Re: Daphne

Hello Frank,
    I would like your personal take on mini sized Daphne for the rock
garden. I am going to be constructing a rock garden and hope to have room
for about three Daphne. Want the truly dwarf and mini sized ones with a
decent show. Do you have 3 can not-live-withouts? If so, which ones and any
special tips you can pass along. Companions for bloom periods?
    If and when you get the opportunity, please.
    Gene E. Bush
Munchkin Nursery & Gardens, llc
www.munchkinnursery.com
genebush@munchkinnursery.com
Zone 6/5  Southern Indiana

----- Original Message -----
> In cold climates it is normal for many Daphnes to lose their leaves at
about
> 0F and it does not hurt them at all.  Daphne White-edge is much more
> vigorous and reliable then Carol Mackie.  Many plants sold as Carol Mackie
> are actually White-edge.  White-edge is more upright and has thicker stem.
> The variegation is more of a gold color than Carol Mackie.  It is almost a
> necessity to get small plants.  They are like Oak trees in that larger
ones
> have had their taproot severed.  That is why the large D. cnerum plants
die
> so easily.  The are field grown and are harvested with a root chopper
> machine.  The two problems you will have are snow and drying out.  Unlike
> most shrubs they are not capable of dying back.  If they get dry enough to
> do any damage at all they are dead!  Snow pileup can break limbs and split
> the truck which can kill it. The cold is ok.  If you have a shadier area
> then you want genkwa or giraldii.  To avoid the snow problem I recommend
> Lawrence Crocker.  He is a picture of my plant.
> http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/9701/daphne_crocker.html
Totally
> hardy and evergreen in zone 5 or more.  If you don't get a lot of blooms
it
> is because at the end of winter and early spring they get too dry.  You
> know, the time in March when it is dry and windy when you try to till the
> garden and you don't think about watering anything yet.  Actually most of
> the tiny rock garden types that are hard to find are easier than the
larger
> ones.  Cneorum is one of the more difficult ones in the Midwest.  I am
able
> to grow 25 varieties in my climate, so far.
> .
> Frank Cooper
> Urbana, Illinois  USA  Zone 5b
> Record low temp -27 F (-32.8 C)
> Record high temp 105 F (40 C)
>
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