Chamaecyparis Answer

Two posts ago under 'You're Never too Smart to Learn" I posted a photo of some Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Mops' shrubs that were displaying different shades of the chartreuse coloring they are grown for.  The question was why so much variation in the color given that they are healthy and well established.  In a winter landscape the answer might not be so obvious, but look closely and you will notice a tree adjacent to the specimens that are a dull green color.  Shade!  The tree is south of those shrubs and has grown to a size that casts a sufficient amount of shade to affect the plants coloration.  This is an important consideration when siting plants in the landscape.  The Chamaecyparis are perfectly fine growing in the amount of shade cast by the tree, but they just won't color up like the ones in a full sun site.

So take a look around the whole site as you plan the landscape and keep in mind that plants do grow.  We plan to pull out the Chamaecyparis and move them to a new location.  They have actually out grown the space that they are in anyway.  They were just so cute when they were little one-gallon plants!  Did that tag say 5' x 5'?