The Arizona Cypress Carolina Sapphire is a silvery blue evergreen that can reach 40-50 feet tall with a spread of 15-20 feet. (Photo by Ginny Rosenkranz)
Winter is often thought to be dull and dreary, but there are some beautiful evergreen plants that brighten up the landscape.
One lovely evergreen is the Arizona Cypress Carolina Sapphire, Cupressus arizonica var. glabra “Carolina Sapphire.”
This beautiful silvery blue evergreen thrives in full sun and well drained or sandy soils.
They can reach 40-50 feet tall with a spread of 15-20 feet, creating an airy pyramidal habit, and will make a beautiful specimen tree or wonderful hedges and wind breaks.
Don’t let the name Arizona keep you from finding this lovely tree, it will grow very well in all counties on the Eastern Shore!
The foliage is soft to touch, aromatic and grows in an open habit with lacey layered branches.
The silvery blue foliage makes a wonderful contract against the trees’ reddish-brown bark.
Once the tree is well established it is extremely drought tolerant, which is good for landscape with very sandy soils. It is not a good choice for soils with heavy clay or soil that is wet.
Many evergreen trees will suffer browsing damage by our native white tail deer, but they quickly find that “Carolina Sapphire” is not a very tasty treat and quickly leave it alone.
This airy tree will stand up to strong winds and is also resistant to Cypress canker disease, verticillium wilt and most insects.
For those who used to love the Colorado Blue Spruce which now falls victim to summer’s scorching heat, the Arizona Cypress Carolina Sapphire might be a good substitute.
(Editor’s Note: Ginny Rosenkranz is a commercial horticulture specialist with the University of Maryland Extension.).
