What is wrong with my Houttuynia (Chameleon Plant)?

I know many consider this a weed. I'd like it if it retained the colorful foliage it had when I first got it years ago. The citrus scented leaves are delightful, altho it is an aggressive spreader.

When I first got it, it was so colorful with lots of red on the foliage. Over the years, it's lost the red and light green and the foliage is now always just plain green. I have it growing in both sun and shade, in dry and moist areas, with the same results. My soil is very rich and everything else I grow in these areas do beautifully. So why doesn't my chameleon change colors like everyone else's? Is my soil deficient of some nutrient it needs?

NancyAnn

Here is a short article. Sunlight is key to having a more colorful leave.
http://www.perennialresource.com/plants/general-perennial/533_houttuynia-cordata-chameleon.aspx

Hmmmm, well, all this time, I thought it was a shade lover. Now that I think about it, it used to get more sun. I might pot some up and move it to a sunny location. Most of my yard is sun. Thanks for the tip!

I like the way you have the different colors going. The green plants are neat with the red edges. I have never seen any with the green leaves like that.

I rarely get the red tint anymore. The leaves almost always stay solid green now. I'm going to dig some up and throw it in my pond which is in full sun. Maybe I will get the chameleon effect then.

Come dig some, Echinacea, neighbor. LOL

While it's true that sunlight can affect the amount of variegation, you mentioned in your first post that you have some in sun and some in shade and they're all behaving the same way, so I don't think you've got a light issue in that case. I suspect your plants are reverting to the green non-variegated form. This is a problem that can happen with many variegated plants; some tend to be more susceptible to it than others. The trouble is that the all-green parts are going to grow more vigorously than the variegated parts, so as time goes on you'll find the green taking over unless you prune it out.

Oh, well, that explains why this green leafed variety spreads like crazy. The variegated form didn't spread much. I had it for years. Then I fertilized the patch and the green went crazy. I hate it when they revert! I'll still try some in the pond and see what happens. If nothing changes, it's all outta here.

If you've got any variegation left, try pruning out the green parts--that will give the variegated part a better chance. Once they start to revert the green will just keep taking over unless you prune it out.

I don't know if there is any variegated form out there. I thought it was a plant that changes colors at a whim. Does it not? I thought that's why they called "Chameleon Plant". But maybe that's asking too much from a plant. LOL

Yours is the variegated cultivar. When I get home later I can post a link for you but if you look it up in PF you'll see the straight species is green and yours is the variegated cultivar. Light can definitely affect the amt of variegation, but since your plants in sun are turning green too that's why I believe they are reverting to the more aggressive green form.

Here you go:
Straight species (green leaves): http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/73839/
Your plant, cultivar 'Chameleon' or 'Variegata': http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2164/

The picture in my original post was taken a few years ago. I don't have any of the interesting colors anymore. All the leaves are solid green and boring now.

I've read that it has an awful smell, but I think it smells like citrus. I love the smell. I brush the leaves often when I'm working nearby just to smell the fragrance. But if the foliage is just going to stay green and boring, it's got to go. Easier said than done, I know.

Unfortunately I think it's going to stay green & boring--sounds like it's totally reverted to green at this point. But now that you know about the problem with them reverting, if you get some new ones and clip out the green parts when you start to see them you might have better luck keeping them colorful. Some plants are really prone to reverting to green and it'll always be a struggle to keep the variegation, but with others if you stay on top of clipping out the green parts as they show up you can continue to enjoy the variegation. I've never grown this one so I'm not sure which group it falls into.

Thanks for all your help. I'm afraid I'm not patient enough to clip out all the green in the future. So this is one plant I'm not likely to grow again. I'll just replace it with something that impresses me without too much fuss.

It might not take much effort--I have a variegated Japanese Maple ('Butterfly') and every year it puts out a couple little green branches, so I just clip them off and that's it, just takes a couple minutes. Again I haven't grown this one so I don't know if a once a year quick trim is all it would need or if it takes more effort.

Well, I'm thinking that I'd have to get the roots to the green ones, and since they trail all over the place, it would be a challenge to dig out all the roots to the green ones. I could go with caladiums to get the colors. They'd be quite easy, just plant new bulbs in the spring and forget about 'em. Since my entire yard is a botanical garden, I have to simplify as many tasks as possible to keep things from getting out of hand, as they are right now.

Hey, I need that maple! It's named after me! Do you have a picture of it? I'd love to see.

NancyAnn

Here's 'Butterfly' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/78236/

Oh how pretty!! I'll have to put that on my wish list.

Ecrane, this may be a little off topic, but I vaguely remember reading in Vertrees book that many variegated JM's have solid green and palmate leaves on young branches. He cautions they don't have to be pruned off, because the leaves on the branch will gradually become variegated and/or adopt their sickle shape as the branch becomes a year or two old. Don't know if it's true for Butterfly or not. I just thought it was interesting.

You make a good point Weerobin. I have zebra grass that begins in the spring as solid green and later in the season it begins acquiring the stripes on the leaves.

My arundo donax starts out nearly white in the spring, becoming yellow about mid-late spring, and then in June, the foliage is all pale green like bamboo. But come next spring, it's all white again. I guess that's what I thought the chameleon plant would do. But each year, it's just become greener and greener with less of the other colors. I was hoping the colors would reappear.

My husband just sprayed this stuff with Roundup to kill it in two of my beds. I wish I had never planted it...it is very invasive and pulling it will not get all of the underground runners. You have to use Roundup on it. Be careful where you put it. I had it run underground under a 36" sidewalk to a flowerbed on the other side of the walkway....it will not stay where you put it.

I don't mean to be so negative, but I have worked and worked to get rid of it.
I grant you that the varigation was beautiful, but it just could not be contained and it would choke out my other perennials in my beds.

It had to go.

Nana3

That's been my experience with it too, Nana. And I'd like it, I think, if it had the beautiful variegation. Plants like this I usually pot up. I have Clerodendron Bungeii (Mexican Hydrangea) and Limelight Artemesia that I keep in big pots now. The chameleon plant would be great in a pond, but again, mine isn't variegated anymore.

I sprayed mine with roundup and it's still going! Didn't even faze it. :-(

Butterfly,
You have to spray it more than once and where it is close to other plants, you will need to have an old paintbrush and literally brush it onto the leaves. I did manage to kill it out of a different bed last year and it has not returned.

Oh, if I could turn back time,..... I would never have ordered it and planted it.

That beautiful varigation got to me. LOL

Have had one gallon container plants get to crowded and they seem to stay green. We cut it up, repot and cut back and the color has seemed to return on the new foilage...Like Majik...May work for yours too.

I've been trying like crazy to get rid of chameleon plant in one of my beds (it came with the house, and has been a thug). Mine is variegated, and I'd be happy to ship you tons of it, if you want some. Just let me know.

Thanks for the offer, PGT, but I think I'll pass. I'm going to get rid of all of mine too, except a potful for the pond. I just don't have space for it. I like "one of everything" and with chameleon plant, it seems you can't have just one.