Nandina domestica Twilight - Sacred Bamboo

Nandina domestica 'Twilight' is a small evergreen bush with a truly elegant appearance, slowly forming a compact clump of slender upright stems. Unique and attractive, it is remarkably decorative in all seasons, with its splendid ornamental and bright leaf foliage, and shades that vary with the seasons. Its young shoots are coppery pink in spring, then its leaves become variegated with creamy white, taking on more intense colours in winter. Its summer flowering in panicles of white flowers gives way to clusters of small scarlet berries. This recent variety won a gold medal in 2015 at the famous international Plantarium exhibition in Boskoop, Netherlands.

Nandina domestica, commonly called Sacred Bamboo or Heavenly Bamboo, is native to India, China, and Japan, and belongs to the Berberidaceae family. Nandina domestica 'Twilight' is a brand new variety from the United States, forming a small evergreen bush with slender upright stems and a rounded and compact habit. It grows rather slowly and at maturity reaches a maximum height of 1 m to 1.20 m (3.3 ft to 3.9 ft), with a width of about 50 cm (19.7 in). The main advantage of this cultivar lies in its dense vegetation, with spreading pinnate leaves that change colours throughout the seasons. This Sacred Bamboo displays bright pink young shoots in spring, becoming light green with a touch of cream when mature, with these colours becoming even more intense in winter. In July, it produces large paniculate clusters of small white star-shaped flowers, followed in September by clusters of red berries that are decorative throughout the winter and sometimes persist during the next flowering season.

Nandina domestica 'Twilight' is a bush that will give a touch of Japanese style to the garden. Planted in front of borders or in a shady rock garden, its bright pink foliage, then variegated green with cream, its summer flowering, and its attractive red berries will be beautifully highlighted. Being small in size, it is perfectly suited for small gardens, but also for growing in large pots on a terrace or balcony. It can also be planted as a low hedge to create a splendid, ever-changing, bright green screen. It is possible to use a single species, but a mixed hedge can be created by mixing several varieties of Nandina or by combining different species of small flowering bushes. It can be planted with Peonies, Camellias, Rhododendrons, Hydrangeas, Mountain Laurels, and Andromedas. In a mixed hedge, it can be paired with a Deutzia, a Japanese Spiraea, a Pheasant's Tail Tree, a Viburnum, or a Butterfly Bush.

The term Nandina is derived from the Japanese word Nantensei, which refers to this bush in Japan. The specific term domestica comes from the Latin word Domus, meaning house or dwelling. Indeed, Nandina domestica has been highly appreciated in the Far East for centuries and is considered a sacred plant. In Japan, it is cultivated near houses and temples and is used in Ikebana as a symbol of purification. In China, where it is called Tein-shok or Sacred Bamboo, it has always been used to adorn temple altars.

Despite its bamboo-like appearance and its nicknames (Sacred Bamboo, Heavenly Bamboo, or Bamboo of Happiness), Nandina domestica has no botanical relation to Bamboo, which belongs to the Gramineae family.