Mollie Brown Chooses 10 Plants With Spotted Leaves You Simply Have To Grow
Reviewed By COLIN SKELLY
Colin is a Horticulturist and Horticultural Consultant with experience in a range of practical and managerial roles across heritage, commercial and public horticulture. He holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture award and has a particular interest in horticultural ecology and naturalistic planting for habitat and climate resilience.
Spotted leaves on a plant are not a common sight, but if you’re looking for a plant that will add some interest to your home or garden displays, there are a few options you could consider.
In this article, we share ten gorgeous plants that have spotted leaves which you can grow here in the UK.
Each plant has something different to offer, with a mixture of outdoor and indoor choices that will give you plenty to choose from.
1) Polka Dot Plant
- BOTANICAL NAME: Hypoestes phyllostachya
- HARDINESS RATING: H1B
- PLANT TYPE: houseplant / sub-shrub
- FOLIAGE: green, cream and pink
- FOLIAGE TYPE: evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
The polka dot plant is a houseplant that is probably your best option if you want eye-catching foliage that will steal the show.
This plant usually has pink or green leaves that are then dotted with a darker green or white hue, living up to its name.
This frost-tender sub-shrub needs to be grown in a sheltered position in a well-draining loam-based potting mix that has a slightly acidic pH.
You can grow the polka dot plant outside as an annual in your garden beds or borders, but I would recommend keeping this plant indoors so you can enjoy its unique foliage all year-round.
2) Spotted Dracaena ‘Florida Beauty’
- BOTANICAL NAME: Dracaena surculosa ‘florida beauty’
- HARDINESS RATING: H1B
- PLANT TYPE: houseplant / shrub
- FOLIAGE: green and cream
- FOLIAGE TYPE: evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
If simplicity is what you’re after, spotted dracaena ‘Florida Beauty’ might just be the one for you.
With lovely ovate green leaves that are covered in creamy splotches, ‘Florida Beauty’ looks best when grown as a houseplant and can add some greenery to any room you place it in.
This shrub is relatively easy to care for when grown indoors as long as it is kept in a site that is away from draughty doors and fluctuating temperatures, like by a radiator.
3) Common Lungwort
- BOTANICAL NAME: Pulmonaria officinalis
- HARDINESS RATING: H6
- PLANT TYPE: perennial
- FOLIAGE: green and white
- FOLIAGE TYPE: semi-evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
A hardy perennial that produces trumpet-shaped purple and pink flowers in the spring, Lungwort is a good choice for gardeners who are looking for plants with spotted leaves to grow outdoors.
The leaves on lungwort are green and fuzzy and are often spotted with a greyish-white colour.
This plant thrives in shade and can make a good ground cover plant or be used to fill in gaps in garden beds or borders.
“Pulmonaria officinalis is one of my favourite perennials,” says Master Horticulturist Colin Skelly.
“Its spring flowers are a great early resource for pollinators but its spotted foliage (more marked on some cultivars) makes it stand out in the shady borders it likes even after flowering.
“It is also a great ground cover plant without spreading too keenly beyond its desired position.”
4) Rattlesnake Plant
- BOTANICAL NAME: Calathea lancifolia
- HARDINESS RATING: H1A
- PLANT TYPE: houseplant / perennial
- FOLIAGE: purple and green
- FOLIAGE TYPE: evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Although this might not be the easiest houseplant to grow, if you have the time, patience and experience needed to care for the rattlesnake plant, its delightful foliage will be well worth the effort.
The plant’s leaves are purple on the bottom and green on the top with dark green markings that grow evenly along the centre of the leaf.
You will need to keep this plant away from direct sunlight in a location where the temperature will remain in the region of 15-23°C throughout the year.
Rattlesnake plants will not cope well with fluctuations in temperature, so make sure to keep this houseplant in a sheltered spot away from any doors, air conditioning units or heaters.
5) Satin Pothos
- BOTANICAL NAME: Scindapsus pictus
- HARDINESS RATING: H1C
- PLANT TYPE: shrub / climber / houseplant
- FOLIAGE: green, grey and silver
- FOLIAGE TYPE: evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Satin pothos is a climbing shrub that can grow up to 1.5m tall with the right support.
Its long vines, which sprout stunning heart-shaped green leaves that are spotted with white dots, can twist along stakes that are placed properly in the container or location where this plant is growing – a true show-stopper.
This plant looks its best when it’s grown in a bright spot indoors that gets plenty of sunlight.
6) Spotted Begonia
- BOTANICAL NAME: Begonia maculata
- HARDINESS RATING: H1B
- PLANT TYPE: houseplant
- FOLIAGE: green, red and white
- FOLIAGE TYPE: evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Begonias are popular houseplants, but this lesser-known variety is not as popular as its flowering counterparts.
Begonia maculata, more aptly named the spotted begonia, has wing-like leaves that are green and covered in white spots.
This stunning cultivar is surely the most interesting begonia available and surprisingly, it is reasonably easy to grow and care for.
Make sure it is grown out of direct sunlight in a sheltered and shaded spot in your home and do not overwater, as this houseplant cannot tolerate waterlogged conditions.
7) Japanese Laurel ‘Crotonifolia’
- BOTANICAL NAME: Aucuba japonica ‘crotonifolia’
- HARDINESS RATING: H5
- PLANT TYPE: shrub
- FOLIAGE: green and yellow
- FOLIAGE TYPE: evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 1.5-2.5m in height, 1.5-2.5m spread
This hardy shrub not only produces green and yellow spotted leaves, but it is an incredibly useful plant to grow in your garden displays.
Japanese laurel ‘crotonifolia’ can be used for garden hedging and natural screening and will add interest to the back of your garden borders or beds.
This unfussy plant grows best in shaded spots that other plants might struggle to survive in and is relatively low-maintenance once planted out.
8) Ten Commandments
- BOTANICAL NAME: Maranta leuconeura
- HARDINESS RATING: H1B
- PLANT TYPE: perennial / houseplant / bulb
- FOLIAGE: green, grey and silver
- FOLIAGE TYPE: evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Maranta leuconeura, also known as the ‘ten commandments’ or the ‘prayer plant’, is a bulbous perennial that is grown as a houseplant here in the UK.
This plant is most commonly known for its green spotted leaves that fold up overnight, putting on a remarkable display that is unique to this perennial.
This shade-loving houseplant has evergreen foliage that will add a fresh touch of greenery to your home displays.
9) Bromeliad ‘Hallelujah’
- BOTANICAL NAME: Billbergia ‘hallelujah’
- HARDINESS RATING: H2
- PLANT TYPE: houseplant
- FOLIAGE: pink, brown and red
- FOLIAGE TYPE: evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Most commonly known for their bright flowers, bromeliads are popular plants that are most often grown indoors in the UK for their colourful blooms that can last all year long.
However, the ‘Hallelujah’ variety is more recognisable because of its brown and red leaves that are decorated with white spots throughout the year.
The foliage from this bromeliad variety is waxy and stiff, growing up to 50cm tall.
Grow this plant out of direct sunlight and it will reward you with plentiful flowers and stunning foliage that will add some colour all year round.
10) Silver Squill
- BOTANICAL NAME: Ledebouria socialis
- HARDINESS RATING: H3
- PLANT TYPE: houseplant / bulb
- FOLIAGE: silver and green
- FOLIAGE TYPE: evergreen
- TYPICAL SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
To round things off, I’ve picked a houseplant that is probably the easiest to care for on this list – the silver squill.
Ledebouria socialis is a small bulbous plant that, as long as it is sited somewhere out of direct sunlight, is low-maintenance and will brighten your home with its waxy green leaves that are covered in white dots.
The unusual leaves of this plant will look great next to other green foliage plants, but can also be placed in their own spot for a stand-alone display.
