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Key characteristics

Family: Ericaceae
Height: 3 to 5 ft
Width: 3 to 5 ft
Flower color: Bright red flowers
Foliage color: Glossy, dark green leaves edged irregularly in creamy-white to yellow margins
Bloom time: Spring
Light: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low to moderate; naturally compact, spreading habit
Growing zone: USDA zones 5 to 8
Wildlife: Early-season nectar and pollen from the flowers attract bees and other pollinating insects

Shrubs

Pieris japonica 'Ralto'

Passion Frost Pieris

Pieris japonica 'Ralto' is an evergreen shrub grown for its variegated foliage and showy flower display. Narrow, lance-shaped leaves are edged in creamy white to soft butter yellow around blue-green centers. Through winter, the foliage holds its color while clusters of deep red buds hang at the tips of the branches, giving the plant a colorful presence even in the dormant season.

In early to mid spring, those buds open into drooping chains of rosy red to pink, bell-shaped flowers that attract pollinators.

Light

Full sun to part shade

Water

Medium

Bloom time

Spring

Find this plant

Works well in

Shade Gardens
Woodland Gardens
Containers
Deer Prone Areas

Companion plants

Sarcococca · Rodgersia · Cyclamen · Fatsia · Lungwort · Primrose

Design tip

Contrast is central to ‘Ralto’s’ garden value: creamy yellow-edged foliage creates a luminous evergreen backdrop for deep red winter buds and rosy spring flowers. The succession from buds to bloom keeps the same color relationship active across two seasons.

Printable plant sheet (PDF)