I bought a ‘Lilleeannes’s Jewel’ from MrMaple almost two years ago. A very beautiful and healthy specimen. Life got difficult and the poor little tree was incredibly neglected, almost to the point of death. Luckily, I gave it some TLC just in time and this spring it is doing fabulous, only one problem: there’s no variegation to speak of except on one small, low branch. What should I do? Give it a chance to show some on its second flush of growth? I’d really hate to give it a major haircut. I feel like the reversion may have something to do with the poor care I’d given it up until the last several months.
I would wait. Some cultivars are slow to show variegation. With some cultivars, sun exposure is everything. Occasionally they have an off season, especially after a stressful past season. I don't own this one but do have hana matoi. They sure look similar. With Hana matoi some years the variegation looks better than others. It looks totally different depending on sun exposure. Too much shade or full afternoon sun will cause it to have less variegation. It likes full morning sun with afternoon filtered sun. Someone with several seasons of experience with this cultivar maybe able to give a definite answer.
Lilleannnes Jewel is described as a stable cultivar. So this is news to me. I grow a few of these and they have yet to show any reversion. It may very well be that stressful environments can impact the color.
Did you contact Matt or Tim directly? That's probably your best bet. They don't get over here too much now.
