Silver Queen Euonymus

Variegated plants – those with leaves patterned in green and yellow or white – are a wonderful way to bring brightness to your garden. Unlike plain green plants, which tend to disappear in shady places, variegated plants glow and shine in the shade, lifting and brightening every spot you plant them in. In sunlight too they sparkle and sing, giving a bright and cheerful aspect to the garden day after day. There are many of these plants, but experts agree that among them all, for combining great beauty with easy care and adaptability, the Silver Queen Euonymus is the best there is.

The Silver Queen Euonymus is a spreading evergreen shrub that will grow as much as 10 feet tall and wide, although it is easily trimmed to a smaller size. In milder zones it can be grown upwards, on a wall or fence, where it may even exceed 10 feet in time. In cooler zones, and more usually, it grows across the ground as a low spreading evergreen, a foot or two high, but reaching out widely to cover large areas even with a single plant, while staying low and dense, covering the soil and blocking out weeds. The small, rounded leaves are glossy and thick, and they are tightly packed along the stems. They are a rich, bright green, with a bold, slightly irregular edging of almost pure white for most of the year. In spring the leaves of the new growth are edged in warm yellow to cream, making a bright show and gradually turning pure white as they mature. Insignificant creamy flowers may sometimes appear on the stems, but these are rare and of no consequence – it is the beautiful leaves we are here for. 

Growing Silver Queen Euonymus Shrubs

The Silver Queen Euonymus is the perfect plant for covering large areas – either vertically or horizontally – and it is a great way to brighten up darker parts of the garden, as it is just as much at home in shade as it is in sun. Use it as ground cover below large trees, where grass won’t grow. Fill the front of your beds with it to finish them. Its brightness lifts and emphasizes the rich greens of the larger shrubs in those beds, while never clashing with their foliage or flower colors, whatever they are. Since it is drought resistant, it can be grown in dry shade or full sun, although in warmer zones some afternoon shade is beneficial to reduce the risk of the leaves scorching. It can also be planted at the foot of both building walls and garden retaining walls, where it will grow upwards, spreading outwards as well, and covering a large area. If you have plain, boring concrete walls, the Silver Queen Euonymus will turn them into something beautiful. It can also be spread out on a trellis or allowed to grow through a chain-link fence, to beautify it and give privacy too.

This is one of the hardiest euonymus plants, growing well in zone 5, where other types will not. It will even grow in zone 4 as a ground cover, if there is good snow coverage during the coldest months, to protect it. Of course, the Silver Queen Euonymus also grows well in warmer zones, right into zone 9, so pretty much wherever you live, this plant is a great choice. It grows well in just about any kind of soil at all, even in tough clay and poor soil. It will not grow in spots that are constantly wet, but once established it has good resistance to drought, and it will grow well in drier parts, especially in some shade. As for sunlight, this versatile plant grows perfectly in full sun, partial shade and in full shade beneath larger trees. Only the deep, permanent shade beneath dense evergreens with low spreading branches is too dark for it. It rarely suffers from any serious pests or diseases, and it can be easily trimmed at almost anytime to control its spread, and to create a neat, flat surface less than 12 inches high. In colder zones trimming is best done between spring and early fall. Remove any plain green stems completely if they are seen.

History and Origins of Silver Queen Euonymus Shrubs

The Silver Queen Euonymus is a selected form of the Wintercreeper, Euonymus fortunei. This plant grows on the forest floor in Japan and China. It is named after the plant collector Robert Fortune, who brought many new plants out of China and Japan. The wintercreeper was introduced into Europe by Fortune in the 1860s. This plant is unusual because when young, and growing in the shade of the forest floor, it is a creeping plant with widely-spaced leaves. When it climbs up tree trunk into more light it becomes bushy, with closely-packed leaves, and it flowers and fruits. The adult form is much like an old French variety called ‘Carrièrei’, and it was on that plant, named after the French botanist Carrière, that a unique variegated branch occurred in France in the early 20th century. It was first listed in 1914 by nurseries, with the name ‘Silver Queen’. In 1977 this plant was given an Award of Garden Merit by the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society in the UK. that stamp of approval only goes to the very best plants.

Our plants of the Silver Queen Euonymus are produced from stem pieces, to carefully preserve this variety’s essential character, and this tough and reliable combination ground cover and climber is always in great demand. Order now, as our limited stock will soon be gone.