Daphne odora

As you’re assessing the damage of winter on your plantings and deciding what needs to be replaced, consider Daphne as a replacement. Daphne can be a difficult “lover” but love-her you will when she is happy and blooming!

The most splendid thing about Daphne is that it blooms in late winter, and is intensely fragrant. This is a wonderful plant to place near a doorway or in a courtyard. The courtyard at The Splendid Market is filled with this intoxicating fragrance as we write.

What do we mean by “intoxicating, exotic, intense…” you may rightfully ask.

Well, it’s very hard to describe, but if we had to come up with a recipe it would be something like this: a pinch each of ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom, with a teaspoon of orange zest all mixed together and then sprinkled lightly with rose water, but there is still something missing…she’s mysterious, that Daphne.

Also, Daphne is an evergreen, and she is happy to provide background foliage for all the blooms and blossoms that come and go during the spring and summer (knowing full well that she will reign supreme again come the end of winter).

To extend the pleasures of Daphne start clipping bouquets (from the less visible parts of the plant) as soon as the buds are formed and are bright pink in color.

By exposing them to the warmth of the indoors, the small bunches of delicate, white star -like blossoms will be enticed to open and release their spicy, exotic fragrance a little earlier than planned!

As with most things that are so wonderful, there can be some disappointment with Daphne. You may want to plant in a few different locations to see which she prefers (can be picky, this one)! The plants will usually grow to about 3 feet high, and spread to 4 feet wide. It makes a nice, soft hedge when a few plants are planted about 3 feet apart. The leaves are long, pointed, deep green and glossy!

Daphne tends to grow best in porous soil. One can amend the soil by digging a much larger hole than needed and filling it in with a porous, organic soil mixture before resting her in and surrounding her roots with the same mix. Plant her “high” so you can see about an inch or two of the roots. She likes to have at least 3 hours of shade each day (midday, preferably).
Minimal amounts of water in the summer will encourage flowering the following year.
Our Daphne’s are now flourishing, but only after a couple of “disappointments”.
Then, we learned that Daphne likes to have the soil around her roots shaded. We have a flush of violets which come to life as the Daphne flowers begin to fade and their bright green leaves protect her shy root soil!

What a lovely symbiosis!