Podocarpus alpinus ‘Orangeade’ is my favorite plant in the garden, this week…

I’m willing to bet this week’s favorite plant hasn’t been noticed by anyone who’s visited my garden. Heck I even forget it’s there most of the time. My I present Podocarpus alpinus ‘Orangeade'...

I went through a period where it bothered me that it was hidden, I thought it deserved better and I was going to move it. But then I could never decide where and besides, it’s kind of nice to have a little hidden gem, right? As you can see it’s tucked in behind the Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Harmony.'

It has been shown here on the blog a couple of times before, most recently after I’d trimmed the Arcto and was excited you could see this color combo (which was why I planted it there in the first place), photo taken in early March of this year when the foliage was still wearing it's winter colors...

So why is it my favorite this week? Because of these little cones…

Aren’t they marvelous? They’re less than an inch long (and hard to get a photo of that has them in focus!)…

I bought this one at Xera Plants a couple of years ago, and it’s no longer in production. Podocarpus alpinus 'Red Tip' and Podocarpus alpinus 'County Park Fire' seem to be good substitutes. Meanwhile here’s the description from the Xera tag: “Intense dark maroon foliage is handsome in winter and even more striking when new growth emerges orange for a bicolor effect. An evergreen shrub that is wonderful as a specimen or hedge. Moderate growth to 8’ tall and 6’ wide in 5 years. Full sun to light shade in a well drained soil with occasional deep watering in summer. Established plants tolerate drought. Plant 4’ apart for a hedge. Excellent appearance year round. Hardy to Zn 7a (0 – 5F)”

Obviously I ignored that 8ft tall x 6ft wide part (what else is new), and maybe I'll be okay because Far Reaches Farm says it will only get to be 3ft x 3ft. Their description: "One of the fine hybrids (P. lawrencei x P. nivalis) from New Zealand's County Park Nursery. This hardy dwarf conifer has orange new growth maturing to green and a subtle bronzing to the foliage in winter. Trying hard to think if there is anything tricky about this or if it is just going to be a care-free easy plant.............nope - it's easy! Just don't let it get real dry."

I love this plant.

Last week I mentioned the possibility of “my favorite plant” becoming a garden bloggers meme. There were several comments affirming you all thought it a good idea, I am so excited!

Unlike Garden Bloggers Bloomday which always falls on the 15th, and Foliage Follow-up on the 16th, this meme will be a moving target...since I’m never sure what day of the week I’ll post on . However I'd still like to create a central place to collect links, so we can all find out what bloggers are participating and what plants they’re featuring. If you do a “fav” post (weekly, monthly, or whenever you feel like it!) please comment with a link to your blog on my most current “fav” post. Since I post one every week you’ll never have to go back more than a couple days, or hold on to it for more than a few. And of course I’d appreciate a link to the most recent “fav” post on danger garden in your post. To get things started here are some links to posts from last week, if I missed anyone please add your link in the comments!

• The Mulchmaid http://mulchmaid.blogspot.com/2013/06/eucalyptus-pauciflora-ssp-debeuzevilli.html
• The Outlaw Gardener http://outlawgarden.blogspot.com/2013/06/solanum-quitoense-my-favorite-plant.html
• Bonnie Lassie http://bonneylassie.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-favorite-plant-in-garden-right-now.html
• Parallel 49 Palms http://parallel49palms.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-weekly-fav.html