Success. And that smell is the fragrance of a Daphne plant that has weathered more than one season in your yard. A friend was telling me about how this is her very favorite of all plants. I’d forgotten the incredible fragrance of Daphne. I’d also forgotten how finicky and persnickety it can be. If you give it the right spot…and I mean, exactly the right spot, with the right soil and don’t water it much…Daphne can be an absolute wonder of the most amazing fragrance you can grow in your garden.
The Daphnis have rather gotten themselves a “bad reputation”. One of the fine folks at the Master Gardeners has stated that Daphne are “fussy about soil and prone to sudden death for no apparent reason.” Hmph. There’s always a reason. Always. Further inquiry shows that success with Daphne means not disturbing the roots when planting. It is a common practice to break apart the root ball when planting shrubs. For Daphne, it is the kiss of death. Carefully remove the plant from the container and with equal care place it into the planting hole so as not to disturb its roots.
Most of the time, Daphne is a fairly unassuming shrub, just hanging out in the shadier parts of the garden. They grow to four feet high or so and around six feet wide. Its 3-inch long leaves are glossy and thick and rich in color. The most popular variety has a yellow or white edged leaf.
Daphne produces clusters of extremely fragrant flowers that are pink to deep red on the outside and a creamy pale pink on the inside. Blooming in February, Daphne is the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your favorite gardener and is truly a gift that keeps on giving. The blooms last for a few weeks, through March usually.
Daphne is not interested in full sun; plant it so that it gets shade at mid-day. Aside from the fragrance, the other really wonderful thing about Daphne is that it is deer proof. Not deer resistant – DEER PROOF.
The big thing with Daphne is that it wants really great drainage; not so easy to do in some of our yards in the Rogue Valley, where the soil tends to sometimes be heavy. Work in plenty of organic matter into your soil. You plant Daphne just like you do Rhodies, but unlike Rhodies, you will want to water Daphne as infrequently as possible. Little water during the dry season helps Daphne form its flower buds for the following year.
Plant the root ball of Daphne a bit high in the ground and mulch the soil or plant a nice ground cover to shade the roots.
Daphne is slow growing and makes an excellent container plant. This is a good thing since you can move it around to find the place that it likes best and to take advantage of the fragrance at bloom time.
Other fragrant dainties for the winter garden are Sarcococca, which is an evergreen shrub. Small, inconspicuous white flowers offer an unmistakable fragrance. Sarcococca thrives in partial to deep shade and they actually like it under cedar or Douglass fir trees. Good companion plants for both Daphne and Sarcococca are tassel fern, bleeding hearts and anemone.
Another candidate for the winter garden is the Chinese witch hazel. It is a slow growing, deciduous shrub boasting unusual and typically yellow flowers. Chinese witch hazel will persist in the worst winter weather, including frost and snow, and will survive beautifully. Chinese witch hazel likes a bit of sun but will do alright with light shade as well.
The last winter surprise I want to talk about is the evergreen clematis (clematis armandii). This plant features large white flowers that begin to appear in January or February with a scent that is abundant and heady. This plant likes full sun, is easy to grow and requires a screen or trellis for support.
Speaking of fragrance, at the other end of the seasonal spectrum, we have the tuberose. This is a bulb that produces tall flower spikes with numerous blooms and a fragrance that is rich and wonderful. If you have a sunny, warm site in your flower garden, then tuberose could be for you.
Find a location with excellent drainage. If there are water puddles 5 hours after a hard rain, choose a different site. You can also heavily amend the soil and raise the level two to three inches to improve the drainage. Compost, ground bark or decomposed manure all work well for tuberose.
Plant your bulbs where they will receive full sun. If you can find tuberose bulbs in clusters, that’s always a good choice. Plant about 3” deep and about 8 inches apart. After planting, water generously, soaking the soil. Roots and top growth will develop in a few weeks. Water regularly during the growing season if there’s no rain. Tuberoses are hungry and like a side dressing of an 8-8-8 fertilizer while in an active growth cycle.
Tuberose will flower in mid to later summer, generally 120 days after you plant them. When that bloom hits, be sure to bring some inside for cut flowers.
After the bloom, leave the foliage in place. The leaves will gather sunlight and provide nourishment for next season’s bloom cycle. Water as needed. When the leaves start to turn yellow, later in the season, feel free to remove them then. Tuberose also does well in containers, where you can shift them around to best take advantage of the fragrance.
Just before the annual frost, you might consider digging up your bulbs, cutting off the tops to within 2 inches of the apex of the bulb and placing them in shallow boxes in the sun to air out for about a week. If the evenings are too cold, bring them in. You don’t want them exposed to temperatures below 40 degrees. Store them away in boxes for the winter. There are gardeners who have successfully overwintered tuberose in the ground by utilizing a heavy cover of mulch. Just depends on where you are in the valley, how much sun your yard gets and how long the snow stays on the ground at your house.
The Daphnis have rather gotten themselves a “bad reputation”. One of the fine folks at the Master Gardeners has stated that Daphne are “fussy about soil and prone to sudden death for no apparent reason.” Hmph. There’s always a reason. Always. Further inquiry shows that success with Daphne means not disturbing the roots when planting. It is a common practice to break apart the root ball when planting shrubs. For Daphne, it is the kiss of death. Carefully remove the plant from the container and with equal care place it into the planting hole so as not to disturb its roots.
Most of the time, Daphne is a fairly unassuming shrub, just hanging out in the shadier parts of the garden. They grow to four feet high or so and around six feet wide. Its 3-inch long leaves are glossy and thick and rich in color. The most popular variety has a yellow or white edged leaf.
Daphne produces clusters of extremely fragrant flowers that are pink to deep red on the outside and a creamy pale pink on the inside. Blooming in February, Daphne is the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your favorite gardener and is truly a gift that keeps on giving. The blooms last for a few weeks, through March usually.
Daphne is not interested in full sun; plant it so that it gets shade at mid-day. Aside from the fragrance, the other really wonderful thing about Daphne is that it is deer proof. Not deer resistant – DEER PROOF.
The big thing with Daphne is that it wants really great drainage; not so easy to do in some of our yards in the Rogue Valley, where the soil tends to sometimes be heavy. Work in plenty of organic matter into your soil. You plant Daphne just like you do Rhodies, but unlike Rhodies, you will want to water Daphne as infrequently as possible. Little water during the dry season helps Daphne form its flower buds for the following year.
Plant the root ball of Daphne a bit high in the ground and mulch the soil or plant a nice ground cover to shade the roots.
Daphne is slow growing and makes an excellent container plant. This is a good thing since you can move it around to find the place that it likes best and to take advantage of the fragrance at bloom time.
Other fragrant dainties for the winter garden are Sarcococca, which is an evergreen shrub. Small, inconspicuous white flowers offer an unmistakable fragrance. Sarcococca thrives in partial to deep shade and they actually like it under cedar or Douglass fir trees. Good companion plants for both Daphne and Sarcococca are tassel fern, bleeding hearts and anemone.
Another candidate for the winter garden is the Chinese witch hazel. It is a slow growing, deciduous shrub boasting unusual and typically yellow flowers. Chinese witch hazel will persist in the worst winter weather, including frost and snow, and will survive beautifully. Chinese witch hazel likes a bit of sun but will do alright with light shade as well.
The last winter surprise I want to talk about is the evergreen clematis (clematis armandii). This plant features large white flowers that begin to appear in January or February with a scent that is abundant and heady. This plant likes full sun, is easy to grow and requires a screen or trellis for support.
Speaking of fragrance, at the other end of the seasonal spectrum, we have the tuberose. This is a bulb that produces tall flower spikes with numerous blooms and a fragrance that is rich and wonderful. If you have a sunny, warm site in your flower garden, then tuberose could be for you.
Find a location with excellent drainage. If there are water puddles 5 hours after a hard rain, choose a different site. You can also heavily amend the soil and raise the level two to three inches to improve the drainage. Compost, ground bark or decomposed manure all work well for tuberose.
Plant your bulbs where they will receive full sun. If you can find tuberose bulbs in clusters, that’s always a good choice. Plant about 3” deep and about 8 inches apart. After planting, water generously, soaking the soil. Roots and top growth will develop in a few weeks. Water regularly during the growing season if there’s no rain. Tuberoses are hungry and like a side dressing of an 8-8-8 fertilizer while in an active growth cycle.
Tuberose will flower in mid to later summer, generally 120 days after you plant them. When that bloom hits, be sure to bring some inside for cut flowers.
After the bloom, leave the foliage in place. The leaves will gather sunlight and provide nourishment for next season’s bloom cycle. Water as needed. When the leaves start to turn yellow, later in the season, feel free to remove them then. Tuberose also does well in containers, where you can shift them around to best take advantage of the fragrance.
Just before the annual frost, you might consider digging up your bulbs, cutting off the tops to within 2 inches of the apex of the bulb and placing them in shallow boxes in the sun to air out for about a week. If the evenings are too cold, bring them in. You don’t want them exposed to temperatures below 40 degrees. Store them away in boxes for the winter. There are gardeners who have successfully overwintered tuberose in the ground by utilizing a heavy cover of mulch. Just depends on where you are in the valley, how much sun your yard gets and how long the snow stays on the ground at your house.
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