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THE DAPHNE are in bloom again. They are not something that Katherine Hepburn could carry drooping from her arms, but surely daphne are as worthy of the drama as are calla lilies.
There is a difference to that drama, though, for daphne are best left outside to grow and bloom, preferably near a frequented path where one will pass near and perhaps brush against the shrub. While aromatic enough when in blossom, even the slightest bit of agitation will release aroma that will bring one to an immediate standstill.
Michael Dirr, in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, does not beat around the bush about the aroma of Daphne odora. "The fragrance is wonderful," he says, and I see no reason to argue with him.
As I said, it is in bloom again. My plant came from Maymont in Richmond several years ago, and languished for a couple of years in a border not to its liking. Moved to a spot where it gets only the earliest of morning sun and never dries out completely--it is near the brick and stone foundation of an old building that protects it from drying winds--it stopped sulking and began performing almost immediately
It is not a fast grower, but is a dense shrub that will ultimately reach a height and width of 3 feet or a bit more. An evergreen, it is a presence in the landscape, whatever time of the year one views it.
Mine was labeled Daphne odora 'Carol Mackie' and has lustrous green leaves margined in a yellowish-white. Its flowers, which are a pale purple on the exterior and white on the interior, appear in clusters at the apex of each stem, making a combination of form, leaf and flower that is as "wonderful" as is the fragrance. Dirr does not list 'Carol Mackie' in his manual, but 'Aureomarginata,' 'Rubra,' 'Rubra Variegated' and 'Walberton' all meet the description.
Daphne grows at Kenmore, in a more exposed location than in my garden, and was a bit damaged this winter, but is worth a look and a sniff. Just to the left as one passes from the Crowninshield Building and begins the path upward to the grounds, one's nose will draw one to it even if one's eye does not.
I suspect that daphne's reputation for being difficult is the reason it is not more widely grown, but like many plants with that reputation, it asks only the right location and a bit of initial care to flourish. The Kenmore ones, and mine, are both several years old, and show no signs of wanting to give up the ghost, so I know it can be grown successfully here where it more than lives up to its common names fragrant daphne and winter daphne.
Two camellia stair-step upward just beyond my daphne. Both are Camellia japonica, which blossom here in the spring, or at least in the period between January and April. They, too, are evergreens, with dark green shiny leaves that clothe the plant just as fully as do the leaves of the daphne. C. sasanqua also grow well in our area and are similar to japonica, except that the leaves are generally smaller, and sasanqua blossoms in the fall. For some unknown reason, only C. japonica are normally referred to as camellias, while C. sasanqua are called sasanquas. One could cover the late fall and early spring season with blossom by growing both varieties.
My camellias also came from Maymont, purchased, as was the daphne, from their booth at the Maymont flower show in Richmond which, because of illness, I missed this year. It has become a staple of my annual flower trips, not so much for the exhibition plots as for the booths of plant sellers and for the lectures. The show has never disappointed me, and it was hard to miss it this year. There is always next year, though, and I have every plan to be there then.
Camellias come in named cultivars that number into the thousands, and have blossoms that range from simple to fully double, in shades that range from red to white, some with combinations of colors. I grow only two, one white and one red, and though both came to me labeled, I am content just to call them camellia and enjoy the show. The red one is the older of the two and one of the most prominent plants in my garden. Eight feet high, and at least 5 feet around, it is noticeable at any time of the season.
This year, it promises to throw hundreds of flowers, some stems having as many as five buds. Not all of them will open, for the recent icy temperatures turned many brown, and they will fall without opening. This is one of the problems with C. japonica in our area, for in winters with bad spells, all buds can freeze and brown, and in truly bad winters, the entire plant, no matter what the size or age, may be killed. Squirrels are also a problem since, for some unknown reason, they taste the buds. Being slow learners, or having bad memories, I am not certain which, they keep taking bites trying to find a bud worth eating and, just by tasting, can kill most of a plants buds.
I find the sisters Marie and Antoinette, two spayed feral cats that grew up in my back yard and call it home, are the best squirrel deterrent I have found. And though I have neither witnessed nor seen the result of an encounter between cat and squirrel, the camellia buds, since the sisters came to live with us, have shown little or no squirrel damage. I know of no way to protect the buds from the weather, though this winter the toll is not devastating.
Daphne and camellia, both evergreens, both showy and one with "wonderful" fragrance, could find a place in almost any area garden. If they are in your garden, now is a good time to feed them, perhaps with compost, perhaps with a good organic azalea-rhododendron-camellia fertilizer. Adding a bit to the mulch around their base would not hurt either.
TONY P. WRENN of Fredericksburg is a lifelong gardener. He welcomes questions from readers and will try to answer them in his column. Contact him by mail at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; by fax at 373-8455; or by e-mail to his attention at gwoolf@freelancestar.com.
