The mighty Tansu Japanese Cedar – or Cryptomeria japonica ‘Tansu’ – is a real charmer for the miniature garden. Shown here, it’s about 18 years old, (they are 3 to 4 years old when we get them.) Provide evenly damp soil in a part shade/part sun spot and this little guy will constantly delight. Bronzes in winter. See below for the new ‘Twinkle Toes’ variety, now up in the store that grows even slower. The bench is about 1 1/2″ tall. That mat of ground cover below the tree is Platt’s Black Brass Buttons.
It’s time to show off some of the miniature garden trees and shrubs that have been growing in our miniature gardens. We are in Seattle, Zone 7, with very temperate winters with the occasional freezing. We use to have cooler summers, but last summer was the hottest/driest on record with high temperatures that lasted for months. Our miniature garden trees and shrubs came through like champions.
There is still plenty of time to get everything in the ground in your miniature garden before summer. The plants below are from our Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center Store. Check back often as our plant inventory changes often because, well, they are plants and not all plants are available at all times.
Stay tuned for more next week, there were too many miniature plants to include in just one post! Note that most of the plants shown in this blog post are outdoor plants. See our indoor options here.
Oooh! I love how the camera picked up the rimmed branches of this old Nana Hinoki Cypress! The Hinoki’s are a favorite for the miniature garden, they come in all shapes, sizes and colors and they never disappoint. That is Dwarf Mondo Grass to the left and Miniature London Pride to the right of it beside the stone.
The Fernspray Gold Hinoki Cypress is one of our faves. It turns greener in the part sun and bright gold in full sun. In winter it turns all sorts of ambers and purple if it’s cold enough. The branches can be trimmed to stay bushy, or let them flay-out to form a canopy. Miniature Daisies are at the base of the trunk.
The is what the Fernspray Gold Hinoki looks like when you first get them. They all have a wee trunk underneath, trim away the lower branches to raise the canopy and make it more tree-like.
Tiny cones are developing on the ends of an older Fernspray Cypress. These tiny cones may mature into teenie cypress cones (cute alert!) or they may slough off. Either way, it’s fun and interesting to watch these little plants grow up from being little baby plants to “big” trees in the miniature garden.
This is an untrimmed Hinoki Cypress that has been left to grow on its own in a container. I’ll go back into it and clean up some of the leggier branches to simplify the silhouette a bit. The tree is about 15 years old, the miniature garden is about 10 years old.
Isn’t she lovely? Do you call your trees she or he? Lol! I’m smitten with the color of this new Cryptomeria japonica ‘Twinkle Toes!’ I suspect that it it grows similarly to the Tansu Japanese Cedar, but the flecks of yellow throughout the foliage twinkle in the sun, and it grows even slower, at 1″ to 3″ per year.
The limey-green foliage looks really delicate but it’s a very sturdy tree. The color turns bronze in the winter for more seasonal interest when you need it most.
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2 Comments
Debby Williamson on 25/03/2016 at 9:38 pm
Love this post…these little trees are amazing! Would you consider taking a “panoramic” (hope that’s right) picture of your yard so we can see the scope/size of your miniature garden(s)? Thank you!
Hi Debby, That would entail my full-size garden being in shape. Lol! ;o) I will work on this idea though. We actually have a leg-up on the full-size garden beds this spring so I hope to have more photo opps to share in the coming months. <3
Love this post…these little trees are amazing! Would you consider taking a “panoramic” (hope that’s right) picture of your yard so we can see the scope/size of your miniature garden(s)? Thank you!
Hi Debby, That would entail my full-size garden being in shape. Lol! ;o) I will work on this idea though. We actually have a leg-up on the full-size garden beds this spring so I hope to have more photo opps to share in the coming months. <3