Product Overview
Variegated Cattail (Typha latifolia 'Variegata')
Typical cattail form with long, vertical leaves, except the leaves are strongly variegated vertically with bright green and white stripes, and the leaves have a noticeable and attractive corkscrew twist. Produces catkin blooms in late summer. This showy cattail is a welcome addition to the water garden. Multiplies by underground runners. Variegated form of US native.
Tip--when preparing for winter, never cut cattail leaves off below the maximum (summer or winter) water level in the pond. Odd as it sounds, this allows water and pathogens to penetrate into the rhizome and roots, and will usually cause cattails to die. In fact, savvy landscape professionals who know this will intentionally cut back cattails to limit their range or even eliminate them completely. This is also true of some other pond plants, including lotus and aquatic cannas, but cattails are particularly susceptible.
Hardiness Zone: 4-11
Planting Container: We recommend a 10" x 6" fabric pot to grow a regular sized plant, or a 12.5" x 7" or 15" x 6" fabric pot to grow a grouping of specimen sized plants. Click on any fabric pot link to read about why fabric pots work better than hard plastic pots!
Light Requirements: full sun to part shade
Height: 5'-6' - Spread: Running Rhizomes
Water Depth: Moist soil or water to 12" deep (Maximum water depth is for mature plants). If cutting back for winter, do not cut foliage to below maximum water level as this can drown the rhizomes.
FERTILIZING: For best health and growth, we recommend fertilizing regularly (unless using the plants in a plant filtration system!). Use Pondtabbs 20 count, 60 count, or 300 count for fast release, or Aquascape 6 count or 12 count capsules for slow release (once a year) fertilizing. Aquascape is preferred for low maintenance, but Pondtabbs are useful in Spring when Aquascape is slow to start in low temperatures. Pondtabbs are also useful for a quick extra nutrient push for extra bloom, and for mid-summer fertilizing of a new plant (we don't recommend using slow release fertilizer in mid-summer or later in cold climates, as plants should run out of fertilizer at the end of the year to encourage dormancy in cold climates).
Plants are shipped bare root or in starter pots, and will require planting upon arrival. For in depth planting and care instructions visit our Planting and Care Instructions for Shallow Water and Bog Plants.
For information on using plants for pond filtration, please read our blog on this topic!
