Hillier strikes gold with new plant

Hillier Nurseries will be featuring a new cultivar of Mexican orange blossom Choisya in the Great Pavilion.

Hillier Nurseries will be featuring a new cultivar of Mexican orange blossom Choisya in the Great Pavilion. Nurseryman Alan Postill has bred a golden form of this popular evergreen shrub which will be launched at the show.

The cultivar ‘Aztec Gold’ is so named on account of its golden, aromatic leaves. The leaflets are not only beautiful but strong too - waxy and more resistant to winter damage than many other golden-leaved cultivars.

The cultivar ‘Aztec Gold’ flowers in spring and early summer and then produces another flush of white flowers in autumn. Its almond-scented flowers are a magnet to bees and butterflies making it a great garden plant to encourage wildlife into gardens.

‘Atzec Gold’ produces a neat habit, reaching 1.2m (4ft) in height and spread. It looks effective all year, whether in full bloom or showing off its golden leaves in winter.

Alan Postill is also the mastermind behind Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ – a popular fragrant winter flowerer with a neat, evergreen habit and charming pink flowers.