Plant in full sun and irrigate occasionally. This attractive tree remains dense with foliage to the ground. It makes a nice individual specimen or planted in a group for use as a large screen or tall hedge.

This name we have long used for this plant is recognizably incorrect, but it is the name our customers now know it as. It was given to us in 1999 by John Greenlee unnamed and we have long thought it a Cupressus macrocarpa selection, though some others disagreed, pointing out that it tolerates inland heat, which is unusual for Cupressus macrocarpa. For this reason, we long just called it Cupressus 'Lemon Yellow' but when our stock plants finally coned, it became clear that the plant was a selection of Cupressus macrocarpa and so we added this specific epithet to the name.

John Greenlee first purchased the plant in the late 1990s from Allen C. Haskell Horticulturalists, Inc, a renowned nursery in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Around that same time, we noted that Suncrest Nurseries in Watsonville was labeling this same plant as 'Citriodora'. Nevin Smith of Suncrest Nursery told us their plants came so named from Arie Lerner of Israel, who in turn told us that the plant is Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest' and it is under this name that this plant was awarded the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1993. There is also a plant in the trade called 'Wilma Goldcrest' that is a dwarf selection of 'Goldcrest'. Our oldest plant in the ground now exceeds the 40-foot height and retained its pyramidal shape and beautiful foliage color.

Recent genetic research has shown that the Western Hemisphere cypresses are a well-supported clade that are quite separate from the Eastern Hemisphere cypresses. For this reason, a new genus, Hesperocyparis, has been erected for the New World cypresses while the Old World plants retain the name Cupressus. We are currently leaving this plant as Cupressus until this change becomes widely accepted. For more information about this species see our listing for Cupressus macrocarpa. 

Information displayed on this page about Cupressus macrocarpa 'Lemon Yellow' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.