PITTOSPORUM tenuifolium 'Silver Queen'

Graceful evergreen shrub with a prevailing vertical growth and with a thick and compact habit. It comes from New Zealand and can grow till 5-6 metres of height and 2-3 metres of diameter. Very branched and bushy, it has young stems with a dark red/blackish bark. Leaves are a few centimetres long (3-6 cm), alternate, ovate and with a wavy margin having a light green color with silvery-grey spot. At the end of spring, small purple or dark-brown flowers appear at the axil of leaves. They are deeply fragrant, just like any other variety or species of this genre. Then flowers are followed by particularly evident and decorative fruits which ripen at the end of summer.

Rustic plant not requiring particular exigences but a sunny position, otherwise it would grow less dense and thick. It is suitable to any kind of soil even if it prefers the ones which are fertile, rich in humus and well drained. Once established, this plant tolerates well drought even if regular irrigations will improve the general aspect of the foliage and the blooming of the plant. It tolerates the frost if it is moderate and not very prolonged. After the vegetative regrowth, you can remove the old, dried, damaged and messy branches and reduce the most vigorous stems in order to stimulate the thicker and more compact growth. It can be grown in big containers with a very ornamental effect, in full ground it can be associated to other shrubs with a contrasting foliage or used to realize high hedgerows.