| General Description | A relatively small to medium sized juniper that is low spreading and appealing. This cultivar is prickly textured and has two toned leaves that start off golden yellow and become bluish-green with age. It has compact branches and leaves which are great for groundcover. |
| ID Characteristic | With this cultivar’s two-toned leaf pattern it brings great interests throughout all seasons. This shrub has golden yellow tips all around it, gradually turning bluish-green the deeper one gets to the centre of the shrub. Has wide, low spreading, pendulous, branches with bright green bark on new growth and smooth dark brown bark on older growth. Branches carry small bluish-grey cones that are tiny and hard to find on this cultivar. |
| Shape | This juniper likes to stay low and spread wide. Branches are long and almost weeping in a sense. Since this cultivar is a dwarf conifer, it is not the largest spreading juniper, but is wide enough for its size. |
| Landscape | Small gardens, rock gardens, erosion control, mass plantings, groundcover, banks, slopes, and borders. |
| Propagation | The best time to begin the propagation of a Juniperus chinensis ‘Daub’s Frosted’ is the end of winter or the beginning of spring depending on the weather and the type of climate one is growing it in. When propagating this juniper, it is best to start when it has finished growing. Another possible time would be the end of September or the beginning of October, so that it is definite that the shrub has finished growing at this time. Never start cuttings in the summer months due to the hot temperature and avoid the winter months as well. To prepare for the cuttings, one should saturate the plant with fertilizer high in phosphorus and water it well the day before, preferably on a day with not a lot of sun. The disinfected tools needed would be a hand saw, sectors and a sharp knife. Make sure the cuttings are nothing less than 1.5 cm in width. If they are any smaller, they will not root properly. Cutting works best when it is taken from the main branch and needles are removed from the bottom half of the cutting. Try the best to not damage any bark when taking the cutting. The best soil to use would be a heavy peat moss base, making it well drained which junipers love. For this type of plant, rooting hormones are not recommended. Due to their hardy nature, they do well without the extra help from hormones. |
| Cultivation | Grows best in full to partial sun and well-drained soil. Prefers to have soil on the dryer side rather than moist. Still needs watering, but not as much as other plants need. |
| Pests | Tip and Needle Blights, Cedar Apple Rust, Canker, Aphids, Webworms, Scale, and Bagworms. |
| Notable Specimens | Fanshawe College, London, Ontario. McKay Nursery, Waterloo, Wisconsin. |
| Habitat | Horticultural origin. |
| Bark/Stem Description | Bark on new growth is smooth, flimsy and bright greenish yellow. As the bark ages and becomes closer to the centre of the shrub it becomes a much darker brown, and still stays relatively smooth as years go on. |
| Flower/Leaf Bud Description | The buds are quite small and usually sprout on the ends of the leaves, along the sides of the branches. They start off as a golden brown colour, and become a bluish-green colour closer to the growth of the small cones. |
| Leaf Description | Leaves are prickly to the touch and have two-toned colouring. Young leaves are bright golden yellow. As they age, they become bluish-green in colour. They have seasonal interest all through the year, and are quite tolerant to winter burn. |
| Fruit Description | Cones are 1-1.5 cm in length. They are quite tiny and are hard to see with such a compact shrub. The cones are bluish-green in colour, thus blending into the shrub quite easily.
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| Colour Description | Golden yellow tips all around the ends of the leaves that are youngest, and most exposed to the sun. As the shrub ages and grows, the leaves will become a darker shade of bluish-green. This cherub keeps its colour all through the year. |
| Texture Description | Smooth texture. |