Choose highland doghobble, Rainbow leucothoe, or compact Curly Red first.
Choose highland doghobble, Rainbow leucothoe, or compact Curly Red first
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Green woodland mass | Highland doghobble — three to six feet, more suckering | Do not squeeze it into a tight foundation strip |
| Cream and pink new leaves | Rainbow — the same full-size highland arch, with painted new growth | Do not buy it expecting an 18-inch mound |
| Low compact mound | Curly Red — twisted red new growth on coastal leucothoe | Do not count on it filling a six-foot gap |
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2023 USDA ZIP listings (PRISM / USDA-ARS). Find Your USDA Hardiness Zone · Official USDA map.
The first choice is habit. Highland doghobble is the green mountain species: three to six feet, arching, and it suckers into a thicket. Rainbow — sold as Girard's Rainbow on some tags — is that same highland size with cream, pink, and copper new leaves. Curly Red is coastal leucothoe, a lower mound with twisted red growth for a small bed. If the tag only says doghobble, read the cultivar line for Rainbow or Curly Red, and check whether the Latin is fontanesiana or axillaris. All three are still Leucothoe. [1] [2]
Which leucothoe should I plant?
Buy highland doghobble for a green woodland mass, Rainbow for cream-pink new leaves on a full-size shrub, or Curly Red for a compact mound.
Is Rainbow the same as Curly Red?
No. Rainbow is a full-size highland shrub with cream and pink new leaves. Curly Red is the compact coastal kind with twisted red growth.
Browse by kind
Match the room you have, then pick that kind. Care for the plant you already have on How to Grow Leucothoe. [3] [4]
Highland doghobble
highland doghobble is the green wild-type shrub, about three to six feet, and it suckers into a wider thicket. Buy this group when you have room for a mass on a bank or in a woodland. The leaves stay glossy green, then bronze in cold weather.
Rainbow leucothoe
Rainbow is the usual colorful garden-center plant: cream, pink, and copper new leaves on a full-size highland arch. Buy it when you want that spring color, not a two-foot mound.
Curly Red
Curly Red is the compact coastal kind, often under two feet in a shop pot, with twisted, puckered leaves that open red. Buy it for a low strip or the front of a shade bed. It is Leucothoe axillaris, not a dwarf Rainbow.
If the bed is a low strip, buy Curly Red — highland doghobble and Rainbow will outgrow it.
FAQ
Do you list Scarletta or Whitewater?
No. Those are other highland names we do not list. If you own one, treat it as a full-size highland shrub, not as compact Curly Red.
Is this Florida leucothoe?
No. The plants here are Leucothoe fontanesiana and Leucothoe axillaris. Florida leucothoe is a different shrub, Agarista, not in this catalog.
Will Curly Red stay two feet?
Shop plants are usually a low mound with twisted red leaves. Some tags list a taller height, so still leave a little room, and do not treat it as a six-foot Rainbow arch.
Related guides
References
- [1] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/leucothoe-fontanesiana/ - [2] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/leucothoe-axillaris/ - [3] University of Illinois Extension -
https://web.extension.illinois.edu/hortanswers/plantdetail.cfm?PlantID=412&PlantTypeID=8 - [4] Virginia Cooperative Extension -
https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/2901/2901-1042/2901-1042.pdf
This note is part of Leucothoe Guides.
More type comparisons by plant are gathered in Types of Plants Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors