A Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Flowering Shrubs variety, Leucothoe Paisley Pup™ is a suckering broadleaf evergreen shrub grown for its attractive foliage and fragrant flowers. An unusual North American native, its leathery leaves, on slender arching branches, have unique variegation, which exhibits an array of colors, including pink, green, cream, white, bronze, and yellow. And from spring to early summer, the shrub blooms in showy clusters of white flowers that elegantly droop from the leaf axils on old wood. Nectar and pollen rich, the flowers sustain pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
A Leucothoe fontanesiana, commonly called leucothoe, doghobble, drooping laurel, or fetterbush, Paisley Pup has an upright growth habit. It makes a gorgeous specimen in beds and borders but is shown to best effect when grouped or massed in foundation plantings, screens, and hedges. The plants will sucker and form colonies over time, if allowed, which makes it good for naturalized areas, especially in woodlands.
An easy-grow, easy-care plant, leucothoe grows naturally in moist forested areas, especially along stream banks and ravines, so it's best planted in partly shady to shady locations with cool, organically rich, moist, sandy to clay, well-draining loams having an acidic pH. Paisley Pup is drought tolerant as well as deer and disease resistant.
A native plant, leucothoe is indigenous to North America, primarily in the Appalachian Mountains. Native plants are not only beautiful but also environmentally friendly. Naturally adapted to the climate and soil conditions of the region, they thrive without fertilizers or extra watering, once established. They also act as natural pest controls, reducing the need for pesticides in the garden. Landscaping with native plants promotes biodiversity and provides shelter and quality food for wildlife and pollinators, bringing gardens to life.
