Coloured Foliage

The Genetic Garden features a variety of coloured foliage plants. Yellow or pale green leaves result from a deficiency in the chloroplasts or from an imbalance of pigments, often due to gene mutation.

Latin Name	Location	Flowering season	Description
Ajuga reptans 'Atropurpurea' Dark purple bugle	Variegated	Late spring to early summer	A perennial which forms a dense mat of evergreen, purple-bronze oval leaves. Blue flowers are produced in erect spikes of up to 15cm tall.
Caryopteris x cladonensis 'Worcester Gold' Bluebeard ‘Worcester Gold’	Coloured foliage	Late summer to early autumn	A bushy, spreading deciduous shrub with dark yellow foliage and clusters of small violet-blue flowers.
Choisya ternata 'Aztec Pearl'	Hybrids	Late spring to summer	A small evergreen shrub growing to 1–3m tall. The leaves are opposite, leathery, glossy with three broad leaflets. It produces white star-shaped flowers.
Humulus lupulus 'Aureus' Golden hop	Coloured foliage	Summer	A climbing perennial with yellow, deeply lobed leaves of approximately 15cm length. Its drooping, cone-like, greenish-yellow female flower clusters are followed by the pendant hops.
Lonicera nitida 'Baggesens Gold' Honeysuckle ‘Baggesens Gold’	Coloured foliage	Spring	A small, dense evergreen shrub with arching branches and tiny, ovate, yellow leaves. Flowers are insignificant. It produces red or black berries.
Melissa officinalis 'All Gold' Lemon balm ‘All Gold’	Coloured foliage	Summer	A deciduous, bushy, clump-forming perennial. Its wrinkled leaves are yellow and ovate. The white flowers have purple patterning.
Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Aureus’	Coloured foliage	Summer	A bushy, upright, deciduous shrub with green, ovate, three-lobed leaves. Clusters of small pink and white, cup-shaped flowers are followed by brown fruit.
Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Frisia’ Black locust	Coloured foliage	Early summer	A bushy medium-sized deciduous tree with bright yellow, pinnate leaves, which become orange-yellow in autumn. It produces racemes of white or purple pea-type flowers.
Sambucus nigra ‘Aurea’ Coloured foliage Golden elderberry		Spring	A large, upright, bushy deciduous shrub with yellow-green leaves. It produces flattish heads of small, creamy-white flowers which are followed by dark purple berries.
Veronica prostrata 'Trehane' Golden speedwell		June to September	A spreading semi-evergreen perennial with bright yellow or yellow-green foliage. Deep blue flowers form in erect racemes.