In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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November 9, 2007

Late blooming Daphne

Mention daphne, and most gardeners think of the spring blooming, deliciously fragrant shrub that has a reputation for being finicky, hard to please, and tough all at the same time.

If daphne likes you, they say, it will live and thrive. If it doesn’t, it will die, and there’s no use planting another in the same spot since it will just turn up its pretty green leaves and die again. If you must have daphne, keep planting it until you find a spot it likes.

A trip through Capital Nursery the other day turned up another daphne----one in bloom in November, amazingly enough, with delicate clusters of creamy white, pink-flushed flowers, a powerful fragrance and leaves edged in gold.

Called Daphne Summer Ice, it really isn’t supposed to be blooming in November. But there it is. And the possibility that I could have daphne blooming late summer or into the fall is too good to pass up, so I bought one. I’m going to put it in a pot on the front deck where I can enjoy it up close and personal.

In the ground, daphne demands well-drained soil, some shade, and a bit of drying out between watering regimens, says Capital Nursery’s Seth Taylor. Summer Ice makes a mostly evergreen shrub about four feet tall and as wide. He recommends tossing bark nuggets or some other coarse material into the hole when planting daphne. “They don’t like excessive moisture or compacted soil. Dry shade suits them, or in a container where you can control the water and drainage is good.”

I’ll do all I’m supposed to do to make this daphne happy, and I’m sure it will let me know whether I’ve gotten it right.

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