Chamaecyparis pisifera Filips Happy Day - Sawara Cypress

Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filip's Happy Day', also known as Sawara Cypress, is a genuine dwarf conifer, still rare on the market. It forms a round cushion dressed in foliage arranged in flat branchlets, with very dense growth. The tips of the young shoots are creamy white, punctuating a young bright green foliage that turns emerald green, creating a magnificent contrast of colours. This plant grows very slowly, not exceeding 1m (3ft 4in) in height at maturity. While perfect in rockeries and small spaces, this dwarf false cypress also adapts remarkably well to container gardening. It is not difficult to cultivate but prefers a sunny or semi-shaded exposure and moist but light and well-drained, humus-rich soil.

Chamaecyparis pisifera is a robust Japanese species belonging to the cupressaceae family, which can reach 45m (147ft 7in) in its natural state. It is mainly used, for its yellow lemon rot-resistant wood, in the making of lacquered furniture and for the construction of numerous buildings such as palaces in its country of origin. It has given rise to numerous cultivars, classified into four groups, including the 'Plumosa' cultivars, with feathery branchlets.

The Filip's Happy Day variety was obtained in 2006 from a seedling of Chamaecyparis Plumosa Compressa with undisputed qualities. After many years, it will probably form a beautiful rounded bush, not exceeding 1m (3ft 4in) in all directions. It grows very slowly, from 1 to 3cm (0.4 to 1.2in) per year. At the age of 10, it will measure approximately 90cm (35.4in) in all directions. Its branches bear very tight branchlets arranged in a 'plume' shape. When they appear in autumn, the juvenile branchlets are fresh green, white at their tips, emerging from a scaly and pointed adult foliage which is shiny emerald green. The undersides of these leaves show a white band, corresponding to a row of stomata (the 'pores' on the plant's epidermis). Its barely visible bark is dark red and filamentous in appearance.

Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filip's Happy Day' is a small conifer that should be highlighted in a small garden, rockery, or a container on the terrace. With its very slow growth and round silhouette, which requires no pruning, it will work wonders alongside other evergreen plants or small perennials. It pairs well with columnar, pyramidal, or narrow conical-shaped species. In a gravel garden, light grey gravel or brown mulch can be placed at its base. The architectural qualities of dwarf conifers naturally impose themselves in the design of a contemporary garden, which prefers the aesthetics of shapes, silhouettes, and textures over flowers. These plants, structurally enhance a flower bed, mark pathways, border the terrace, easily replacing the strong presence of trimmed boxwood or holly. They serve as a backdrop for tousled grasses, whose form is so complementary. They can also be associated with ground-covering plants such as aubrietas and ceraistes, as well as flowering shrubs. The key is to play with volumes and colours.