Vintage Gold Cypress

The Vintage Gold False Cypress has everything you want in an easy-to-grow evergreen. This tough plant has no problems or pests, and you can just plant it and let it grow. Yet with no effort from you it brings beautiful golden color all year to your garden, and its soft, ferny foliage is a delight to see and to touch. It grows into an upright mound, taller than it is broad, and in time it will reach 5 feet or perhaps more. Of course, it can easily be trimmed to maintain the size you want, and it grows steadily, rather than very fast, so you won’t have to be constantly clipping to keep it neat.

It is a terrific choice for the foundation planting around your house, especially between windows and on either side of a doorway or entrance. Plant it in beds among other evergreens, or to contrast with flowering shrubs. Plant it among rocks and gravel, where it will look graceful and elegant all year round.

Growing Vintage Gold False Cypress

The Vintage Gold False Cypress will grow best and have the strongest color if you plant it in full sun. It will grow perfectly well in partial shade, but the color will not be as brilliant. In shade it will develop a more lime-green color, but that too is very fashionable and desirable in gardens, so you can’t go wrong. Like its parent the Gold Mops False Cypress, this plant holds its strong gold color throughout the summer months, while other forms of this tree turn more greenish as the growth matures. It will grow well in all normal kinds of soil, but for maximum growth a fertile and moist soil is ideal. Do not plant in wet soil, especially if it is also in partial shade, as this can encourage root decay. This plant is free of pests and diseases and even better, despite its soft foliage, deer normally leave it alone.

Caring For Your Vintage Gold False Cypress

Once established, plants will shrug-off normal summer dryness with no problem, and need no special attention even at the peak of summer. It is hardy to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and thrives in areas that are not extremely hot and humid, or extremely dry. This makes it is a blessing to northern gardeners, whose choices are more limited than in the mildest areas.

It enjoys cool, damp springs and summers too. If you are in a colder area, some shelter from winter sun will avoid the risk of the foliage browning. If it does go brown in a severe winter, this is not a problem, as the new spring growth will quickly emerge and restore the fresh, golden color. Not only is the foliage a wonderful golden color all year round, it has a beautiful ferny appearance and soft touch.

History and Origins of the Vintage Gold Cypress

The wild parent of this tree is the false cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera). This native Japanese tree will grow 100 to 150 feet tall in the forests that cover the mountains of Japan. This plant is also often called the ‘sawara cypress’, after the city of that name in Japan. This large wild tree is rarely in ordinary gardens, although it is sometimes seen in parks and large public gardens. Over the years many different forms have been collected by gardeners and growers, and there are three broad groups, based on the form of the foliage.

The variety ‘Vintage Gold’ was introduced around 2005 by Greg Stropkey, the owner of Seven Springs Nursery in Painesville, Ohio. He was checking his stock of another great plant, the Golden Mops False Cypress, when he saw something interesting. The Golden Mops plants have thin, thread-like leaves that hang down a little – the ‘filifera’ type of false cypress – but on one plant he saw a cluster of ferny leaves. He removed them and grew a new plant from them, which had the ferny foliage of the ‘plumosa’ type of false cypress. He grew these new plants, tested them, and then christened his new plant ‘Vintage Gold’. These plants can only be grown from stem pieces of the correct plant, so cheaper seedling plants cannot ever be this great garden plant.

Your Vintage Gold False Cypress plants will keep their soft, ferny foliage right to the ground, and make a beautiful low-maintenance addition to your garden. They can even be planted in a row to make a low hedge of gold that would be a dramatic edging to a driveway or path, or at the foot of a wall. It is also a useful plant for planter boxes, bringing color without the work of constantly re-planting annual flowers.

The Vintage Gold False Cypress is a great addition to any garden, and collectors of evergreens love this plant. It is hardy, easy to grow, and yet always beautiful to see. We anticipate our stock will be in high demand, so to avoid disappointment we urge you to order now, while our supply of this great plant lasts.