Winter Daphne for Cool Weather Fragrance

The rest of the US is facing a wave of frigid weather, but in the deep south, warm temperatures have brought gardeners outdoors, where we are enjoying the scents and sights of Forsythia and all the sprig-flowering bulbs. The sweet scent of Daphne wafts over it all.

Daphne odora (pronounced DAF-nee oh-DOH-rah) or Winter Daphne is an evergreen shrub that grows to heights up to six feet in zones 7-9. In late winter, its rose and white flowers have a heavenly fragrance that makes gardeners forgive its propensity to die suddenly, without warning (known as the “Daphne Death Dance” among gardeners who have loved and lost it). Plant it in partial shade in moist, neutral pH soil that is very well drained and has plenty of organic matter. It lives longest when sited on a slope that ensures good drainage. It also does well in a container if sited in a protected area. ‘Aureo-marginata’ is a variegated form. Prune leggy plants after flowering is complete to keep them compact and attractive.

All parts of the plant are poisonous to humans

Daphne odora in bloom. Special thanks for this image to shell_ghostcage via Pixabay photosharing.

Winter Jasmine, The Earliest Flowers

Tubular yellow flowers are erupting on leafless shrubs here in the Carolinas’ piedmont. Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum, pronounced JAZ-men-um noo-duh-FLORE-um) blooms early, about the same time as Crocus. The 6-petal unscented flowers are similar in color and shape to Forsythia, but are smaller and fewer. Flowers appear before leaves, and open first at the bottoms of stems, progressing to the tips. The shrub’s weeping structure is similar to Forsythia, but stems are smaller in diameter and young stems have a greenish tint, even when dormant.

Red exterior of unopened Winter Jasmine buds.

Plants reach five feet in height. Like Forsythia, Winter Jasmine will spread aggressively unless controlled. Any stems that touch ground will take root. It flowers best in full sun but will tolerate shade, poor soil, and drought. Left alone, plants take on an unkept, thicket-like appearance after a few years. Remedy this with severe pruning as soon as the flowering season ends. I inherited an overgrown hedge of these plants when we bought a new home. They have encroached into the territory of a nearby row of boxwoods that I want to preserve, so in March I’ll cut the entire hedge to within a few inches of the soil and use a sharp spade to sever and remove the roots outside the target range.

Winter Jasmine stems are squarish in cross section, with four definite angles, while Forsythias are round. Tiny (less than an inch) compound leaves appear opposite on stems, which allows the gardener to distinguish it from Jasminum floridum, a visually similar plant with alternate leaves and the same messy haystack of stems.

Winter Jasmine is an excellent groundcover plant for slopes that would be difficult to mow. Its arching stems look like a waterfall cascading over walls . It is rarely damaged by deer, disease, or insects. It is hardy in zones 6 through 10

A hedge of Winter Jasmine, planted on a steep bank above a business parking lot. Perfect for this location.

The thicket-like growth of Winter Jasmine is evident here. The gray stems are dead and should be pruned out. Live stems are green.

Winter Witch-Hazel

Witch-Hazel (Hamamelis, pronounced ham-ah-MAY-lis) is native, widely found in southeastern US woodlands. It blooms in winter, a welcome bright spot in in the garden.

Witch-hazel blooms consist of four strap-like petals, secured to the stem via a darker calyx. The fruit and flowers occur on the stems at the same time, an oddity. Several cultivars are widely available. Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’ has yellow-to-orange flowers and Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Dianne’ has rusty red flowers. If yellow is your color of choice, seek out ‘Arnold Promise,’ or ‘Princeton Gold.’ Seeds are a preferred food for wild turkeys and other wildlife. 

The roundish leaves have pleats that remind me of Viburnum. The pretty, bright green leaves change color in the autumn. Varieties with yellow blooms tend to have yellow fall foliage, while those with red blooms show a redder fall color. Witch-Hazel is one of the woods of choice among dowsers, those who use divining rods (Y-shaped sticks) to detect water sources underground. Dowsing is also called “water-witching” (or “hooey” by skeptics).

Witch-Hazel enjoys the same cultural conditions as Redbud (Cercis canadensis) or the Dogwood (Cornus mas) featured in this blog last week. The zig-zag stems resemble that of Cercis. The bark of Witch-Hazel is smooth while the Cornus is rough and flaky. Like the Cornelian Cherry, it splits the difference between short tree and tall shrub. Trees prefers high, filtered shade but will take more sun in cooler zones. They grows best in acidic, moist soil, Zone 3-8, with a mature height up to 30 feet. 

Natural astringent properties have made Witch-Hazel a common topical treatment for acne or minor skin irritations. You will find it on the ingredients list of several cosmetic skin toners. It doesn’t sting like rubbing alcohol, so it is a better option for children’s scrapes. 

Under-plant Witch-Hazel with bulbs like crocus or daffodil. Grafted shrubs tend to sucker, so remove any growth below the graft line. 

Writer’s note: There seems to be no consistency in the common name. Use your choice:  Witch Hazel, Witch-hazel, or Witchhazel.

Hamamelis ‘Jelena’ in bloom

Mahonia

“The dead of winter.” That phase accurately describes the Mary Snoddy garden right now. My dormant mostly-Bermuda lawn is the color of a manila file folder.  The flower beds look forlorn. Amid all this dreariness, the lemon yellow blooms of Mahonia bealei glow like a beacon in the winter landscape.

The common Mahonia (pronounced mah-HOE-nee-uh BEEL-lee-eye) originally hails from China, but has spread itself across the southeast in damp, shady areas. This shrub has thick, leathery leaves (common name is Leatherleaf Mahonia) shaped like giant holly leaves, complete with sharp points. Should you injure the bark either through accident or pruning, you will find the underlying tissue is a bright yellow, just like its distant cousin, the barberry. It is evergreen, but a few leaves may turn red or orange and drop in autumn.

The plant is not included in the List of Invasive Plant Pest Species compiled and revised in 2014 by the South Carolina Exotic Pest Plant Council, but NC State University includes it in their Invasive Exotic Plants of the Southeast, and recommends control via a combination of fruit removal, drastic pruning, herbicide, and root ball removal. I take this to mean that they feel the shrub should be removed entirely.  Invasive.org indicates that this tough customer is on the bad list in South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.

One does not need a horticulture degree to realize that this hardy specimen has invasive tendencies. The fragrant blooms are followed by clusters of green berries that mature to an attractive blue-purple shade, often with a powdery dusting described by botanists as “glaucous.” The berries are favored by birds. I suggest that you avoid line-drying any laundry during the 2-3 weeks that ripe berries are present (unless, of course, you prefer your clothing and bed linens with random purple stains). Any berries not removed by birds fall to the ground, where they germinate readily. I do a twice-yearly hoeing to remove all these unwanted seedlings. Otherwise, a thicket would develop.

Mature shrubs will grow 5-10 feet tall, with a 4 foot spread. They have a tendency to become lanky, with bare lower stems, similar to species Nandina. Counteract this by pruning a few of the leggy stems each year down to a height of six inches. It looks drastic, but they will throw new growth at the cuts and look much better.

There are some newer introductions of Mahonia that may be less invasive. ‘Winter Sun’ is beautiful and fragrant. On winter days with temperatures above 50 degrees, the honeybees swarm around the sweet blooms. Introduced in 2006, Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’ grows in the same damp shade as its cousin, but the foliage is soft and finely cut, resembling bamboo.  It is smaller (3 feet, maybe) and perfect for an Asian garden. It has the same yellow flowers, but mine bloom in September/October rather than January/February like the Leatherleaf.  Mahonias put down some deep roots, which means that mature specimens are somewhat drought tolerant (yay) but difficult to relocate or remove (boo). All Mahonias are deer resistant.

Photos: Left - ‘Winter Sun’; Middle - The beginnings of an invasive thicket; Right - ‘Soft Caress’