‘Blue Arrow’ is a cultivar of Eastern Red Cedar, an evergreen tree of wide variability in form, seen on roadsides and hedgerows throughout the eastern U.S. ‘Blue Arrow’ was selected to provide a reliable, vertical evergreen accent in a more formal landscape. Red Cedar (the species) is dioecious, with seed cones (female) and pollen cones (male) occurring on separate trees. ‘Blue Arrow’, however, is a clone of a female selection, and has the bluish, waxy, berry-like seed cones of the female Red Cedar. The foliage is reliably bluish green and rich, and aromatic, and can easily host birds looking for cover or for nesting habitat or for nourishing seeds. All individuals are of the same genetic make-up and thus are predictably 12-15 feet tall x 1.5-2 feet across at maturity, and are useful wherever a vertical, evergreen (native) accent is needed in the landscape. Since selections do not have a natural plant distribution, the USDA distribution map linked below is for the species.
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Juniperus virginiana ‘Blue Arrow’
Key Info
Common Names: Blue Arrow Red Cedar, Blue Arrow Juniper
Family Names: Cupressaceae (Cypress Family)
Plant Type: Tree / Shrub
Leaf Retention: Evergreen
Flower Color: Blue berries
Additional Info
Habit: Upright, narrow even columnar, with fine to medium texture. The bark is silvery to reddish-brown and shreds and exfoliates as the tree matures. The trunk is often buttressed or fluted at the base. Root system is woody, shallow, and spreading.
Height: 12 - 15'
Spread: 18" to 24"
Soil Conditions: Mesic to dry (not wet); circumneutral pH; nutrient-poor, sandy, rockyk sandy loam, clay loam, clay, limestone-based.
Leaves: Leaves are of two types; opposite, sharp, needlelike juvenile leaves (on young plants) or opposite, simple, green or blue-green, scale-like, overlapping, closely appressed adult leaves. The juvenile leaves are found on young plants up to 3 years old, and as scattered shoots on adult trees. Fragrant, scale-like foliage is gray-green to blue-green to light- or dark-green. All colors tend to brown in winter.
Flowers (or reproductive structures: The seed cones of this female clone of Red Cedar are solitary at the tips of branchlets, are initially green, becoming blue, waxy-fleshy and berrylike, sweet-tasting, and resinous, ripening in September - October.
Fruit: Each seed cone typically contains 1-2 yellow-brown, ridged seeds about 1/8" long.
Natural Distribution: is a clone of Juniperus virginiana
USDA Hardiness Zone: 2 to 9
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: FACU
Pollination: Wind
Wildlife Connections: Red Cedar is a larval host for the Olive butterfly and the Juniper Hairstreak butterfly as well as larvae of many moths, flies, beetles, scales, midges and thrips. Red Cedar's blue berry-like cones, high in carbohydrates and fats, provide excellent food for a long list of song birds and upland game birds. (The Cedar Waxwing is actually named after the tree). Because of its dense foliage, a number of bird species nest in Red Cedar (Cooper's Hawk, Blue Jay, Mockingbirds, Robins, Warblers, Finches, Sparrows) and also roost there (notably owls and sparrows). Mammals which also enjoy the sweet berries include Black Bear, Gray Fox, Opossum, Eastern Chipmunk, and White-Footed Mouse. Illinoiswildflowers.info is a great resource for these connections.
Propagation: From cuttings.