I first met Juniperus chinensis ‘Aurea’ at the JC Raulston Arboretum in 2018, grown from cuttings taken at Richmond, Virginia’s Maymont Garden. We struggled to find a cultivar name, toying first with naming it Juniperus ‘Maymont Gold’. It wasn’t until horticultural cultivar historian, Larry Hatch, of Cultivar.org, told us that this is the true Juniperus chinensis ‘Aurea’, a plant that Larry found was sold widely in the Southeast US around 1900. It’s origin, however, traces back to its 1855 introduction from the UK’s former Maurice Young Nursery.
Since any cultivar name can only be used once per genus, all of the other plants in the commercial trade, labeled Juniperus chinensis ‘Aurea’, most of which are groundcover types, are mis-named. I’ve grown quite a few junipers, and have a fondness for their evergreen structural form in the garden. Our seven year old plants are now 6′ tall. Sadly, that’s probably too slow for most commercial nurseries, but perhaps a few specialty growers will decide this worthy of production. As a landscape designer, I find it one of the finest upright junipers I’ve ever grown.
Love the plant histories you do
Thanks for this post. I am confused. I thought Juniperus chinensis ‘aurea’ was a golden juniper with “juvenile foliage”, the finely textured one. What is the name of that one then?
As can be seen in the photo here J. chinensis ‘Aurea’ consists of a mix of juvenile and adult foliage. This is typical of the species.
Forgetting importation of junipers was prohibited I brought multiple rooted cuttings of this tree from Britain in 1994 only to have them seized by customs agents at the Seattle airport. Later I was able to purchase a small specimen somewhere domestically which proved to have the awl shaped portions of its foliage composition impossibly subject to sun burn.
I’m trying Thujopsis dolabrata ‘Aurea’ or Golden Japanese Elkhorn Cedar that like Juniperus chinensis ‘Aurea’is also slow growing. I’m planting them in part-sun/dappled-shade beneath oaks here in NC zone 8a per suggested growing conditions. Thujopsis dolabrata may not tolerate full-sun here. It will be interesting to see how much golden foliage there is without a lot of full-sun exposure. But the foliage isn’t a pure green in the greenhouse, it’s an interesting mix of green, bronze, and brown with hints of gold. It is also a slow grower which is OK with me as I was able to find plants that were 4ft tall X 3ft wide. Thujopsis dolabrata ‘Aurea’ is reportedly not drought tolerant which means regular watering/irrigation.
Very nice! How would one even go about locating this plant from a nursery for sale?
do a web search for “juniperus chinensis aurea price”
Like the blog post says, be sure what they say is Juniperus chinensis ‘aurea’ isn’t another cultivar, a groundcover, that has been misnamed.
Try a web search for “juniperus chinensis aurea price”.