Illustration
Bigfoot Cleyera
Ternstroemia gymnanthera 'Sotall'
Also called bigfoot
Bigfoot Cleyera blooms from May through June.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Bigfoot Cleyera
Plant it in part shade. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 7–10. Expect it to reach about 15 ft tall and 5.5 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 5 years (a house reading).
Pets
- No toxic listing found for dogs and cats in the sources we check.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
No toxicity note is on file for Bigfoot Cleyera. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
What was checked
Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant, with what the sources could not settle written down; years to mature size rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one, and is marked so; its common name and alternate names have not been checked yet. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Bigfoot Cleyera
Plant Bigfoot Cleyera in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 8, the middle of its hardy zones 7 to 10, spring means February to April and fall means September or October. Once settled, it blooms from May to June.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 8, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 8 in February. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Bigfoot Cleyera get?
15 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult5.5 ftwideSee Bigfoot Cleyera in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Bigfoot Cleyera
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Space Bigfoot Cleyera about 5.5 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.
Add Bigfoot Cleyera to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Bigfoot Cleyera's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 8 published sources on October 8, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- NC State Extensionspecies pageheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- US plant patent (Google Patents)assignee Plant Development Services Inc, Loxley, Alabamaheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- Plant Addictsthe queue's store pageheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, soil and diseases
- University of Florida IFASEDIS FP575, species fact sheetheight, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, soil, diseases and pests
- southernlivingplants.comSouthern Living Plant Collection (the brand's Cleyera Bigfoot page)height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- plants.meadowsfarms.comMeadows Farms Nurseries Plant Finder (a NetPS Plant Finder record)height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, soil and pests
- ASPCAToxic and Non-Toxic Plants, the dogs listtoxicity
- ASPCAToxic and Non-Toxic Plants, the cats listtoxicity
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
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Design a garden with this
Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.