INTRODUCTION TO…… CRYPTOMERIA’S

A famous group of conifers in it’s native Japan, where they have been cultivated for centuries, but curiously undervalued here. Cryptomeria add texture, colour and wide ranging form year round to the garden and are must-have constituents of any conifer collection or winter garden. Entirely hardy everywhere, cold winters actually bring out the intensity of the burnished bronze, orange or red colouring even more. This characteristic can be present on most cultivars excepting the gold japonica aure. MANY DIFFERENT HABITS From the original Cryptomeria japonica, which easily attains the stature of a tree, to the tiny rounded japonica globosum, upright wsited and columnar japonica Rasen, upright willowy spreading sekkan-sugi, to the very tiny almost alpine vilmoriniana, there is endless choice and endless variation; something for everyone and every garden. The foliage is quite curious when examined closely; the congested arrangement of short needles gives an appearance that is unmistakeably spiky [although not particularly to touch] and moss-like. Real tactile texture! In larger growg forms it tends to be more open and elegant. Cryptomeria are suitable for most soils except the poorly drained and are suitable for all counties, even the coldest. Larger growing varieties, and the ‘original’ species Cryptomeria japonica, can be used as trees for specimen planting in lawn or island bed. Intermediate growers make good mid-border specimens or to grow up through a carpet of heathers. And there are plenty of truly dwarf to miniature varieties for pots, pans, rockery, scree and raised bed. Because the foliage colours so strongly in the winter there are endless possibilities for foliage contrast with heathers, other conifers, sedum, sempervivum and many others.