Juniperus pfitzeriana Golden Saucer

Juniperus x media 'Golden Saucer', is also marketed under the names of Juniperus chinensis or Juniperus x pfitzeriana 'Golden Saucer'.  It is an interesting hybrid juniper due to its moderate size, its golden foliage and its ability to form beautiful groundcover which is attractive all year round. With its bright foliage even in winter, this variety is superb in a large rockery, a city garden, or at the corner of a large planting bed. It lends itself well to pruning and to the art of bonsai.   Juniperus x media are extraordinary conifers, vigorous, and low maintenance with an almost unmatched beauty.  

Juniperus x media 'Golden Saucer', is part of a group of quite old hybrids, mainly derived from Juniperus chinensis, the Chinese juniper. It's a very hardy and very ornamental variety belonging, like its parents, to the family of cypress.  Juniper 'Golden Saucer' forms a beautiful shrub after 10 years with a dense, open, relaxed habit, measuring about 90 cm (35.4 in) in height with a span of 1.5m (4 ft 11 in). Eventually, after many years left unpruned, it can reach a height of 3.5m (11 ft 6 in) and a width of about 6 m (19 ft 8 in). As it copes well with pruning, it is quite easy to limit its development when it matures. This conifer grows slowly when it is a young plant, and faster as it gets older. Its foliage consists of small scale-like, very tight leaves of a yellow-green.  They give off a smell that some find unpleasant when rubbed. The young shoots are golden, they tend to green a little with age.  Junipers have a shallow root system that makes them fragile in the face of strong winds and difficult to associate with perennials. 

Juniper 'Golden Saucer' is a hardy and bright conifer that is popular in the garden for its ease of cultivation, its superb habit and its bright foliage. It is perfect everywhere. Its adult dimensions should be taken into account when planting it as a specimen, on a slope, in a large rockery, or even planted in a group of 3 in a large shrub bed, mixed with conifers with different habits and leaves. The geometric qualities of the conifers naturally work well in a contemporary garden, which is designed according to shapes, silhouettes and textures. These plants provide the garden with good, long term structure. They associate well with mahonias, or with shaggy grasses. They can also be associated with undemanding shade-loving perennials such as periwinkles or Euphorbia amygdaloides Purpurea for example. The best results are achieved by playing with volume and colour.