Podocarpus macrophyllus 'Okina'

Podocarpus macrophyllus, the yew pine, is a familiar evergreen conifer grown as a shrub or small tree across the southern United States, valued for dense, dark, strap-like leaves several inches long and a tidy, upright frame. 'Okina' is the variegated form, a relatively recent introduction from Japan, whose new growth emerges creamy white before settling to soft green.

The variegation is the whole point. Each flush of growth opens near-white and matures slowly, so the plant carries a layered, two-toned effect through the season, pale at the tips over deeper green within. The narrow, fine-textured foliage reads as refined and composed, a quiet, luminous version of a plant usually grown for plain green structure.

Little known in the United States, 'Okina' has been offered elsewhere only in very small sizes at a high price. Woodlanders is pleased to make the plant more widely available, and thanks Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery for the original start.

Grow 'Okina' as a specimen, a low hedge, a screen, or a container plant in full sun to part shade and well-drained soil, giving a little afternoon shade in the hottest gardens to spare the pale new growth from scorch. Slow and dense, evergreen and shearable, the plant suits both formal and naturalistic plantings and pairs beautifully with darker evergreens that throw the variegation forward.