Luma apiculata Glanleam Gold

Luma apiculata 'Glanleam Gold' is a particularly elegant shrub that leaves us wondering what to admire most, its sumptuous bright orange bark or its green foliage delicately marginated with white-cream. Very bushy, fragrant, and dense in foliage, this beautiful evergreen shrub is covered, from mid summer until autumn, with a fragrant cloud of small white-cream flowers with protruding stamens. Preferring the freshness and mildness of coastal climates to Mediterranean dryness, it makes a magnificent subject to be planted in a large pot on a patio in cold climates, or in the ground in mild climates.

The Chilean Myrtle has changed its Latin name several times, recently known as Myrtus luma, it can also be called Eugenia apiculata, Myrtus lechlerana, or Amomyrtus luma. It is a large bush native to Chile and Argentina, belonging to the myrtle family. Reaching over 9 m (29 ft 6 in) in height in its natural environment, it rarely exceeds 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in height and 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) in width in cultivation, especially it also likes being pruned. The natural form is found in the wild on the irrigated slopes of the Andes and not far from rivers. In Europe, the most beautiful specimens grow in Irish gardens.

The cultivar 'Glanleam Gold', on the other hand, will not exceed 2.75 m (9 ft) in height and 1.25 m in width after many years, as its growth is very slow. Its habit is naturally dense, branched and very bushy. The leaves, evergreen, round to ovate, and leathery, are slightly aromatic. They do not measure more than 2 cm (0.8 in) long and 1.5cm (0.6 in) wide, starting with a coppery colour and then becoming dark green with pale yellow to white-cream margins. They show a very pronounced central vein. The honey-scented bush blooms generously in summer, from July-August to September-October. The small white or cream to pinkish, fragrant flowers have 5 petals and are 1 to 2 cm (0.4 to 0.8 in) wide. Grouped in compact clusters of 3 to 5 units, they open to reveal protruding stamens. They appear in the axils of the leaves, on the shoots of the same year's growth and are followed in autumn by the formation of small ovoid, fleshy, edible, and aromatic fruits, first red and then black when ripe. The remarkable bark is chestnut to reddish on young plants, then turns grey-green, revealing a smooth and new wood with a shiny cinnamon orange colour which peels off in strips.

Hardy to about -8°C, the Chilean Myrtle 'Glanleam Gold' is a magnificent conservatory plant in colder climates. In a greenhouse or conservatory, it will create an extremely decorative group with an orange tree, a Tibouchina, or a mimosa, evoking landscapes with exotic charm and fragrance. In milder climates, it can be used as a specimen plant - it deserves it!. Or it can be used in as a backdrop to a flowerbed, even on the edge of a woodland. It can also be planted in an evergreen hedge, accompanied by a bushy ceanothus ('Italian Skyes', 'Concha', 'Puget Blue', 'Skylark'...), a strawberry tree Marina, or a spring-flowering broom, Leptospermum, or even red-flowered callistemons (Callistemon citrinus 'Splendens').