Barring a closer, clearer photo, I'd say Hesperocyparis Wilma Goldcrest (formerly Cupressus macrocarpa). Foliage will give off a strong citrus aroma if bruised.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) So that will get to about 6 feet tall? What's amazing is the parent species that Goldcrest Wilma is a cultivar of gets to about 80 feet!! Will it stay this yellow to full maturity?

It is considered a dwarf so relatively slow growth but under good growing conditions, will eventually exceed 6 feet. That is only a 10 year estimate. With enough sun, the exterior foliage will remain that acid yellow-green but inner needles are more green than gold.

Believe this is a monterey cypress, botanical name Cupressus macrocarpa as @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) stated

I picked up two of these plants. The nursery that sold them thinks they are "lemon cypress" which I guess opens up the possibility that they are a variety that might get slightly larger than "Wilma Goldcrest". Does anyone see anything in the following photos that would confirm these are Goldcrest? I want these in a container, so I really do need a dwarf variety.

I have several in containers. Very drought resistant. They can be clipped to keep them small and more neatly conical.

Just a question for my own education, if you please.

If Hesperocyparis macrocarpa Wilma Goldcrest 10 yr. height is 6ft.

They wouldn't be that large as ones in the pictures and still be in nursery pots?

Where Hesperocyparis macrocarpa Goldcrest, at 40 ft. mature height would be more likely to be that tall (5 ft.?) in that sized pot.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) Any chance I can train these into a fuller form? If I top them I guess I am going to get a hideous competition of multiple skyward stems?

Bill, I am not sure I completely understand your question but here is my experience with these two.

Wilma is a true dwarf, growing less than 6 inches per year. Goldcrest is considered an intermediate conifer with an annual growth of 12 inches.

Wilma is by nature a more stocky, compact form while Goldcrest has a looser, more relaxed profile although still remaining rather columnar. You also seldom see Goldcrest in nurseries....at least in my area. Wilma is far more popular and sold in a range of sizes, however smaller ones tend to be most prolific. You can find 6 footers but always in containers....and the containers are sized up along with the plant size. Larger pots and larger price tags :-))

@BillMN-z4a I found a mature Goldcrest Cypress photo which I am attaching. Wow, what an amazing large Cypress. I would love to have one of those.

The plants I photographed are about three feet high. We don't know how many years old they are, so I think guessing about whether they are the right size for their age would be tough.

The names can be confusing :-) Wilma and Goldcrest are two separate cultivars however Wilma has also been tagged as Wilma Goldcrest for donkey's years and is almost always labelled as such, however incorrectly.

Do not top them!! That will only create an ugly mess.

Since these are sold everywhere on the west coast, seek out ones that have the size and form you prefer.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) These plants I bought only cost $25/each, and while I recognize they are probably genetically inferior to other Wilma Goldcrest, they are "good enough" for where I want to use them. They have interesting shape and variation.

I would love to find a mature Goldcrest. Do you know any mail order nursery that occasionally has them?

Yes, that answers my question.

And now that I think it through, a Wilma dwarf @ 3ft. tall would be approximately 6 yo. and a 3' intermediate goldcrest ~3 years old, in same size pot. So not as much difference in size as I first thought.

I'm always trying to calculate things. LOL

Very nice plants westes, congrats on the new acquisitions!

Well, this is a very interesting discussion. I've bought and grown a dozen of these yellow Cupressus macrocarpa over the years. I had no idea there was a true dwarf version and non-dwarf version. The plants I've grown were labeled with various variations on the theme discussed above, but they have all grown the same for me -- very quickly! At least 18" per year, and some of my plants were 8' after only few years, when I moved away from those gardens. I have one now in a container that is doing the same thing, and it will go in the ground by next spring. They've always been inexpensive, which is typical for fast growing conifers. I imagine if you were able to find the true dwarf type, it would be pricey, all true dwarf conifers are.

@artinnaturez8b Who was your supplier for those?

P.S., Please think about putting your plant zone and general geographic location into your username, which is an old standard from Gardenweb days. It really helps to quickly understand your growing conditions.

My experience as not been the same as Klark's......but then I have only grown Wilma in a container, never in the ground. So growth has been moderately slow.....in line with my other containerized dwarf conifers.

As to suppliers, as mentioned this is a very heavily marketed plant and is sold pretty nearly everywhere on the west coast - nurseries and garden centers, box stores, grocery stores, etc. You can get them anywhere.

Mine all came as small, cheap plants less than a foot tall. They're sold seasonally as accent plants for containers along with the petunias etc. As GG says, they're sold everywhere, even greengrocers.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK It is the dwarf version that is sold everywhere. And because the variety that becomes a large tree has the same species name, it can be hard to distinguish in a nursery. I was thinking that @artinnaturez8b had the larger version based on the growth habit, so I was curious where he sourced that.

Like Pam says above, I picked them up at many places; big box, grocery, regular garden centers....In the Seattle area and Oregon. Its a very useful cultivar, whether dwarf or not. I'm also enamored with 'Greenstead Magnificent' - derived from the same species, but its cascading form and silver-blue foliage color are as different from Wilma as can be.

@artinnaturez8b Are you referring to this Cypress? It looks like a groundcover not a tree?

westes - Yep! So cool 😎.

@artinnaturez8b In a big space where you keep a lot of empty space around the ground cover, I like conifer ground covers. But in a smaller space, they often overgrow and become a real eyesore.

westes - depends how you grow things. My plant is definitely not a groundcover. And the last is Juniperus Daub's Frosted, also not a groundcover. Gardening is a journey, not a destination.

Very cool, Klark!

@indianagardengirl - Thank you! A lot more like this at www.youtube.com/@journeygarden

Very nice - I will browse more, especially this winter. I loved the Acer trifolum - I have Acer x Cinnamon Flake which looks strikingly similar. It is not in color yet, though.

Sorry for the brief hijack, Westes!

Me too westes.

"Gardening is a journey, not a destination."

Absolutely! Gardening is a dynamic activity. I always shudder at the use of the word "installation" when talking about gardening. As if you were permanently arranging unchanging objects. To me that's like saying you've "installed" a child in your family.

So very true!!! When I first started gardening over 20+ years ago, I thought it was a completed activity….. but after a few years I realized the garden is a living, changing entity and I’m just along for the journey!

debra

I wanted to come back to this identification. The first photo below is what Google is showing as the needles of a "Lemon Cypress". The second photo is a slightly-closer-up photo of my tree. The needles on my plant look thicker and rounder at the tip?

Here are some up-close views of the needles on my plants.

The foliage does look heavier, less feather than what I am used to with Cupressus macrocarpa Wilma. I wonder if perhaps what westes has gotten hold of is Cupressus sempervirens 'Swane's Golden'????

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) No, I have a few Swane's Golden, which I managed to nearly kill by one week without water in hot sun. These are quite different.

Someone else suggested Golden Leyland Cypress, but I think that one has flat planes of needles, similar to Arborvitae / Smarjd.

I have found that the foliage on my lemon cypresses does change with age and exposure to the elements. When newly purchased they looked like your first photo. Now, five years later crammed into second floor (US usage) window boxes facing east the foliage is tougher and stumpier like your third picture.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK Wow, the plot thickens.