Nandina domestica Lemon Lime - Sacred Bamboo

The Nandina domestica 'Lemon Lime' is a new variety of sacred bamboo that is particularly bright. With its spring foliage ranging from chartreuse green to lime green, it is perfect for brightening up shaded areas in the garden. This evergreen bush is also interesting for its bushy, dense, and branching habit, as well as its small size. While this variety rarely flowers (in discreet panicles), its presence and fresh colour are enough to appreciate it in flower beds or in large pots on the balcony or terrace.

The 'Lemon Lime' sacred bamboo belongs to the berberidaceae family. It is a very recent variety, obtained in the USA and distinguished by a Gold Medal at Plantarium 2014 in Boskoop, Netherlands. This small bush is a compact and curiously coloured form of the Nandina domestica native to India, China, and Japan. Its growth is quite slow, and its mature size will not exceed 1m (3.3ft) in all directions. This plant, with its round and particularly bushy silhouette, forms erect and branching stems reminiscent of bamboo, adorned with narrow and pointed leaflets. The plant is beautiful all year round: in spring, the young leaves are light green to lime green, turning yellow before the green tone intensifies. It occasionally blooms in June-July, in the form of conical panicles of white-cream flowers, rarely followed by clusters of shiny red fruits. 

The Nandina domestica Lemon Lime is valuable for lighting up shaded or semi-shaded areas, especially since it tolerates the presence of tree roots quite well. It can be associated with other sacred bamboos with redder tones (Richmond, Obsessed Seika), a Mexican orange, rudbeckia, Spiraea japonica 'Little Princess', Loropetalum, Euphorbia griffithii 'Fire Glow', or orange daylilies. Each of these scenes will be a triumph. This small bush will also be magnificent in a large pot on the terrace, in a non-scorching exposure, and well-watered. In a small hedge, it can be accompanied by Abelia Edward Goucher, Japanese Azaleas, Deutzia crenata 'Nikko', or Sarcococca hookeriana Humilis for example.