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- Portulacaria afra variegata
Portulacaria afra variegata
Plant likes sunny sites, can tolerate partial shade.
Always water a few days after the substrate has dried out. In winter, limit watering.
It can tolerate -3.9 °C in the short term. However, the plant is not hardy.
The brownish-purple stems create a nice contrast with the pale leaves. The colouring has earned it the nickname rainbow shrub.
Nicknamed Rainbow Bush, this succulent plant boasts smooth, glossy leaves.
Due to the partial loss of chlorophyll, the leaves take on a distinctive whitish-green colouring that turns a beautiful combination of yellow and pink in the sun. The brownish-purple stems add to the colourful palette and enhance the beauty of this plant. The succulent is a prolific rhizome and the classic green form grows up to 3 metres in the wild.
The small, star-shaped, lavender-pink flowers appear in clusters in late spring and early summer.
Portulacaria afra variegata can be grown overhanging, creeping or upright. The variegated form of this plant is more drought tolerant and does not suffer as much sudden leaf drop as the classic green variety. Its malleability makes it ideal for shaping into bonsai. By continuously removing the side shoots we can encourage upright growth and create a tree-like shape.