Goldilocks Japanese White Pine

Some plants just win your heart the moment you see them –like kittens or puppies. One look at an established plant of the Goldilocks Japanese White Pine and you too will be won over. Especially in spring, when the golden new growth makes it glow like the sun, but later too, when the lovely blue-green mature needles charm us with their creamy-yellow tips and natural curliness. By winter the needles are mostly blue-green, with white tips. It’s about more than just color, though, because this pine also escapes from the rigid, upright way so many pines grow, and expresses itself artistically, developing an irregular outline and form, with layered branching, straight out of an oriental painting. Upright but broad, it will be about 4 feet tall and wide after 10 years, and will go on to double that, or even more, in time. A charming and appealing tree that is perfect in a rock garden, in shrub beds, and of course in any Asian-themed layout. Discovered in Japan and more correctly called ‘Tenysu-kazu’, this little charmer will win your heart in any language.

• Striking golden candles and needles in spring
• Mature needles are blue-green with creamy-yellow tips
• Natural irregular growing pattern gives it lots of appeal
• Upright but broad growth, to 4 feet within 10 years
• Protect from afternoon sun in hotter zones

In colder zones plant your Goldilocks Japanese White Pine in full sun, but in warmer areas it should have some shade in the afternoon, to protect it from potential scorching. Very well-drained soil is needed too, and this plant grows best in open, sandy soils. Generally pest-free, it can be stylized even further as it grows by selective candling (trimming of new growth) and pruning out of some branches to create a more mature look.