Cupressus 'Wilma' is a compact, columnar golden conifer whose soft yellow-green foliage smells of lemon when brushed.
The bright yellow-green sprays hold their colour all year and give a pot or border instant height and structure. It grows naturally into a neat upright column, which makes it a favourite centrepiece for tubs, baskets and pots by a front door or on a balcony, and just as useful as a structural upright in a rockery or border. Brush past it and it releases a fresh lemony scent.
Give it full sun or partial shade, sheltered from cold drying winds, in well-drained soil; it is drought tolerant once established and copes with the salt air of a coastal garden given that shelter. It will stay happy in a pot for years if kept outdoors and watered, but planted in the ground it will eventually make a sizeable tree, so keep it clipped if you want it small. It copes with an average British winter, though the golden foliage can brown in a cold, exposed spot. Trim lightly to shape when needed and never cut back into bare old wood, because cypresses do not regrow from it. Evergreen and low maintenance.
Supplied as a set of three or six garden-ready plants in 1 litre pots, grown in peat-free compost.
Cultural Information
Common Name: Goldcrest Wilma, Monterey cypress
Fully Grown Height and Spread: Up to 3 m x 1 m; can be pruned to size
Growth Habit: Upright, columnar evergreen conifer
Perfect For: Pots, front doors, balconies, borders, rockeries, structure and screening
Foliage: Soft yellow-green sprays, evergreen, lemon scented
Flowering Time: Grown for foliage; does not flower
Planting Position: Full sun or partial shade, sheltered from cold wind; drought tolerant once established; tolerates coastal gardens; suits patio containers
Soil Type: Well-drained
Hardiness: Copes with an average British winter given shelter from cold drying winds
Maintenance: Low; trim lightly, never into old wood
Seasonal Interest: Evergreen golden foliage all year
Type: Evergreen conifer
