Thuja plicata Can-can - Western Red Cedar

The Thuja plicata Can-Can is a compact form of the giant Californian Thuja. It forms a very regular cone of beautiful dark green, which brightens up with white tips when young shoots appear. Highly hardy, only fearing arid conditions, this highly adaptable conifer adjusts to most soils. It is well suited to small gardens, planted in isolation, in rockeries or associated with other dwarf conifers. Requiring no other maintenance except for some watering in summer, this Thuja is an ideal plant for beginners in the garden. 

The Thuja plicata, also known as the Giant Thuja or Western Redcedar, is sometimes called Western Redcedar or Lobb's Thuja. It is an evergreen conifer of the Cupressaceae family native to the northwest of North America, particularly northern California. In its natural environment, this giant reaches a height of 50 or 60 m (164 or 196 ft 11 in) and can develop a trunk with a diameter of 3 m (9 ft 10 in) when it reaches the end of its existence at around 700 years old. It has long been exploited for its soft and durable wood, known in Europe as 'Red cedar'. This conifer reigns in the depths of lush forests, but also descends to the banks of rivers or colonizes swampy forests. It is a shade-adapted species, even thick shade, and it loves moisture. The dwarf and reduced forms are more water-efficient.

The 'Can-Can' variety, perfectly original, is distinguished by its small size and its well-conical habit , with a crown carried by a single trunk. Its growth is slow, so that it reaches maturity (after about 20 years) 2.50 m in height and 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) in spread At this size, its growth stops, making it a low-maintenance hedge plant provided you are patient, given its slow growth! Its evergreen leaves are dark green on the upper side, lighter, even white on the lower side. The dense foliage is articulated around branchlets made up of small imbricate scale leaves. When the young shoots lengthen, their tips have a white shade that stands out well against the dark mass of foliage, giving it a more decorative appearance than usual. The insignificant flowering takes place in March and produces small brown cones that ripen in August. Its brown-red bark is traversed by cracks. This small-sized conifer is very hardy (down to -25 °C). Not very sensitive to insects or diseases, it requires no other maintenance and does not need pruning due to its perfect shape.  

The 'Can-Can' Thuja is probably not the most beautiful compact conifer, but its ease of cultivation and its beautiful appearance throughout the year deserve a place in a bed, or even in isolation in a small garden. It will also be well suited to a rockery, provided the soil is not arid. Its very graphic habit makes it a good plant for contemporary gardens that value typical forms. It will be well accompanied by other colourful or unusually shaped conifers, such as the Chamaecyparis pisifera Boulevard, a slow-growing miniature conifer of the same size, with both its irregular and tousled appearance and its blue-gray colour tinged with purple in winter standing out from the well green conical appearance of our small Thuja. The Abies koreana Silberlocke with its pyramidal habit and its curious well-curved needles or the Picea pungens Glauca Globosa with its extraordinary blue livery and its irregular large cushion-like aspect will also be good companions.