Illustration
Variegated Pittosporum
Pittosporum tobira 'Variegatum'
Also called variegated japanese mock orange, variegated mock orange and variegated japanese pittosporum
Variegated Pittosporum blooms from April through May.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Variegated Pittosporum
Plant it in part shade. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 9–10. Expect it to reach about 7.5 ft tall and 9 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 4 years (a house reading).
Pets
- Not yet checked for pets.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
No toxicity note is on file for Variegated Pittosporum. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
What was checked
Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Variegated Pittosporum
Plant Variegated Pittosporum in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 9, the middle of its hardy zones 9 to 10, spring means January to March and fall means October or November. Once settled, it blooms from April to May.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 9, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 9 in January. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Variegated Pittosporum get?
7.5 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult9 ftwideSee Variegated Pittosporum in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Variegated Pittosporum
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Variegated Pittosporum about 9 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Variegated Pittosporum to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Variegated Pittosporum's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags were checked against 8 published sources on October 19, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- University of Florida IFASExtensionheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- Missouri Botanical Gardenheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and bloom months and color
- Plant Addictsheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and trait tags
- tynursery.comT-Y Nurseryheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and trait tags
- NC State Extensionheight, bloom months and color and trait tags
- RHSRoyal Horticultural Societysun, bloom months and color and trait tags
- boethingtreeland.comBoething Treeland Farmsheight, spread and water
- Oregon State Universityheight and spread
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
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Design a garden with this
Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.