How Hardy Is Aucuba?

Mounds of Foliage

• Aucubas grow to about 6 to 10 feet tall and almost as wide in a round, mounding habit but can be tidily trimmed back easily without harming the plant. In the autumn, an aucuba grows tiny maroon flowers, or, if both male and female are planted, small berries. While some varieties of aucuba have dark, solidly green leaves, some varieties including the common male "Mr. Goldstrike" (Aucuba japonica "Mr. Goldstrike") are heavily flecked with gold.

Tenacity in Temperatures

• Aucubas are cold hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 to 10. In fact, they are evergreen in all of these areas and will not lose their striking leaves either in the winter cold or summer heat.

Resilience in Light

• In general, aucubas do best in partial shade. However, they can thrive quite well in full shade areas, making them an excellent option for the darker areas of the garden. Aucubas can take partial sun, and some varietals including Crotonifolia (Aucuba japonica "Crotonifolia") can be planted in full sun -- but in hotter climates full sun might cause the young leaves of an aucuba to blacken.

Readiness for Drought

• As with most young or recently transplanted plants, the aucuba needs regular water during establishment. Once its root system has been established, aucubas are drought tolerant and need very little water. In extreme heat, they do look best if they are watered a bit every week to supplement local precipitation. However, take care not to over-water the plant -- waterlogged soil is one of the few environments where an aucuba cannot thrive. Aucubas can also survive with seacoast exposure and are moderately salt tolerant.

Pest Resistance

• Aucubas are moderately deer-resistant and are rated by Rutgers University as "seldom severely damaged" by deer. Some other pests and diseases can attack aucubas, including the foxglove aphid, obscure mealybugs, Phyllosticta leaf spot and some scales such as armored scales, greedy scale, dictyospermum scale, false oleander scale, oleander scale and yellow scale.