Oh boy.... sure hope this thing isn't dying on you -- the way mine died (the difference being, that mine was fried in early spring sun).

Good luck!

Does look like the red appearance brought on by mortality rather than normal purplish winter color. Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans' does the same thing, turning purple in winter when healthy and red when not. Apparently a little tender or sensitive to damp soil, sometimes the winter color doesn't go away in spring - indicating the plant died.

Cute little guy, Tuna. Red foliage plants are my favorite; finding any red evergreen - conifer or broadleaf - is a tough one. I'm planting Phormium, Heuchera, and Loropetalum for year-round reds. Saw an interesting red foliaged azalea (that rarely blooms)at the nursery and was also lusting after an evergreen red willow -Agonis flexuosa cv- but it isn't quite hardy enough to survive our winters.

Isn't Thuja 'Rheingold' suppose to bronze up nicely in winter?

Barbara

Hi t,

Sorry that Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Red Star' is toast. That is not its winter color.

A fussy, independent little guy that is quite beautiful when feeling good. In the end it will always disappoint you for no reason at all.

I had one that was a show stopper. One morning I walked out and it had turned reddish brown like yours. A photo of it is still in the ACS data base.

Get out the shovel. Replacement time. Not worth a second chance.

Dave

Seems to be a tendency for juvenile foliage forms to be less tolerant of weather than normal adult ones. Seedlings exhibiting the usual behavior only have the juvenile needle-like leaves for a short time, soon replacing these with the adult scale-like (or otherwise different) leaves.

With 'Rheingold' what you see is a vulnerability to sun damage as long as it produces the fluffy juvenile foliage it often comes with from the outlet, when purchased small. After it transforms to all scale-like leaves it also stops burning.

WOT?????? Death and D-Kay? And I'm standing there admiring the thing....I must admit I've had a few cv 'Brownie',but this! From growing-rooms to mushrooms to 'room for progress'.Luckily I'm still young...humm. T.

Thanks Barbara for the 'Rheingold' suggestion- I've got one and what bboy is saying re-assures me.I bought it as a young plant,all fluffy and clearly very sunburn-prone.
However,it has started producing scale-like leaves and,indeed,these seem to be a lot tougher.Hooray ! T.