Soft Serve False Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Dow Whiting' SOFT SERVE)
kam-ah-SIP-ar-iss piss-IF-er-ah 'Dow Whiting' SOFT SERVE

Evergreen Perennial Upright, Conical in the Cupressaceae Family
Compact, conical; with graceful, soft fern-like branching. Foliage is bright green on top; flecked with silver-blue on the underside.

Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Dow Whiting' (Soft Serve®) is a dwarf, conical cultivar of Sawara false cypress. It typically grows 6-10 feet tall and 5-6 feet wide, maintaining a dense, compact, pyramidal form.

The foliage consists of soft, feathery, bright green sprays flecked with silvery-blue on their undersides, providing fine texture and year-round evergreen color. The bark is reddish-brown and develops an attractive, fluted texture as the plant matures.

Overall, it is a versatile, space-saving false cypress cultivar that provides year-round visual interest through its soft texture and compact, pyramidal habit.
 

Plant Data

Mature Size 6 - 10 feet tall. 4 - 6 feet wide.
Growth Rate Slow
Sun Exposure Partial Shade - Full Sun
Moisture Tolerance Medium : Average, Moist
Zones 4a - 8a (Usually hardy to -30° F)
Tags Container, Deer Resistant, Evergreen, Foundation, Full Sun, Good for Accents, Good for Asian Garden, Good for Borders, Good for Rock Garden, Grown For Attractive Foliage, Low Maintenance, Medium, Normal Soil, Partial Shade, Partial Sun, Perennial, Potentially Allergenic, Shrub, Slow Growth Rate, Specimen, Tolerant of Moist Soil, Tolerant of Salt, Well-Drained Soil, Winter Interest Evergreen Shrubs, Hedges, Wildlife Shrubs, Winter Interest Shrubs
Bloom Period Non-Flowering
Foliage Color
 

Most Popular Plants
 

More Info from Experts

Commonly Planted with...

Garden Design recommends combining false cypress (Chamaecyparis) with plants that bloom very early in the season, creating a layered display while the rest of the garden is still dormant — including witch hazel, hellebores, heathers, and bulbs such as snowdrops, winter aconite, and crocus. 'Dow Whiting's dense, fine-textured, year-round form works well as a structural backdrop for drifts of these low, early bloomers in a foundation or mixed bed.

Photos of This with...

Georgia Peach Coral Bells, Hameln Dwarf Fountain Grass, Graceful Grasses Vertigo, Lemon Coral Stonecrop, ColorBlaze Apple Brandy Coleus, ColorBlaze Lime Time Coleus
 
Want More photos of this plant? Try Google Image Search!
 


Pricing and Availability History

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Past Availability
2025 : 04/03 - 10/04
2024 : 05/01 - 10/05
2023 : 05/04 - 09/30

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Field-Grown vs. Greenhouse-Grown Plants

Plants which are well-adapted to our local climate are most often field-grown (outside). Field-grown plants are generally cheaper and have the advantage of already somewhat acclimated to our cold winters, but that means they’re not artificially far along in the spring and tend to bloom at the normal time in our area.

Spring annuals and tender perennials are typically grown in Greenhouses so they can be ready and luxurious exactly when customers want them. Some perennials are also “forced” into early bloom in greenhouses. In May, there can be a very big difference between field-grown and greenhouse-grown plants of the same type. The latter typically look good right away (so they’re a great choice where that’s important), but we typically pay a premium for it.


Estimated Recipe Cost

The cost of this recipe's ingredients will vary depending on the season and the sizes and varieties you select.


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To secure the best prices for club members and make sure we know the current plants available from each nursery, we take orders only a couple of times a month.

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No Pricing or Availability Right Now

We order from a rotating cast of the best nurseries in the Great Lakes region. It looks like we've offered this plant in the past, but the nurseries we're working with this week don't appear to have it in stock at the moment.

Our goal is to bring as many plants together under "one roof" as possible, so we'll try hard to make it available again in the future!