Re: Sarcococca/scent

I have been a little leery of sarcococca because I planted two last fall and they've only grown about an inch each all year. They bloomed in March but the flowers were so low to the ground that it took an enormous effort to actually smell them. But I'm glad to hear they take off after a while.

I'm also leaning toward pieris in my new "winter bed."  This spot is, alas, too shady for all but (in my experience) two kinds of viburnum and azalea--the maple-leafed viburnum and the swamp azalea, both of which grow wild in the woods near here. I'm sure the soil will ultimately become acidic because of all the acid rain here (most of my soil is 5.5; I'm on top of a former oak-hickory woods) but for now I think this new soil is neutral and susceptible to the leaching of a concrete foundation. So I'll follow Marge's suggestion to add pine bark. The spot will also be home to a Pee-Wee oak-leaf hydrangea (which has never bloomed but does have great foliage), a new kerria cultivar (forget the name--I got it from Roslyn) that has light yellow flowers and nifty green stems in the winter, and a very small mahonia bealii.

Has anyone grown cyclamen coum from seed? Is it hard? I'd love to start off with large numbers but don't want to spend a lot of money.

We should talk about scent in the garden some time. It is, of course, harder to get scent in the shade. That's perhaps why it has taken me a long time to realize that I really don't like a lot of the smells possible. I love my hay-scented ferns (they're dominating my garden, smell-wise, in this wet summer), sweet woodruff, itea, lilies of the valley and, most of all, the clethra. But my scented hostas smell like soap to me and the oriental lilies (which I treat as annuals) are cloying. And I'm not sure I love the sarcococca odor, though I'm certainly pleased to get a whiff of anything in winter.

Anyway, thanks, all, for the great information and ideas.

Nancy Stedman, NYC

This At 04:11 PM 7/12/2004 +0000, you wrote:

Sarcococca is a wonderdful plant and I believe one of Michael Dirr's favorites too. I grew some in the nursery and planted 1 gallon plants on the north side of the house. They are doing great after only a year. They did seem slow to get started though. Now they are "sprreading out" and taking up some space.

Richard Jolly in Georgia



Pine Forest Gardens Grower of Quality Hostas
On Line Catalog
http://pineforestgardens.com

MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page ? FREE download!

Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index