Compact Silverthorn is a pretty, tough and useful evergreen in our climate. This form is compact with dense foliage that begins clad in brown fur and settles to silvery gray. The underside of the leaves are pure metallic gold. In autumn small pendant white flowers emit an intense sweet perfume. Noticeable many feet away. Hedges, specimens, barriers. Full sun to part shade with any soil that is never boggy. To 4′ x 5′ in 7 years. The juvenile stage of Eleagnus pungent is a shrub , with great age they can assume the figure of a vine, climbing by large canes that reach upward. These can easily be pruned off to retain a smaller shrub. This slower growing form takes many, many years to reach this stage. Flowers on old wood, prune AFTER flowering. Very drought tolerant when established. Fast growing and easy. Very cold hardy. Japan.
Genus: Elaeagnus
Elaeagnus pungens ‘Hosobu Fukurin’
Fantastic compact and variegated Eleagnus that is also very stable and not prone to leaf reversion- many variegated cultivars revert rather easily to all green. To just 6′ x 6′ and dense in 6 years each olive green leaf is margined in light yellow. In autumn small off white pendant flowers are intensely fragrant. They occur on older growth- prune in late fall after flowering has ended. Slow growing and a good scale for small gardens. Full sun to quite a bit of shade. Striking evergreen that is easy to grow, cold hardy and long lived. Light summer water once established but endures no water summer drought conditions. Avoid boggy sites. Easy, beautiful, cold tolerant shrub. Long lived.