Garrya elliptica

Silk Tassel Bush
Garrya  Elliptica
Type: Broadleaf Evergreen Tree or Shrub
Exposure: Sun / Part Shade
Water: Regular

Here’s a great addition to any winter garden. Grown primarily for its graceful, silvery catkins that appear in the dead of winter and last right through until spring, the Silk Tassel Bush also features glossy evergreen foliage that is ruffled around the edges. Growing to 12ft (3.6m) tall and wide and often multi-trunked, it can be a large shrub, pruned into a small tree, or grown against a wall in espalier or fan form. The added bonus of the latter is that the wall can provide valuable shelter from winds that can scorch the leaves, which, while not detrimental to the plant’s health, tend to look ugly. Plants will be either male or female. While both sexes produce catkins (the tassels) the male’s are usually longer and showier, reaching up to 6″ (15cm) long in maturity. Named varieties at the nursery usually indicate whether the plant is male or female; otherwise remember: the male tassel produces pollen, the female one forms the seed.

Cheers,

John