Plant Finder

Other Names:  Stiffleaf Cheesewood

Description:

A lovely variety with long dark green leaves that are grey and fuzzy underneath; reddish purple flowers emerge in early spring and cover the plant; can be pruned back drastically if necessary but occasional pruning will create a perfect hedge

Ornamental Features

Karo Pittosporum has attractive dark green foliage with gray undersides on a plant with a mounded habit of growth. The fuzzy narrow leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Karo Pittosporum is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a mounded form. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Karo Pittosporum is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Karo Pittosporum will grow to be about 18 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 feet. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America.