Cryptomeria Japonica Elegans Bonsai

Elegans elegans compacta pyramidata.
Cryptomeria japonica elegans bonsai. Spherical cones are borne in autumn. It is one of the best choices when growing conifers in containers and is frequently used for bonsai because of its thick trunk and branches and for how easily it can be shaped. Many varieties of c japonica are commonly used for bonsai for instance. It looks great as a backdrop for white barked birch betula or mixed with gold toned conifers.
This variety has been around for a long time and was actually imported from japan in the 1800 s. Cryptomeria japonica elegans group is a selection with juvenile foliage which is more needle like and softer hence the common name plume cedar. Also known as japanese cedar cryptomeria is a slow growing evergreen tree that is drought tolerant. Cryptomeria japonica as bonsai cryptomeria are of the cupressacea family and are a monotypic genus where male and female strobili are borne on the same tree.
The male strobili are orange to reddish and show in march and they form solitary round cones that mature within the first year. It is the perfect backdrop to witchhazels and red and yellow stemmed cornus. There are a number of dwarf varieties that require less frequent pinching out such as elegans nana and globans nana however as slow growing varieties these can take considerably longer to achieve thick trunks and take longer to style. Elegans nana some equate this to elegans compacta however hillier states that it is a very dense slow growing shrub which bronzes in winter.
The tree thrives when planted. Cryptomeria japonica bonsai japanese red cedar. A sport of elegans and in commerce in england since 1881. Cryptomeria japonica elegans plume japanese cedar one of our most popular conifers elegans has dense soft non prickly juvenile foliage that turns rich copper red in winter and back to blue green with bronze tips in spring.
The foliage is green in summer and with the onset of cold weather turns a mahogany plum in the late autumn and winter. Cryptomeria prefers to grow in full sun and in well drained soil.