Ginkgo biloba fastigiata Blagon

The Ginkgo biloba 'Blagon', also known as the Maidenhair tree 'Blagon', is a beautiful specimen that slowly reaches a height of 10 m (32 ft). It has a particularly narrow and conical habit. Its branches bear characteristic fan-shaped leaves that turn beautiful golden colours in autumn, but it never bears fruit. In winter, this wonderful conifer, the sole descendant of a species dating back to prehistoric times, having survived all catastrophes, reveals a perfect framework covered with grey and fissured bark. The impressive size of this mythical tree has been happily recreated to allow it, in the compact and columnar form of 'Blagon', to fit into our smaller gardens.

The Ginkgo biloba, also sometimes called 'Maidenhair Tree' due to the shape of its leaves and the pattern of its veins resembling capillaries, is a very primitive tree of the ginkgoales family, which is now practically extinct. This living fossil, which does not bear flowers, normally reaches a height of up to 24 m (78 ft) and shows an upright habit in its youth, becoming more spreading with age, measuring up to 9 m (29 ft) in diameter. This majestic tree, native to China, has now (and probably for a long time) disappeared from its natural habitat, owing its survival only to the admiration and respect it has inspired in the human species for many generations, which continues to plant and propagate it in its most beautiful parks.

'Blagon' is one of the few horticultural varieties derived from Ginkgo biloba. It is distinguished by its compact, narrow, and columnar habit, with branches naturally leaning towards the trunk, and the fact that all individuals are male. The tree will not exceed 10 m (32 ft) in height and 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in spread. It will not exceed 6 m (19 ft 8 in) in height at the age of 10-12 years. Its flat, deciduous leaves are semi-round, green, and turn a deep golden yellow colour at the end of the season, with the characteristic fan shape and measuring from 4 to 10 cm (3.9 in) wide. This beautiful tree has a spreading root system and develops quite slowly during the first 10-12 years of its life, and then faster afterwards.

Ginkgo 'Blagon' can be planted as a specimen tree on a short grass meadow, where it will become the focal point of the garden. It can also be planted with Persian Ironwood, with its flamboyant autumn foliage, or with Japanese maples, oakleaf hydrangea, or caramel trees. It is also a good tree for lining a city garden or a rooftop terrace.

Interestingly, despite its deciduous leaves, Ginkgo biloba is a conifer from a botanical point of view. It is a very hardy bush. It is also very resilient. It was one of the few trees to have survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima in 1945!

It is the oldest species of tree found on Earth, dating back 300 million years, surviving all the cataclysms that the Earth has experienced. This tree has been living for thousands of years in the Tianmushan Mountains in southeastern China. It was reintroduced to Europe in the 18th century. With exceptional longevity, Ginkgo is also a medicinal plant whose foliage is used to reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.