Finally from my recent visit to Yew Dell Gardens near Louisville, KY – a very rare variegated plant that I found out in the arboretum.

The variegated form of the English oak, Quercus robur ‘Variegata’, is only listed by two nurseries in Britain and very rarely seen in the US. The one in the Yew Dell arboretum was looking rather sad after the summer drought but it had opened a few fresh new leaves so the marginal variegation could clearly be seen. It's unexpectedly attractive.

There are a number of variegated forms of this tree – with foliage splashed, mottled or edged in cream, yellow or pale green – but the names seem muddled and as far as I know no one has sorted them out and matched each type of variegation with the correct name. This cream edged form is sometimes listed as ‘Argenteomarginata’.

At the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew there is, apparently, a tree which produces green leaves in spring and then when its second flush of foliage appears later in the season the leaves are variegated. I've never heard of such a curiosity before and unfortunately I don’t remember seeing the tree when I was at Kew – although I certainly remember the golden-leaved form growing not far from The Orangery.

There must be some variegated forms of American oaks out there too…