There's a gold/yellow-leaved Escallonia if you're in a mild sheltered area, and if you don't mind pinky-red flowers with yellow leaves (not to my taste but someone must love it!). Other than that and the Euonymous that @GardenerSuze suggested, I can only think of deciduous things, like the gold/yellow forms of Cotinus or Caryopteris.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
So I went to cut a few branches, after watering it with almost a whole can of water. Are these still alive? The wood outside looks strange, but inside it is like half/half. Not sure.
Im afraid ‘almost a whole can’ is nothing like enough a shrub that size needs several [3+] large watering cans of water two or three times a week if we have dry springs and summers.
That applies especially to evergreens like choisya as the foliage acts as an umbrella throughout the winter as well as the summer, therefore it doesn’t get water near the roots at any part of the year. And of course the bigger the shrub gets the more water it needs, but also the bigger the dry area becomes … so while a shrub may have been happy in that spot when it’ was smaller, without deep watering targeted at the root area it will dry out and die.
As has been said Choisya is much more suited to a shadier spot.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If you want a yellow shrub, you could try Lonicera Baggesen's Gold. It has tiny leaves, clothes itself from top to bottom, can be cut to any shape, and the more sun it has the yellower it is. A really easy plant that copes with drought, wind, salt, anything! It is also very reliable when it comes to propagating from cuttings. It will grow to a couple of metres tall and wide, but can be kept much smaller than that with pruning. It was one of the first plants I ever bought, back in the 90s, and I have two of its great grandchildren growing now.
Im afraid ‘almost a whole can’ is nothing like enough a shrub that size needs several [3+] large watering cans of water two or three times a week if we have dry springs and summers.
That applies especially to evergreens like choisya as the foliage acts as an umbrella throughout the winter as well as the summer, therefore it doesn’t get water near the roots at any part of the year. And of course the bigger the shrub gets the more water it needs, but also the bigger the dry area becomes … so while a shrub may have been happy in that spot when it’ was smaller, without deep watering targeted at the root area it will dry out and die.
As has been said Choisya is much more suited to a shadier spot.
Thanks, I didn't know about the watering routine.
I would have thought that if the plant originates from Mexico, it can withstand the sun and that is where it was planted before we moved in, so I just watched it grow.
And thanks to everyone else for their suggestions. I have plenty of euonymus plants in the garden already and I have had Lonicera which I trimmed to fit its spot, just it needed trimming every year, with a lot of mess to clean up, which I would prefer avoiding. I also have had some sort of escalonia with yellowish leaves and tiny pink trumpet flowers, I thought it was called Brian or something like that. It was becoming unsightly by shape and leaves were catching brown spots, also leftover from previous owners, but I might give it try with this plant instead of choisya. But Choisya was probably the best for that spot, never needed much care like pruning. Is there a chance that choysia will withstand the sun with enough watering? I am willing to care for it properly
@Sam707 Could you plant the green Choisya ternata it is less likely to bleach in full sun. Or Choisya Aztec Pearl not so big different shaped leaf green too. The 'choice' is limited when it comes to golden leaves in full sun. Soil will need some improvement and I am not aware of replant disease with Choisya. Watering with a can at the roots encourages them to grow down to seek water. Choisya ternata always bleaches in hot sun.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
@Sam707 Could you plant the green Choisya ternata it is less likely to bleach in full sun. Or Choisya Aztec Pearl not so big different shaped leaf green too. The 'choice' is limited when it comes to golden leaves in full sun. Soil will need some improvement and I am not aware of replant disease with Choisya. Watering with a can at the roots encourages them to grow down to seek water.
I am having one green leafed growing on another spot, planted maybe last year, small one, doing well. I planned to replant it, I just put it there to establish itself from a tiny pot I bought it in. Will it get paler on the sun? That yellow really suits there next to a brown leaf maple or what it is. Also the brown painted pergola nearby.
Where abouts are you in the country @Sam707 ? Choyisa are drought tolerant when established which yours clearly is, to much water is more of a problem for these plants . I think they is something more sinister at play here and that stem you've cut off doesn't look good in the slightest. That stem looks like either verticillium wilt but more likely sooty mold like something been feeding on it
I agree with @Perki I have choisya sundance as a low hedge in the front garden. It's right up against the house wall, in full sun all day, in rubbish clay and rubble soil, on a slope, never gets watered as the hose doesn't reach around the front, and it's perfectly fine, doesn't bleach, doesn't wilt in the sun etc. It's positively ignored but it's thriving. It gets a bit of frost bite in winter but that's it.
For yours to look like that, I'd think there was something else going on. Although what that might be I'm not sure, sorry.
Slowly building a wildlife garden, in a new build in East Yorkshire.
I agree with @Perki too. It looks like some sort of fungal disease to me, reminds me of box blight, though it wouldn't be that fungus. I would remove the diseased bit and spray it with a fungicide. I hope it isn't too late, but it probably is. Removing the dead bits will also allow more air circulation in the plant, which the fungus won't like.
Choisya likes a dry soil and sunshine, but Sundance likes some shade to keep its colour. In my last garden in SW France I had a big green one against a wall in full sun which I rarely watered and it thrived. I also had Sundance in a spot that was shady in the afternoon which I never watered.
I have to disagree with @Dovefromabove about the amount of water to give it, fine for some shrubs, but not Choisya. I also disgree with @GardenerSuze, Choisya isn't keen on clay soil, too heavy.
I think the reason for the fungal infection is the cool, wet summer in England.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
And thanks to everyone else for their suggestions. I have plenty of euonymus plants in the garden already and I have had Lonicera which I trimmed to fit its spot, just it needed trimming every year, with a lot of mess to clean up, which I would prefer avoiding.
I also have had some sort of escalonia with yellowish leaves and tiny pink trumpet flowers, I thought it was called Brian or something like that. It was becoming unsightly by shape and leaves were catching brown spots, also leftover from previous owners, but I might give it try with this plant instead of choisya. But Choisya was probably the best for that spot, never needed much care like pruning.
Is there a chance that choysia will withstand the sun with enough watering? I am willing to care for it properly
The 'choice' is limited when it comes to golden leaves in full sun.
Soil will need some improvement and I am not aware of replant disease with Choisya.
Watering with a can at the roots encourages them to grow down to seek water.
Choisya ternata always bleaches in hot sun.
I am having one green leafed growing on another spot, planted maybe last year, small one, doing well. I planned to replant it, I just put it there to establish itself from a tiny pot I bought it in. Will it get paler on the sun? That yellow really suits there next to a brown leaf maple or what it is. Also the brown painted pergola nearby.
I have choisya sundance as a low hedge in the front garden. It's right up against the house wall, in full sun all day, in rubbish clay and rubble soil, on a slope, never gets watered as the hose doesn't reach around the front, and it's perfectly fine, doesn't bleach, doesn't wilt in the sun etc. It's positively ignored but it's thriving. It gets a bit of frost bite in winter but that's it.
For yours to look like that, I'd think there was something else going on. Although what that might be I'm not sure, sorry.
Choisya likes a dry soil and sunshine, but Sundance likes some shade to keep its colour. In my last garden in SW France I had a big green one against a wall in full sun which I rarely watered and it thrived. I also had Sundance in a spot that was shady in the afternoon which I never watered.
I have to disagree with @Dovefromabove about the amount of water to give it, fine for some shrubs, but not Choisya. I also disgree with @GardenerSuze, Choisya isn't keen on clay soil, too heavy.
I think the reason for the fungal infection is the cool, wet summer in England.