The Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper, otherwise known as the Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ or Wintercreeper ‘Emerald Gaiety’, Spindle ‘Emerald Gaiety’, Euonymus ‘Gaiety’, is a rather well-known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its variegated colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
This is why all the topics you need to know in order to achieve this will be covered in this Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper wants regular watering to enhance fruit production but as a landscape plant, too much water will be a problem.
- Light: Keep your Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper in soil with moist but well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Description and Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper belongs to the Celastraceae family, the genus Euonymus and the species Fortunei, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ (yoo-ON-ih-mus for-TU-ne-i).
As with other Euonymus’s, the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
| Name | Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ |
| Watering | Every 2-3 weeks |
| Soil | Well-drained |
| Light | Partial to full sun |
| Temperature | 53°F – 68°F (12°C – 20°C) |
| Pruning | Once per year |
Growing Region
The Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper is native to Japan, Korea and China.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 2 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 2, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, H1.
Growth and Size
In terms of size and growth, the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
But what exactly does this mean for your Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
How tall does Emerald Gaiety Euonymus get?
The Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ can grow up to 4′ – 5′ (120cm – 150cm) tall and 4′ – 5′ (120cm – 150cm) wide.
How fast does Emerald Gaiety Euonymus grow?
Emerald Gaiety Euonymus will reach 2 to 3 feet tall in 10 years and will reach maturity at 5 feet.
These dimensions make the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper a relatively large shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 60″ (150cm) free so the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper can spread to its best extent.
Watering
In terms of watering, the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper is a fairly complicated plant to take care of. This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ wants regular watering to enhance fruit production but as a landscape plant, too much water will be a problem.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper, then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper prefers to have soil with good drainage, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper requires soil with clay, high organic matter, loam (silt), and sand, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Placement
In terms of light & exposure, the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Pruning
You can prune your Euonymus Emerald Gaiety bushes in the summer or early fall. Cut 8- to 12-inches long, just below a growth nod. This will help encourage new growth and keep your bushes healthy and looking their best.
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper will be present year round in your garden. But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
The Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper produces some beautiful green flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper have a beautiful variegated color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with an opposite organization in its leaves. You can expect the leaves from your Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ to be around (1-3 inches) in size.
Garden
Now, let’s talk garden and how your Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper will look best in it.
Most Euonymus Fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ owners agree that this shrub will look great in most contemporary, asian/zen and cottage gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of city and courtyard, and in informal and cottage styles.
In particular, the Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper’s best location within your garden is in hedges and screens, beds and borders, and in wall-side borders, others use it for landscaping in a coastal exposure, hedge, mass planting, border, firescaping/fire wise, urban garden, erosion control, edging, ground cover, or a woodland garden.
Companion Plants
Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Acer, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Weigela will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Emerald Gaiety Wintercreeper, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
Related Questions
Is Emerald Gaiety Euonymus evergreen?
Yes, Emerald Gaiety Euonymus is an evergreen shrub. It has a rounded, bushy shape and is a beautiful, rich green color. This plant makes an excellent addition to any landscape or garden and will provide year-round interest.
How can I propagate a Wintercreeper Euonymus?
- By late summer or early fall, take an 8 to 12 long cutting containing leaves and hardwood stem.
- Cut just below a growth node for it to be easier on your plant.
- From there, you can propagate with semi-hardwoods by embedding them into seedling containers containing moistened peat moss mixed with coarse sand/perlite.
- Cover these pots with plastic bags outside under bright indirect sunlight.
- When roots are about one inch long (generally takes up to 6 – 8 weeks), remove the plastic bag and keep growing the plants under indirect bright light.
- After 3-4 months, feel free to repot them to a bigger container.
