Plant Doctor Archive

Water Gardens — Zebra Rush

I have been trying to grow Zebra Rush but it always seems to lose the stripes and go green all over. Can you offer any suggestions?

The Zebra Rush is actually a horizontally variegated form of Lake Club rush or Shoenoplectus validus. You are right - the yellow stripes are not very well fixed and they tend to revert to the green form if the plant is overfed. I therefore recommend that you do not feed this plant ever! When potting, do not use an enriched mix either.

Also, you may have noted that this plant often looks scruffy when offered for sale. This is because the fragile and slender leaves are easily broken in transit. I urge you to overlook these difficulties as it is a stunning plant when well established and very good at removing toxins from water.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.