TREES
AND SHRUBS
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Daphne flowers are as lovely to sniff as to look at. |
One of my favorite parts of winter is watching the amazing transformation from dark and drab to the beginnings of reawakening with plants budding, flowering, and oftentimes filling the air with delicious fragrance. There are many plants that delight the eye and nose in winter but one of my very favorites is the daphne.
Daphne odora ‘Marginata’ and D. odora ‘Zuiko Nishiki’are two of the earliest blooming cultivars. ‘Marginata’ has variegated foliage while ‘Zuiko Nishiki’ has rich green foliage, but both carry deliciously perfumed pinkish white blooms which emerge from soft pink buds.
Daphne retusa, above, and D. x transatlantica ‘Eternal Fragrance’ will bloom later in spring with a heavy flush of fragrant blooms. Both will then rebloom throughout the summer and into the fall.
All daphnes prefer well-drained soil with a handful of lime yearly. D. odora prefers morning sun, while ‘Summer Ice’ and D. retusa can take more sun.
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