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Shy bloomer
Winter daphne is a treat for the senses in the coldest months, with pretty, little flowers and a sweet fragrance.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
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Ready for spring
Get a jump on spring by ordering your seeds early, before your favorites are sold out.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
Delightful: a plant that overwhelms the winter garden with a sweet scent you wouldn’t expect until the height of spring. Sneaky: fragrant blooms so shy in size that you’ll likely smell them before you see them.
Welcome to the delightfully sneaky world of winter daphne (Daphne odora). Through spring, summer and fall, this broadleaf evergreen isn’t particularly special. Maturing to a modest 3 to 4 feet high and about as wide, the dense, rounded bush spends its growing seasons in a slumber of green leaves. Ho-hum.
But, during the coldest times of the year, winter daphne weaves its beguiling spell. Normally starting in January and lasting into February, modest clusters of small, white or pale-pink, bell-shaped flowers brave the cold air and fill the hibernating garden with their unexpected perfume—just what chilled gardeners need to affirm that, yes, a new spring is coming.
If you like scented and sassy, try one of winter daphne’s more popular cultivars, Aureomarginata, with variegated leaves edged in a head-turning butter-yellow. This unusual beauty is a common offering at many quality garden centers and not hard to find online, either.
Well suited for plant-hardiness zones 7 through 9, winter daphne is a small, deer-resistant, Far East import that has been gracing Southern gardens for years, in spite of rumors that it is a fickle plant, luring gardeners to love it and then unexpectedly dying in their arms.
True, winter daphne can have problems, especially with crown and root rot. But, much of this is a matter of location, location, location. First, it should be set in an area that receives some morning sun but is shaded from the worst afternoon rays in the summer. This—and a good layer of mulch—will lessen troubles associated with underwatering and, especially, overwatering.
To the point, winter daphne needs excellent drainage. A raised bed, of course, is one remedy, but working in plenty of quality, commercial topsoil and mounding the planting will also help prevent a soggy-bottom death.
And, winter daphne has a strong aversion to being relocated. Basically, if you move it, you’ll lose it, so place it correctly the first time. Good choices include close to a doorway, gate or path, but also consider a tucked-away corner where its strongly scented flowers can play hide-and-seek with gardeners’ noses on crisp winter days.
Tip of the month
If you enjoy starting plants from seeds, now is prime time to order from catalogs and online sites. Not only will early-bird ordering ensure you have seeds in hand when you’re ready to crank up planting, it reduces the chance of getting skunked by new and super-favorite selections being sold out.
In January's garden
- Don’t kick your Christmas tree to the curb just yet. Set it up in the backyard as a temporary wild-bird haven. Make it even more hospitable to your winged friends by redecorating with seed bells, suet bars and strings of edible berries.
- If the windows of your home are filled with overwintering plants, make sure their leaves aren’t touching the glass panes. On especially cold nights, glass-hugging foliage of tender plants can get damaged.
- While business is slow at your local small-engine repair shop, have your motorized garden tools serviced before the spring rush of customers.
L.A. JACKSON is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.