How to Grow and Care for Wintercreeper

Wintercreeper, also known as Fortune's spindle or climbing euonymus, is a broadleaf, evergreen shrub that can also serve as a climber or groundcover. It's grown for its foliage, with distinctive green-and-gold varieties that add classic color. This versatile plant grows happily in most sun exposures and in most soils, which is partially what makes it such an aggressive spreader.

Like other Euonymus species, wintercreeper may be toxic to people and pets.

Wintercreeper Care

Wintercreeper is a versatile plant that can serve as groundcover for both sunny and shady areas, as an edging plant along paths, as a slope cover, as a foundation planting, or trained to climb like an ivy to cover walls, chimneys, or fences.

Here are the main care requirements for growing wintercreeper:

• Regarding sunlight, plant it pretty much anywhere besides in full shade.
• Any soil will work, as long as it's not swampy.
• Water somewhat regularly, though wintercreeper can tolerate dry soil.
• No fertilizer is needed.

Warning

Wintercreeper euonymus is viewed as invasive in the eastern United States, because it spreads not only into surrounding lawns and garden areas but also climbs trees and moves into forest openings where it replaces native plants.

Light

Wintercreeper thrives in full sun to part shade, but it can tolerate a significant amount of shade.

Soil

Wintercreeper grows easily in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil. It prefers alkaline soil but will tolerate many different soil conditions, including compacted soil, slightly acidic to slightly alkaline pH between 6.0 to 8.0, as well as dry (and even drought) soil conditions. However, it does not do well in wet soil.

Water

Water the plant when the top three inches of soil are dry. If the plant is already established, it can also tolerate drought conditions. If you live in a cold-winter climate, you can help prevent common winter problems, such as desiccation, by watering the plants well in the fall, before the ground freezes.

Temperature and Humidity

Wintercreeper euonymus does well in all climate conditions found in USDA hardiness zones 4 through 9. In areas with harsh winters, wintercreeper can suffer some winter damage from ice and dramatic temperature fluctuations. Fortunately, this resilient plant is very good at recovering from the effects of winter.

Fertilizer

As an evergreen shrub with insignificant flowers, wintercreeper usually needs no fertilizer for general health. If desired, you can feed it once a year in the fall, using a small amount of fertilizer applied at least two inches from the plant's trunk.

Types of Wintercreeper

There are many popular cultivars of wintercreeper, including:

• E. fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety' has green and white leaves.
• E. fortunei 'Emerald 'n' Gold' has green leaves with wide yellow margins. It can mound into a shrub of 4 to 5 feet in height.
• E. fortunei 'Emerald Surprise' has green foliage with smaller yellow margins.
• E. fortunei 'Silver Queen' has silver or white-edged green leaves.
• E. fortunei 'Sunspot' features leaves with pronounced yellow centers.
• E. fortunei ‘Canadale Gold’ has glossy leaves with golden margins. It is a mounding form but is also good for vine training.
• E. fortunei 'Minimus' is a small mounding cultivar, growing to only about 18 inches but with a 6-foot spread. Known as "baby wintercreeper," it has small leaves.
• E. fortunei 'Colorata' is a low-spreading cultivar, with leaves that have purplish color on the undersides, therefore it is also known as purple-leaved wintercreeper.
  

Pruning

Pruning can be done either to control the spread of the plant or to keep it in the desired shape—such as to keep it in a mounded shape rather than allowing it to spread as a ground cover. Major pruning should be done after flowering is complete to remove all the spent flowers before they go to seed. Make sure to sterilize cutting tools after each cut.

Propagating Wintercreeper

Wintercreeper is easily propagated from new-growth cuttings in the spring. Here's how:

1. With sterilized cutting shears, take a 4- to 6-inch length of stem that has at least four pairs of leaves.
2. Strip off the bottom pair of leaves and place the cutting in a moist potting mix.
3. Keep the potting mix moist until roots at least one inch long have emerged from the nodes where the leaves were removed, then transplant into a larger pot.
4. Make sure to harden the plant off before transplanting it into the garden.
   

Potting and Repotting Wintercreeper

If you want to grow wintercreeper euonymus in a container, select a compact or dwarf variety and keep it well-pruned to control its growth. Choose a container that is at least as large as the nursery container, with good drainage holes. Terra cotta is ideal because it lets excess moisture evaporate.

Fill the container with a well-draining potting mix and water it regularly to keep the soil moderately moist, keeping in mind that container plants need more frequent watering than in-ground garden plants.

Repotting becomes should be done in the spring and becomes necessary when the roots fill the pot or start to grow out of the drainage holes.

Overwintering

Wintercreeper euonymus is hardy to USDA zone 4 and needs no winter protection when planted in a garden setting. In containers, however, freezing winter temperatures can damage the roots. To insulate the roots from the cold, wrap the plant with burlap and bubble wrap, or place the plant inside an insulating silo.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

One of the most common problems you may face with many types of Euonymus shrubs is Euonymus scale, an armored insect that attacks the leaves and stems of infected plants. Treat for scale by pruning off infected branches and/or by applying a horticultural oil at the appropriate times of the growing season.

Wintercreeper may also struggle with winter leaf burn, crown gall, anthracnose, powdery mildew, and aphids.

How to Get Wintercreeper to Bloom

Aggressive wintercreeper should bloom each summer, though its flowers are insignificant. This plant is usually chosen for its foliage.

Bloom Months

Wintercreeper blooms in the summer for about three weeks, and since it has such a large range (perennial to USDA zones 4-9), the exact timing of this blooming depends on location.

What Do Wintercreeper Flowers Look and Smell Like?

The short-lived, cream-colored blooms of wintercreeper form small clusters on the plant, and they do not offer any noteworthy fragrance.

How to Encourage More Blooms

Blooming shouldn't be an issue with wintercreeper, but if you'd like to encourage more blooms, make sure it's getting enough sunlight and consider a small does of fertilizer.

From: thespruce