Compact Gold Ixora

Compact Gold Ixora (Ixora chinensis 'Compact Gold') holds a low hedge and flowers at the same time, which is a rarer combination than it sounds. It settles at about 1m tall and 1m wide without shearing, and carries domed clusters of yellow and orange florets against glossy dark foliage through the warm months. Planted 60cm apart it closes into a continuous low hedge over two growing seasons.

Why you'll love it

• It stays the size you bought it for. About 1m by 1m is its natural habit, so a border keeps its shape with a light tidy rather than constant cutting.
• Colour through the warm months. Flower heads open yellow and warm to orange, and in tropical and subtropical gardens it flowers on and off for most of the year.
• Built for heat and humidity. It keeps performing through a wet summer that flattens softer border plants.
• Salt air is not a problem. Coastal and salt tolerant, which is why it turns up so often in beachside and poolside planting.
• Birds and pollinators work it. The nectar draws honeyeaters, native bees and butterflies.

Where it works best

Low hedges and borders. Plant 60cm apart in a single row for a hedge you can see over. Closer spacing does not fill the gap any faster, and it leaves the base crowded and airless.

Mass planting. Blocks of three or more at that same spacing read as one body of colour, which suits a front garden strip better than single plants dotted about.

Pots and poolside. Salt tolerance makes it a sound choice within splash range of a pool, and one plant sits comfortably in a 400mm pot for years.

Growing Compact Gold Ixora in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering; part shade is tolerated, but you trade flowers for foliage. This is a plant for tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens. It is frost tender, so in cool temperate and frosty inland districts grow it in a pot that can move under cover.

Soil. This is the detail most people miss. Ixora wants acidic, sharply drained soil, and yellow leaves with green veins nearly always mean the soil is too alkaline rather than too dry. Work compost and an acidic planting mix through the bed first, then mulch 75mm deep, clear of the stem.

Water and feed. Water twice a week through the first summer, then deep soak in dry spells. Feed in early spring and mid summer with a fertiliser made for acid loving plants such as gardenias.

Pruning. Tip prune after each flush to keep growth dense. Avoid a hard shear mid flowering, because the buds sit on exactly the tips you would be removing.

What to expect when it arrives

Compact Gold Ixora is supplied as tube stock: young, single stemmed and inexpensive, which makes it the sensible choice when the job calls for thirty plants along a path rather than three feature shrubs. Expect a season of root growth before real width.

Plants are packed to travel upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the full tropical plant range
• Compare hedging and screening plants
• More flowering shrubs for garden colour
• Preparing a garden bed before planting

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a low hedge?

Sixty centimetres apart in a single row. At that spacing the plants meet at around the two year mark and the hedge stays furnished to the ground.

Why are the leaves turning yellow?

Nine times out of ten it is soil pH, not watering. Ixora needs acidic soil to take up iron, so a yellow leaf with green veins calls for an acidic fertiliser and a soil conditioner that lowers pH.

Will it survive a frost?

No. It is frost tender, and cold damage shows as blackened tips and dropped leaves. In cool temperate and frost prone areas, grow it in a pot you can shift under the eaves for winter.