The Purity Pieris, otherwise known as the Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ or Dwarf Mountain Pine ‘Carstens’, Dwarf Pine ‘Carstens’, Drooping Cone Pine ‘Carstens’, Mountain Pine ‘Carstens’, Swiss Mountain Pine ‘Carstens’, Pinus mugo ‘Carsten’s Wintergold’, is a rather well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and slow growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Purity Pieris Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Purity Pieris are the following:
- Water: The Purity Pieris prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ in an environment where it can receive partial sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Purity Pieris in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Purity Pieris will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Purity Pieris belongs to the Pinaceae family, the genus Pinus and the species Mugo, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ (PY-er-iss juh-PON-ih-kuh).
Other popular Pinaceae plants include species like Thunberg Pine, Pinus Contorta Var. Contorta, Dwarf Blue Rocky Mountain Fir, Japanese Red Pine ‘Low Glow’, Abies Koreana ‘Horstmann’S Silberlocke’, Lantana Camara ‘Monike’ Plant Patent #17,612, Lemon Candy™ Ninebark, Photinia X Fraseri, Swamp Spruce ‘Nana’, Rocky Mountain Pine, North American White Pine ‘Nana’, Baltic Redwood ‘Glauca’, Physocarpus Opulifolius ‘Zleyel2’ Plant Patent Applied For, Black Pine, Loblolly Pine, Mops Mugo Pine, Nidiformis Norway Spruce, Pumila Norway Spruce, Abies Concolor ‘Blue Cloak’, Echiniformis White Spruce, Deodar Cedar ‘Aurea’, Columnar Blue Atlas Cedar, Compact Tanyosho Japanese Red Pine, Black Pine, Nana Balsam Fir and Mountain Pine.
As with other Pinus’s, the Purity Pieris is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Purity Pieris is a plant native to the Mountains of central and southern Europe.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Purity Pieris. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 7 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 2b, 2a, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, A1, A2, A3.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Purity Pieris is a relatively slow grower, which makes things easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Purity Pieris? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ can grow up to 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Purity Pieris a relatively medium shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful rounded shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 24″ (60cm) free so the Purity Pieris can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Purity Pieris is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Purity Pieris in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Purity Pieris then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Purity Pieris needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Purity Pieris prefers to have soil with good drainage, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Purity Pieris requires soil with loam (silt), which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Purity Pieris requires partial sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Purity Pieris will be present year round in your garden.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
In particular, this shrub is well known for its long bloom season and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Purity Pieris produces some beautiful white, or black and gray/silver flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Purity Pieris have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a needles arrangement in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ to be around (1-3 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Purity Pieris is well known for its tolerance to drought and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ will be fine.
Garden
Does your Purity Pieris have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Pieris Japonica ‘Purity’ owners agree that this shrub will look great in most cottage, asian/zen and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, coastal garden, and in traditional garden styles.
In particular, the Purity Pieris’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, and in small gardens, others use it for landscaping in a urban garden, specimen, mass planting, hedge, firescaping/fire wise, container, border, or a woodland garden.
Companion Plants
Purity Pieris’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Mahonia, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Rhododendron will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
And we’ve come to an end. Fortunately, that’s everything you need to know about your Purity Pieris to keep it safe and sound in your garden or home. Enjoy planting!
