Distylium myricoides (x) racemosus Vintage Jade

The  Distylium 'Vintage Jade' is a low spreading bush, highly ornamental with its graceful silhouette that extends in cascades of evergreen leaves in a brilliant blue-green colour. Its winter flowering with slender petals, similar to the flowers of its cousin the Witch Hazel, attracts attention with its warm reddish-brown colour. Still relatively unknown, it is nevertheless an interesting alternative to boxwoods, cherry laurels, hollies and other more traditional evergreen shrubs used to structure the garden throughout the seasons. Indeed, distylium is resistant to diseases and insects, tolerates both sun and partial shade, and can thrive in well-drained soils, from dry to moist, without limestone. Hardy down to -15°C, it prefers north-facing sun and partial shade in hot climates.

Distylium (x) 'Vintage Jade' is a horticultural hybrid obtained by cross-breeding between Distylium myricoides and Distylium racemosus, two species native to eastern and southeastern Asia belonging to the family Hamamelidaceae. It blooms in late winter or early spring (March-April), offering axillary clusters of small petal-less flowers composed of reddish-brown stamens. This distylium forms a bush reaching about  80 cm (31.5 in) wide and 1 m (3 ft 4 in) tall, a little wider, with a fairly slow growth. Its arched, spreading, and layered branches give it  a unique cascading habit. Its evergreen foliage consists of small, tough, entire, alternate, obovate to lanceolate leaves, of a dark glossy blue-green colour. They resemble laurel leaves in shape but are disease-free.

Distylium 'Vintage Jade', an accent and structural plant similar to dwarf conifers, will find its place in a small hedge, along a border, as well as in a shrub or perennial bed. Interesting for its blue-green foliage in winter, it can be associated with forsythias, Japanese quinces, or Japanese kerrias that will harmonize well with its colourful young shoots and its flowering throughout spring. It fits well in Japanese gardens, as well as in shrub beds in dry areas, as it tolerates water scarcity in deep soil. Nandina, Choisya, laurustinus, and Myrtus Tarentina can accompany it, for example, in a small evergreen hedge. It also grows very well in pots and its branches can be used in floral arrangements.

Boxwoods have been experiencing some difficulties for the past decade, as a disease causes their decline and spreads rapidly from one plant to another, leaving them dry. Distylium is an excellent alternative that is not susceptible to this extremely destructive fungus.