Will grow in coastal full sun but looks best in light shade. Hardy to 28 F. and tolerant of moderate to very little water. A great plant for part sun where it can brighten up a dark spot in the garden.

Plectrancthus fosteri is a species that grows in the South Pacific from New Caledonia to Tonga and this name has always been suspect, but Plectranthus forsteri 'Aureus Variegatus' seems to be what most call this plant, though we have also noted the cultivar name 'Green on Green' used as well. Whatever it is, it is a nice plant that somewhat resembles Plectrancthus coleoides marginatus, but differs in having larger leaves that are less pointed.

The name for the genus comes from the Greek words 'plektron' meaning a "spur" and 'anthos' meaning "flower" in reference to the spur that is found at the base of the corolla tube of the type species Plectranthus fruticosus. The most recent treatment of this plant has it currently considered to be a species of the closely related genus Coleus but as not to confuse our customers and employees, we continue to list this plant as a Plectranthus until such time as this change is better recognized. It has also been pointed out that by ruling of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants that Latinized cultivar names are not valid names for plants named after January 1, 1959, but we have yet to determine how old this 'Aureus Variegatus' name is and if in fact it existed prior to this date it would be considered a conserved valid Latinized name. Since it is also the name that we received this plant by, we continue to use it. 

The information about Plectranthus forsteri 'Aureus Variegatus' that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.