Do Myrtle Topiaries Bloom?

Effects of Pruning

• Topiaries mimic the geometric shapes or silhouettes of familiar people or objects, which is the reason for much of their artistic and imaginative allure. Common myrtle plants naturally mature to 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide, so topiaries must be repeatedly pruning to keep the size and form of the myrtle in check. Repeated trimming of the myrtle topiary retains the formal silhouette, but removes twig shoots that produce flowers anytime from summer to early fall.

Growing Considerations

• Myrtle topiaries grown in a bright window or cooled greenhouse may remain green and lush year-round, but may not flower, even if not pruned. As a native of the Mediterranean region, common myrtle is adapted to a long, hot and dry summer growing season. If the growing conditions in the outdoor garden or the interior space do not become sufficiently hot during the summer, flowering is inhibited or markedly reduced. At least 90 days of temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit promote flowering.

Flower Features

• If trimmed in early spring and then allowed to grow many leafy twigs in the summer, myrtle topiaries produce numerous round, coppery pink flower buds among the leaves on twig tips. The buds swell to reveal 3/4-inch-wide fragrant white flowers. Each blossom comprises five rounded petals with a whiskery tuft of stamens in the center. If pollinated by insects, each flower later becomes a 1/2-inch-diameter purplish-black berry.

Other Myrtles

• In subtropical and tropical areas -- USDA zones 10 and warmer -- that have higher ambient humidity and wet summers, the common myrtle is not as widely grown. Instead, topiaries are made out of other species of evergreen shrubs that are commonly called myrtles, stoppers or brush cherries. Various species in botanical genera Eugenia and Syzygium are referred to as myrtle and work equally well as topiaries when appropriately pruned. Plants in these genera also produce white flowers, but with four- or five-petaled blossoms with hundreds of stamens. The blossoms look more like tiny pompoms.