Wilma Goldcrest Cypress (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa 'Wilma Goldcrest')

 Unpruned

The Wilma Goldcrest Cypress, also known as Lemon Cypress is a popular, compact evergreen conifer prized for its bright, lemon-yellow, fragrant foliage and narrow, columnar shape, making it ideal for containers or small gardens; it needs full sun for best color, well-drained soil, and is hardy in USDA Zones 7-10, tolerating heat and even salty conditions once established, but benefits from protection from harsh winter winds.  

After pruning

 If you've been near a Home & Garden Center, or   a  grocery store around Christmas, you've seen   this tree, all dressed-up with christmas-y stuff, a   pretty good representation of a full-size   Christmas Tree, probably aimed at apartment   dwellers or down-sized seniors , sold as a no-   hassle holiday decoration which will happily   grow & thrive in a pot, possibly for years & years.

Acquisition: Oct. 2024 - Home Depot - $(??)

The Wilma lived happily on the patio for almost a year, surviving multiple re-pots and root pruning, never complaining, always green & submitting to multiple "haircuts" (foliage trim), with no complaint. Then, in Aug. '25, she was accidentally sprayed with full-strength fertilizer, along with 3 other plants.

Suffering chemical burns over 30-40% of her foliage, and damage to several branches, I assumed that this tree would probably die.    

Flushing with clear water, repeatedly, helped to neutralize any chemical residue, & "flooding" the pot with cold water to possibly minimize root damage was about all I could do..it would be up to the individual plants to repair the damages, if they could.

1 of the 4 trees involved in this incident died (Manzanita), while the Wilma & cohorts survived..all will bear evidence of the damage done them for the rest of their respective lives, I'm pretty sure.

This is how the Wilma looks today (Dec. 2025), after 4 months of restoration efforts and probably what she will look like for the rest of this tree's lifetime.

Luckily, we have another  Cypress waiting-in-the-wings, a direct descendant of this Wilma, in fact, grown from a cutting from this plant.

By next spring, the cutting should be large enough to join as a full-fledged specimen..if all goes well.

Jan. 2026 - Update

The Wilma continues the healing process, replacing & repairing burned areas & attempting to restore the burned areas, or cover them up with new growth.

Below is the next "Wilma", if all goes well. Grown from a cutting of the 'mother' tree, taken before the accident, Wilma-in-Waiting will become our primary specimen, over the next year, I think.

This is the 1st photo of Mother & Daughter; both plants are healthy, so I am optimistic about the final outcome.

Jan 2026

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