‘Moon Frost’ Eastern Hemlock Sparkles Long After the Snow has Melted

This uniquue evergreen nativar offers white tips in spring and pink needles in winter

Every wintertime I set an design to lend evergreens to my garden . It needs more bones : those strategically placed structural plants that offer somewhere for the birds to hide in , and for our eye to feast on , before everything else gets growing again . Come spring , hungry for candy colors , I forget all that and leave the glasshouse with a cartful of pansies instead . But a few years ago , I blot a muffin - shaped conifer dripping with minty - lily-white , icing - similar needle . Finally , an evergreen — and a nativar to boot — remind me of my hope , and I ushered it through the check-out procedure lane and into my machine .

Renowned Oregon horticulturist Ed Wood selected ‘ Moon Frost ’ from a patch of North American aboriginal eastern hemlock ( T. canadensis ) for its glowing livid leap tips as well as its dwarf habit . The new leaf stretches from blotto sports fan , aging to a subtly striate Robert Lee Frost - dusted green . The needles are flatly arranged along skinny branchlet and as a bonus , they redden pink in winter . Eastern hemlock is typically a slow grower . The first three or so year , my ‘ Moon Frost ’ quell tightly mound , but has since increased its pace , loosening up and out with graciously airy branches , and is now just under 4 feet tall .

Some sources call eastern hemlock “ deer large-minded , ” but I ’m inclined to register that as “ might be tasteable . ” Protection from drought , desiccate wind , and scalding summertime sun help keep ‘ Moon Frost ’ sizable and stress - gratuitous , which is essential for boosting its resilience and resistance to its primary liability : hemlock woolly adelgid ( HWA ) . This blighter ’s telltale cottony sack on the humiliated and underside of limb will be most seeable during leap and pin . If you ever find evidence of HWA , experts at university extension service services recommend spraying with horticultural oil and/or insecticidal soap . Both discourse are nontoxic , secure for householder usance , and efficient . I spread an yearly layer of shredded folio at the foot of my ‘ Moon Frost ’ poison parsley to serve check wet in the soil , and water during drought . Thanks to these measures , I ’ve never seen any sign of an HWA infestation .

I now and again sample the right flora in the incorrect spot , but not this time . I planted my ‘ Moon Frost ’ in a north - side basis seam near a rain barrel with a soaker hose attached . It gets high-pitched - summer shade from a pink pussy willow ( Salix gracilistyla‘Mt . Aso ’ , Zones 4–8 ) to its west . The late - winter color echo from that plant ’s buds is arrant serendipity ! No poove take .

‘ Moon Frost ’ easterly hemlock

Tsuga canadensis‘Moon Frost ’

Zones:4–7

shape : Partialto full shade;average to moist , well - drained soil

aboriginal orbit : North America

Lifelong horticulturist Kristin Green gardens in Bristol , Rhode Island .

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