lack vigor or revert, so I admire them at the garden center then walk away.

I have to admit I'm a fan of some plants with variegated foliage but not all, I just bought the variegated Acanthus 'Whitewater' still in it's pot as I can't make up my mind where to plant it. It might have to go in a large container for the winter.

Annette

No - hate it. If pushed, I might just plant cornus sibirica 'Elegantissima but as a rule, I have never like variegation (and the innate sickliness of many such plants does nothing to persuade me I am wrong to avoid them - that fatsia is just gratuitous - surely the whole point of a fatsia rests on that deep green shiny palmate foliage - not some sickly, patchy horror show. I also loathe, loathe and hate (no holding back here) those weird tri-colour tragedies such as fuschia genius, weigela 'Monet' and that totally vile chameleon invasive nightmare with an impossible to spell (for me) name houttynia or similar.

Please note, when these like/dislke threads appear, I invariably have fierce opinions but again, I reserve these opinions for the plants and not for those who grow them.

And if I succumb to hosta growing, rest assured it will be those huge plain glaucous ones with not a sniff of white,cream or yellow to besmirch those big green textured leaves.

Like Annette, it depends on the plant - some I like, others not so much. Most hostas are fine - just bought a 'Vulcan' yesterday I couldn't resist! Brunnera, lamium and ornamental grasses are also OK. And a couple of shrubby plants I've mentioned before - Lonicera nitidia 'Lemon Beauty', Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', variegated redtwig dogwood. And I recently acquired a variegated eucryphia that I was quite taken by.

But some variegated plants do revert rather freely. As big a fan of Japanese maples as I am, I don't care for the variegated forms as they all throw reversions. Same with variegated Euonymus japonicus. And while that acanthus is striking, it doesn't have much vigor - one in a friend's garden has been about the same size for a couple of seasons.

In general I am a big fan, but that Fatsia is not appealing at all. It does look ill.

Hosta, Filipendula, Ornamental Grasses and so many more. One that I have been so taken with over the years is Physostegia 'Variegata'. It always looks fresh in or out of bloom and the variegation helps curb its tendency to spread.

I grow many Hostas and I am careful with their placement since I find too much variegation together can look chaotic.

I'm with Camp on this, mostly. Those huge agave media picta are marginal here and every one just loves their taffy like bodaciousness. I am not a fan. I have seen it used well in a very modern situation where it was isolated in a very designed space ... That is the only time I liked it. The color of the Louie Barrigan influenced violet stucco fence made the taffies candy stripe work. Usually I like them natural with their architectural statements unimpeded.. There is a variegated Agave montana that makes me drool when I am trying really hard not to like it. I have a feeling , that if I lived with it , I would find it artificial . I love the forms of things and their natural textures. The variegated forms are normally finicky plants and that is why one does not see them in nature much. They die and do not reproduce themselves. They are anomalies.

The example looks like a bad problem with iron chlorosis or something.

I am another . . it depends. I have planted many Hostas and plants that have clean-edged white/green or gold green stripes or edging like Polygonatum variegatum or Caryopteris divaricata snow fairy or Cornus alba Elegantissima. I also like some plants with bright chartreuse foliage. But plants with irregular splotches, regardless of size, whether irregular splatters like Spilt Milk Hosta or the Fatsia above or Lespedeza thunbergii Spilt Milk all look sickly to me and so are completely unappealing. I agree with Peren.all that "I find too much variegation together can look chaotic."

OMG, I am the biggest sucker for a variegated plant! I have so much trouble resisting them! Sometimes, I like the foliage and think the blooms add just too much to a plant (some of the variegated phlox comes to mind) but on plants that are grown mainly for foliage, I love variegation. I never met a variegated hosta I didn't like!

That being said, one does have to be careful because as a few folks mentioned above, too much variegation in a garden can clash, look chaotic, or look just downright awful. I have also come across a few plants where the variegation does make the plant look sick, but in general, I am big fan!

babs, you and I posted at the same time, and coincidentally, were thinking of some of the same plants! I almost mentioned some of the same ones you did, but didn't go into specifics. But I too was thinking of caryopteris Snow Fairy, and cornus alba Ivory Halo, as well as some of my carexes, hakone grasses, and of course, hostas.

mmmm, looking at the images, Marlorena, it occurs to me that scale is rather essential since I tend to quite like either the very small (I too have a few of those variegated thymes...or the very large - I definitely find acer Drummondii appealing, plus I also like that striped iris, pallida - pretty much the only iris I grow apart from a few discreet sibiricas - although striped grasses rarely float my boat and that banded miscanthus, not at all.

I rarely grow anything in clumps and apart from roses and deutzias, I can count the shrubs I grow on one hand - instead, the plants I favour are already amorphous and vague so clear structures are essential - variegation tends to blur and soften outlines too much in a garden already in danger of falling into chaos - I carefully marked and collected seed from a ditch angelica which had highly variegated foliage, before looking more carefully and envisaging the effect en masse and from a distance. Like some have already mentioned, there is variegation and variegation - while clear stripes might be bearable (I have a few of those agaves, Mara, which look good with nasella, blotches, splotches or polka dots are not acceptable ever (I shun brunnera and only have plain leaved pulmonarias).

Nice pics, as ever, Marlorena.

As said, I came to an appreciation of perennials with variegated foliage in two steps, which I take to be just another aspect of my learning about mixed perennial gardening.

In his classes, David Tomlinson (Merlin's Hollow) recommended variegated foliage for two reasons. The first, perennials that have variegated foliage are often less invasive than non-variegated forms (a different slant on Cecily's "lack vigor"). After using, non-variegated yellow loosestrife and obedient plant, I immediately accepted that suggestion.

David has around 1500 different perennials at Merlin's Hollow (3/4 acre) so I didn't immediately appreciate the second reason: namely for interest to supplement flower colour. I'm now completely won over. We do get reversions (e.g. Brunnera 'Dawson's White') - another of Cecily's points -but find they are quite uncommon.

I think the time of the growing season when flower colour needs most supplementing here is Fall. I now find that an important part, in Fall, is played by some Spring perennials, especially Brunnera and Pulmonaria. They had previously been hidden under and behind the taller perennials of summer.

See a few pictures, taken today, below.

Who notices the astilbes?

I love variegation, no longer have anything with plain green leaves except Gardenias, Cannas, elephant ears, bananas, but wouldn't be interested in the OP's pictured plant for the "looks like spider mite damage" reason. Life's (and SUMMER's) way too short to wait for otherwise boring looking plants to make a few flowers for a short time.

I seem to prefer variegation on my house plants more so than on my garden plants. Possibly because more house plants tend to be sold in almost exclusively variegated forms compared to garden plants. Who wants a plain green pothos?

Marlorena, I love the combination of the Pittosporum 'Elizabeth' with the macropetala clematis!

NHBabs,..thank you... the Clematis is 'Wesselton', and it does look nice in the Spring..

Campanula.

..thanks again... now that you've mentioned banded Miscanthus... there is one that takes my breath away, as it did at Wisley the first time I saw it...'Punktchen'.... the banding is much less apparent, little yellow dots here and there [punktchen = little dots], I would be pushed to call it variegated.. but the tall plumes are purple on opening, and quite outstanding... one I'd like to get again at some point..

Sunnyborders..

...your Hostas are very nice.... I couldn't keep them so clean looking, but you are bold enough to do one thing I couldn't, that is to grow variegated plants together.... I have to keep mine very much apart...

"Bold", NHBabs. Very tactful!

I'm not a shade gardener (though it's sometimes difficult to garden away from trees). Consequently, I don't tend to "do" hostas, but it's nice to see them step out of the shade.

Re flower colour coordination generally: I just don't. My approach is rather like throwing lots of colours (different perennials and cultivars) at a canvas (a perennial bed) and seeing how the picture (I'd emphasize the colours - the variety of colours) turns out. The more colours thrown the better. And the mixed perennial bed is constructed for different colours to hit the canvas at different times, that is because the bloom of different perennials is staggered.

David Tomlinson has said that visitors have often complimented him for the combination of flower colours they see on a visit to Merlin's Hollow. At the same time, he says he's never designed any perennial bed with colour coordination in mind. I'm the same and am pleasantly surprised when people think I orchestrated a particular combination of colours that they pick out. I'd rather leave flower colour coordination to the perennials themselves and to the visitor/viewer.

I'd say mixed perennial gardening is a real challenge and that the challenge is anticipating maintenance requirements and doing the ongoing maintenance itself.

I love variegated plants, even the fatsia pictured. I'm unapologetic and am quite comfortable with a garden which has too much of too much :)

more would be even nicer I think.

absolute favorites are the variegated iris pallida and my obscenely vigorous giant reed grass.

Yes, in appropriate doses. Too many and they lose their effect, but used effectively they can bring the wow factor. Pic in the OP is not attractive IMO, though - it looks like it has a nutrient deficiency or something...

Marlorena - Just lovely, I can understand why the Griselinia is you favorite. I am quite taken with the Pittosporum 'Collaig'... is it 'Collaig Silver'? The leaf coloration combined with the dark stem is so striking. I cannot grow either in my zone but that does not keep me from admiring them. sigh...The Silene foliage is very pretty. All of these have a nice crisp variegation to them that I like very much.

Tiffany and katob - Would you have pics to share? The world would be boring indeed if every garden had the same style and usage of plant material.

peren.all...thanks so much.... yes it is 'Collaig Silver'... I take a chance with all my Pittosporums as a freezing winter can kill some of the top growth on these variegated sorts, at worst down to ground level, as opposed to the plain green one which seems to be hardier... I think we have to go up a zone for the variegation...

... I've lost 3 Pittosporums since I've lived here, although they would grow back from the base, or lower down, but I chose to replace... I simply can't be without these colourful shrubs...

LOVE variegation, great thread, Mar!

A variegated annual in the shade "Sunpatiens":

Ooh, catkin, what is that first hosta? I must know! This thread is dangerous for me, lol - I should close it and never open it again!

'digger', with hostas being mentioned here is our "Liberty" from early in June 2015:

I am a big time hostaphile. Here is Hanky Panky. Gorgeous catkin and rouge.

Interesting, peren.all. I am a hostaholic, and while I don't really care as much for the hostas with the narrower leaves, the close-up of Hanky Panky is lovely. Still swooning over rouge's Liberty, and love the Sunpatiens as well - haven't seen a variegated form of them before, and love the way the foliage and the white blooms pop in the shade!

I'm firmly resisting hostas and only have a few old ones. I have to say I'm pretty impressed at myself for showing so much self control!

Here are a few variegated things. As I was looking for photos I realized it's yellow foliage which is my real problem. Way too much of that around here :)

iris pallida variegata with tulips

A few more

do annuals count? Variegated bracts of euphorbia marginata, a native plant of the midwest which has spread far and wide.

Very pretty, Katob.

Wouldn't hesitate to use annual fillers when needed myself.

Dee, I don't know! Maybe Ken might.