Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Elizabeth' (Elizabeth Tawhiwhi)
Hardy Variegated Evergreen Shrub with Luminous Foliage and Fragrant Flowers
Create year-round garden magic with Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Elizabeth', an exceptional variegated evergreen shrub that delivers outstanding ornamental value through its luminous cream-margined foliage that flushes pink in colder weather. This fast-growing New Zealand native produces dense clusters of wavy-edged, glossy leaves in beautiful combinations of grey-green with irregular cream margins, whilst small dark purple flowers provide delightful honey fragrance in late spring and early summer, making it perfect for adding both visual impact and sensory appeal to any garden setting.
Key Features
- Plant Type: Hardy evergreen shrub
- Height: 4m
- Spread: 4m
- Flowering Period: May to June
- Flower Size: Small clusters of tiny bell-shaped flowers
- Flower Colour: Dark purple with honey fragrance
- Foliage: Grey-green leaves with cream margins, pink flush in cold weather
- Hardiness: Hardy in the UK down to temperatures of -10 to -5 degrees Celcius (RHS hardiness rating H4)
- Growth Habit: Fast-growing, dense, rounded
Luminous Variegated Foliage
The outstanding feature of 'Elizabeth' lies in its spectacular variegated foliage that creates a luminous effect throughout the year. Each of the gently ruffled grey-green leaves has an irregular cream margin, which flushes pink - particularly in colder weather. Thinly leathery leaves 2.5-6cm (1-2½in) long feature distinctive wavy margins that catch and reflect light, creating a shimmering effect that brightens shaded areas and provides constant visual interest throughout all seasons.
Seasonal Colour Transformation
One of the most enchanting aspects of 'Elizabeth' is its seasonal colour transformation. During cold spells the red on the perimeters deepens, whilst the flushes of pink become more pronounced on the green-grey foliage during winter months. This remarkable colour change ensures the plant provides enhanced visual interest precisely when the garden needs it most, creating a spectacular display that intensifies as temperatures drop.
Fragrant Flowering Display
Clusters of fragrant, tiny, dark purple flowers appear in late spring and early summer. While the flowers are inconspicuous, their sweet honey scent fills the air with their perfume. Small, purple flowers which are slightly fragrant create a delightful sensory experience that enhances the garden's appeal beyond the visual impact of the stunning foliage.
Fast-Growing Reliable Performance
Pittosporum tenuifolium is a fast-growing evergreen shrub with handsome, wavy-edged, glossy, and crinkled leaves. This reliable growth rate makes it excellent for quickly establishing garden structure, creating effective screens, or filling gaps in mixed borders where immediate impact is desired.
Excellent Coastal Tolerance
Excellent salt tolerance makes pittosporum well-suited for planting near the beach. This exceptional coastal tolerance, combined with wind resistance, makes 'Elizabeth' invaluable for seaside gardens where many other plants struggle to perform.
Growing Requirements
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Soil and Position: Position: full sun Soil: fertile, moist, well-drained soil Adapts to various soil types but performs best in well-drained conditions with good organic content. Tolerates urban pollution and coastal conditions exceptionally well.
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Light Requirements: Thrives in full sun to partial shade, with the variegated foliage colours most intense in bright conditions. The wavy-edged leaves create attractive light play in dappled shade conditions.
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Soil Preferences: Prefers fertile, moist, well-drained soil but adapts to various conditions including clay if drainage is adequate. Avoid permanently waterlogged sites for optimal performance.
Care and Maintenance
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Pruning Requirements: Although tiny bell-shaped flowers are borne from late spring to early summer, followed by blackish seeds, it's the foliage that is its predominant feature. Light pruning after flowering helps maintain shape and encourages dense growth. Can be trimmed regularly for formal hedging or topiary work.
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Watering Requirements: Water regularly during establishment and dry periods. Once established, shows reasonable drought tolerance but performs best with consistent moisture during summer months.
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Fertilising Programme: Apply a balanced slow-release fertiliser in spring to support healthy growth and enhance the variegated foliage colour. Avoid high-nitrogen fertilisers which may reduce the cream margins.
Design Applications
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Specimen Plantings: Outstanding as a standalone specimen where the luminous variegated foliage and seasonal colour changes can be fully appreciated. Perfect for creating bright focal points in garden designs.
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Mixed Borders: Useful for a color accent in mixed plantings, providing excellent year-round structure and backdrop for seasonal displays whilst the variegated foliage creates striking contrast with darker-leaved plants.
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Hedge and Screen Plantings: Like most Pittosporums, it is widely underused as a hedge. It's also useful for creating an informal screen. The dense growth habit and fast growth rate make it excellent for privacy screening with added ornamental value.
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Coastal Gardens: Particularly valuable for coastal gardens where the exceptional salt tolerance and wind resistance make it ideal for seaside plantings, providing reliable performance in challenging maritime conditions.
Seasonal Interest
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Spring Spectacle: New growth emerges with fresh, vibrant variegation as the plant enters its active growing phase, whilst the honey-scented flowers provide delightful fragrance during late spring.
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Summer Structure: The glossy variegated foliage maintains its luminous effect throughout summer, providing consistent architectural interest and serving as an excellent backdrop for other flowering plants.
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Autumn Transition: As temperatures begin to drop, the cream margins start to develop their characteristic pink flush, creating enhanced colour contrast that signals the approaching winter display.
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Winter Transformation: Each of the gently ruffled grey-green leaves has an irregular cream margin, which flushes pink – particularly in colder weather. This winter colour intensification provides spectacular seasonal interest when many other plants are dormant.
Hardiness and Protection
Plant can withstand temperatures down to -10°C (14°F) making it frost hardy in most UK locations. Although Pittosporum tenuifolium is hardy in most parts of the UK, it may need protection during winter in colder areas. A sheltered position is ideal, against a south or west-facing wall, to protect from frost damage.
Mature Size Expectations
Height 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 meters) Spread 6 to 10 feet (1.8 to 3 meters) when mature, developing into an attractive rounded shrub with dense branching. Rate of growth: average to fast allows for excellent garden planning whilst ensuring quick establishment.
Why Choose 'Elizabeth'?
Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Elizabeth' represents the perfect combination of year-round foliage interest, seasonal colour transformation, and reliable garden performance in a single outstanding shrub. The luminous variegated foliage that intensifies in cold weather, combined with fragrant flowers and exceptional coastal tolerance, creates a shrub that provides maximum garden impact with distinctive character throughout all seasons.
This exceptional variety offers outstanding value for gardeners seeking permanent structure and colour interest with the added benefits of fragrant flowers and excellent adaptability. Whether used as specimen plantings, hedging, or mixed border features, 'Elizabeth' provides the perfect balance of foliage drama, seasonal interest, and garden reliability that makes it an essential addition to any garden seeking truly remarkable year-round appeal with luminous variegated beauty and dependable performance.
Buying Shrubs from Jacksons Nurseries
At Jacksons Nurseries we sell a variety of shrubs both evergreen and deciduous with a variety of flowering times throughout the year. At certain times of the year our shrubs you buy from us may not look like the images shown on our website when deciduous leaves have fallen, the shrub has finished flowering or has been trimmed back.
Some leaves on evergreen shrubs can be damaged in winter by frost or harsh winds but in spring new leaves will readily replace those damaged. This is quite normal on many evergreen varieties and is preferable to plants grown with excessive protection that show cold shock once planted out and establish less satisfactory initially.
Availability: Stock availability figures are provided as a guide only. There is a delay between orders being placed and the plants being gathered by our pulling team. During this time it may be possible for a member of the public to purchase these plants from our Garden Centre, while this is rare it is a possibility and we will notify you of any problems as soon as possible. This figure may also include plants that have not yet be flagged as unsaleable.
Pre-order: Pre-order times are given as a guide only and may vary dependent on the growing season. Orders containing Pre-ordered products will be shipped as a single order when all items become available. Large orders may be part shipped, please contact us on 01782 502741 or email sales@jacksonsnurseries.co.uk.
* Please Note: Shrubs in 20 litre pots and above might require a pallet delivery starting at £79.99 per pallet. Depending on the exact pot size and height it may be possible to get approximately 5 plants per pallet at no extra cost. The maximum height we can dispatch on a pallet is 2.0m, this includes the height of the pallet and pot.
Shrubs are deciduous or evergreen woody plants, and often provide fragrant flowers, berries and foliage. They are good for structural framework, and they can provide a wonderful shelter and food source for wildlife.
Planting and Conditions
Container grown shrubs can be grown at any time of year. It is a little known fact that shrubs planted in the autumn and winter will be easier to look after than those planted in the spring and summer, because they will have time to establish and become hardy in the cooler months.
Plant the shrub at the same depth as it was in its original pot. Planting too deeply can result in root and stem rot.
One of the biggest causes of death in new shrubs is drought stress, so keep it well watered until it’s established.
Make sure you loosen the soil prior to planting. Most shrubs are tolerant of most soil types as long as it is fairly well draining.
Most shrubs will grow happily in containers, but they will be much more demanding on feeding and watering than shrubs in the ground would be. They will also need potting on every couple of years so that they don’t suffocate or become stunted in their pot.
Aftercare and Pruning
Once established, shrubs generally do not require much water. However, at first they need careful, frequent watering and should not be left to dry out.
Shrubs in the ground are generally not demanding and in most cases, annual feeding with general purpose fertilizer will suffice. Shrubs in containers may need more feeding; usually from early spring until late summer.
Shrubs also benefit from mulching in order to supress weeds, conserve moisture and provide vital nutrients. Mulch also greatly improves soil conditions. Shrubs can be mulched in late winter, after fertiliser has been applied, but it can be mulched through autumn to late spring as long as the ground is damp.
All shrubs benefit from dead-heading once spent flowers become apparent. Rhododendrons and Lilac especially benefit from the removal of dead flowers.
Some shrubs may show signs of reverted growth or ‘sporting’. This is where random shoots of different leaves associated with the plant’s parentage begin to appear. Most commonly this is where plants with variegated leaves sprout pure green growths instead of variegated ones.
To control reversion, remove reverted shoots promptly to discourage them. Reverted shoots are usually much more vigorous than the variegated ones, and thus should be completely pruned out and cut back into wood containing variegated foliage.
Potential Issues
Although shrubs are usually very robust garden plants, they can sometimes start to decline with no apparent or obvious reason.
This will start with browning leaves, which could indicate plant stress due to lack of water or waterlogging, an establishment failure or, in the worst case scenario, honey fungus. Another cause of leaf browning is a high salt content in the soil. This could be a natural occurrence, especially if you live near the ocean, or it could be from over fertilisation.
To remedy a high salt content, cut back on fertiliser and step up your watering regime for the next few weeks. If you live by the ocean, this will be harder to remedy—but stepping up your watering will help to wash some of the salt away all the same.
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