Juniper ‘Gold Cone’

Golden foliage of upright juniper 'Gold Cone.'

* Common name: Juniper ‘Gold Cone’

* Botanical name: Juniperus communis‘Gold Cone’

* What it is: A very narrow, pyramidal evergreen with stiff, slender golden needles.

* Size: 8 feet tall by only 2 to 3 feet wide in about 10 years.

* Where to use: Any skinny situation in full sun where you need something upright. Especially good choice for those narrow beds between a wall and a walk in a south- or west-facing site. Also good for flanking sunny doorways or arbors.

* Care: Keep damp the first season, then ‘Gold Cone’ should never need supplemental water. Also very heat-tolerant. Fertilize with an annual spring scattering of acidifying, organic, granular fertilizer such as Holly-tone or Holly-Care. Pruning not needed unless it grows beyond allotted space, in which case the plant can be sheared lightly at the end of each winter but never back into bare wood.

* Great partner: Ring with gaillardia ‘Goblin’ or ‘Arizona Sun’ (perennial) or with red petunias or dwarf ‘Profusion’ zinnias (annuals).