Bald cypress ‘Peve Minaret’
* Common name: Bald cypress ‘Peve Minaret’
A line of ‘Peve Minarets’ at Longwood Gardens.
* Botanical name: Taxodium distichum ‘Peve Minaret’
* What it is: A dwarf and slow-growing version of the popular Southern bald cypress, a U.S. native conifer whose soft, flat, green needles turn a beautiful russet color in fall before dropping. It’s the “evergreen” usually found growing in wet areas in the wild, producing the distinctive knobby growths called “knees” coming up from the root zone.
‘Peve Minaret’ grows slowly in a dense, pyramidal habit – about twice as tall as wide.
* Size: While full-size bald cypress can grow 60 feet tall and 30 feet wide, ‘Peve Minaret’ reaches only about six feet tall and three feet wide in the first 10 years. At 25 years, figure on about 12 feet tall and six feet wide.
* Where to use: Excellent specimen for any dwarf conifer garden. It’s also compact and neat enough for use in sunny foundations and for flanking gates and doorways. Although it’s one of the few conifers that tolerates wet soil, bald cypress also will grow in dry soil. Full sun to light shade.
* Care: Water deeply once a week in lieu of rain for the first two years to establish, then soak every few weeks in drought conditions. Usually doesn’t need pruning or fertilizer, especially if the tree is growing in a lawn that’s being fertilized. Don’t panic when the needles turn color and drop in fall… it’s supposed to do that.
* Great partner: Dwarf beebalm and cardinal flowers are two good perennial partners that also do well in wet soil and sunny conditions. Sedges make a good grassy textural contrast.