Bayou Bliss™ Distylium

Light Needs

Partial Shade to Full Sun

(At Least 3 Hours of Direct Sunlight)

Mature Height

2-3 Feet

Mature Spread

3-4 Feet

Growing Zones

7 to 9

A member of the witch hazel family, Bayou Bliss Distylium is an exciting new introduction that is now available to gardeners that will give an alternative to prickly hollies and sometimes smelly boxwoods for your landscaping needs. Bayou Bliss is the smallest Distylium hybrid which stays compact and rounded for a pleasant addition as a hedge row or small privacy screen, border or as a specimen in your garden bed. They pair nicely with other evergreen, do not spread by seed or become invasive and are easily maintained. They are grown for their attractive foliage as they produce no recognizable flower. Blue/green leafed foliage grows on upright stems with glossy leaves in an alternate pattern, and looks stiff but actually feels soft to the touch.

Native to China and Japan and typically growing in high elevation forests, Distylium has been cultivated into hybrids that fit the needs of a variety of landscapes. They are hardy to Zones 7 to 9, and are relatively healthy, disease and pest free evergreen perennials. Bayou Bliss is heat and drought resistant, and resists browsing by deer and rabbits, making this a very carefree shrub to grow in your landscape. They have a strong upright habit, and only need pruning if you want to shape them in the spring before new growth emerges.

Bayou Bliss Distylium Care

A low maintenance shrub, Distylium gives gardeners a great new way to add greenery to their landscape without a lot of pruning and shaping and spraying to maintain their health. Needing an average to medium amount of water during the heat of the season, supplement inadequate rainfall when it is extremely dry with weekly waterings, although this fine perennial shrub can tolerate some drought. Fertilize with an acidic evergreen fertilizer throughout the growing season, ceasing in the late summer so that new growth has a chance to harden off before winter temperatures arrive. Plant in an acidic soil amended with well composted organic matter for best results. Add well rotted leaf matter to acidify the soil without added chemicals.

Pruning is generally not needed with Bayou Bliss as it maintains a nicely rounded shape when grown in the sun, and a looser shape when grown in the shade. If pruning is needed, prune in early spring to remove terminal tips and promote additional branching, creating a more attractive round shape as you go. On the whole, though, pruning should not be needed.

Bayou Bliss Distylium Spacing

Space your plants 36 to 48 inches apart, depending on whether you are planting them for a hedge row, privacy screen or to create a specimen plant. Maturing at about 36 inches tall and spreading out 48 inches wide, giving some space will enhance the rounded appearance that comes naturally with this petite evergreen. It’s always exciting to find something new that not everyone has in their landscape, and here is your chance to grow Bayou Bliss Distylium in your garden bed or landscape this spring.