Lilac Daphne

Lilac Daphne
Daphne genkwa ‘Bethpage’
(DAF-nee)
Thymelaeaceae

When Daphne is on it is on in a big way. It can be a fussy plant to grow but if you give it the right conditions it can do nicely. They do seem to be prone to unexpected dying. By now I have gotten used to that and always seem to end up buying a few more just to have some around. It is an elegant and classy plant that has one of my favorite fragrances in the garden.

It is funny that a plant that smells so good could be poisonous but that is the case with Daphne. There must be some medicinal purpose as Daphne genkwa appears as yuán hua on the List of 50 Fundamental Herbs of Chinese Herbology.
Wikipedia Link


This specimen was growing out on Long Island and is named after the hamlet of Bethpage, New York. It was a beautiful little plant.

Caucasian Daphne

Caucasian Daphne
Daphne caucasica
(DAF-nee) (kaw-KAS-ee-kuh)

This little flower was blooming on November 1st, which is pretty late for this area. I am not going to recommend Daphne for most gardeners. My experience is that they are difficult to grow and prone to sudden death. If you approach them with the attitude they you are going to possibly lose them then go ahead. Their fragrance is one of the best in the garden.

This plant was bought by a client at a plant sale as Daphne caucasica but I still have my doubts. Selecting an area with lean, neutral pH soil and above excellent drainage is important. They like a little shade during the winter. I like mounding them up a little and try to keep the summer watering to a minimum.

There is a variegated form called ‘Carol Mackie’ (Daphne x burkwoodii) that is a little easier to grow. It is a cross between D. cneorum and D. caucasica. We have been growing a couple patches of that and it seems to be a little more perennial than some of the other species. Sometimes after a cold winter they are completely defoliated and look dead but they usually releaf and look good fairly quickly in the spring. My favorite of the over 75 species is Rose Daphne (Daphne cneorum) but I have given up growing it.

February Daphne (Daphne mezereum 'Alba')

February Daphne
Daphne mezereum 'Alba'
(DAF-nee)
Thymelaeaceae

It’s hard to believe a plant that looks this nice and benign could be so toxic. I am glad I didn’t brush up against while photographing it. I have always thought that Daphnes as kind of weak growing but wonderful looking plant. This one was blooming last week despite the crummy weather we have been having. I know sometimes I forget what the weather was like in each month over the years but it seems like this is one of the worst Aprils I have experienced around here in a long time. It seems to me that looking back over the weather averages is not very helpful as April could finish very warm and would appear to be average when it has been cold. The forecast for Connecticut isn’t looking up much as they are forecasting subfreezing temperatures at night and highs only in the low 40s (F). I have probably said this before but for a multitude of reason I am desperate for spring to arrive in its usual way. I saw a Cherry Tree out in bloom where I was working in Darien yesterday. It was in the house next doors yard and it took everything I had not to scale the fence and try and take a picture of it. It looked like an Okame Cherry, which is one of my favorites. There was not one thing blooming in the yard I was working in.

This plant is a native of Europe and the white form is not as common as the pink one. This one gets yellow berries, which again are highly toxic although I have seen the birds eating them. It has the vague appearance of a Spirea and is more upright then the more traditional Daphnes that I grow. If you are going to try this one it prefers moist alkaline soil on the edge of the woods. It can grow in light shade or full sun. Once sited it is best to leave it alone as it resents root disturbance. It’s flowers are highly fragrant This particular plant is about 3.5 feet tall and 4 feet wide after about ten years.

Synonyms: Winter Daphne, Fragrant Daphne



Since there is not much to shoot outdoors I took an abstract of the glass vase that is holding some Forsythia that forced. I am going to be doing some correcting on some old posts later today I have to figure out a way to do that clandestinely. My grammar and punctuation is terrible.