Container Juniper in Zone 6A - Winter Bronzing With Silver Tips - January 2024

Planted all the way back in 2019, we have a Juniper shrub planted in a large yellow, upright container on our patio.  It has been there for five (19, 20, 21, 22, 23) growing seasons and is something that just sort-of exists on the patio.  At least...that's the way I think about it - meaning...that I do virtually NOTHING to it all year long.

Here's what it looked like in the Fall of 2020 - when it was green and the tips of the juniper were emerging around the edge of the container, but not by much.  All Summer and Fall, it is a nice green color.  

But, come Winter...something happens to this shrub that (at first...) I thought was decline.  It turns an almost rusty-red color.  The first time that happened - in 2020 - I figured the shrub was done.  But, come Spring...it green'd right up.

In every subsequent Winter, it has done the same.  Green in Summer and Fall.  Rusty-red in Winter.  

Here's what it looked like a little over a year ago - December 2022.  In that photo, you can see the rusty, Winter red showing up.  But, also...a little bit of silver.  

Which brings me to today.  Here's how this creeping Juniper looks in the container below.  It has taken on a wider frame and has branches that extend well past the container.  It isn't weeping or drooping - rather...they seem to extend straight out.  

But...something else happened this Winter:  it really turned silver.  See below for some photos:

That's quite nice, isn't it?  Silver tips on a conifer in a container in Zone 6a.