This coming new year will be a celebration for all loropetalum lovers. Jazz Hands Variegated will be honored as Proven Winners' "Heat Loving Shrub of the Year." This is "hands" down the most beautiful loropetalum in the marketplace. Just looking at it for a few minutes will cause you to fall madly in love with it.

Loropetalums have the common name Chinese fringe flower. White flowered selections have been around for a long time, but it is the red or pink ones that took the gardening world by storm around 25 to 30 years ago. Colorful foliage and flowers made it a garden delight.

Today the Jazz Hands series has grown to six selections: Bold, Mini, Night Moves, Pink, White and the star of this column, Variegated. In this group we really do have choices from the dwarf and compact to larger selections.

Years ago, the first ones in the industry were quite large. I have three in my backyard that are pushing 20 feet. The salmon-colored bark is a knockout, but the size could be prohibitive. Fret not though: Jazz Hands Variegated and the others in the series are easy to fit in the landscape. Jazz Hands Variegated can reach 6 feet in height with a 4-foot spread.

You may be thinking you are not into variegated plants. Jazz Hands Variegated leaves all look different to me, with color patterns almost suggesting that each leaf was hand-painted. The leaves show green, pink, purple and white. Not only that but it also seems to always be in a stage of change; shifting sun patterns along with growth and maturity give each day a new look. Don’t forget the deep rose-pink blooms.

Jazz Hands Variegated loropetalum is recommended for zones 7 and warmer. They prefer part-sun to sun. The soil should be fertile and organic-rich. While they acclimate with ease in slightly acidic soil, Texas gardeners are finding success with slightly alkaline soil as well. Adding organic matter and raised bed planting mixes improve your drainage and pH as well as green thumb credentials too!

Many gardeners find that Jazz Hands Variegated loropetalums make a choice selection for containers. If you think about it, containers with good lightweight potting soil take away a lot of worries. By virtue of the drainage holes, boggy conditions are not normally an issue. Most potting soils have optimum pH levels. And by growing in a container, you can place it in the ideal amount of sun. The Garden Guy is beyond thrilled to tell you they are not on the Bambi Buffet.

Your partnerships in the landscape are only limited by your imagination and creativity. I love them partnered with chartreuse foliage whether it is a nandina, Sweet Caroline ornamental sweet potato, ColorBlaze Lime Time coleus or a Fluffy arborvitae.

The white blooms of panicle hydrangeas are magical combined with the colorful foliage of Jazz Hands variegated. But this year, almost on a lark, I paired Hollywood Hibiscus Disco Diva. My jaw dropped that first day of hibiscus blooms. The point here is don’t be afraid to try!

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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)

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