Most of the shrubs featured discussed have been of medium height or even of considerable size, mainly because these fairly sizable types are the most useful in average plantings for the home grounds.
An extensive list of smaller shrubs offers subjects of equal merit for a wide variety of locations—some for the same general uses when little space is available and others for rather specialized situations.
Daphne Genkwa “Lilac Daphne”
One of the most delightful small shrubs is lilac daphne, Daphne genkwa, which has shoots of the previous year wholly lined with clusters of tubular lilac-shaped and lilac-colored flowers in early and mid-spring.
Separately these blooms are small—not quite half an inch long and about the same across the spreading lobes of the corolla—but so profusely produced that the effect is spectacular.
The flowers precede the new leaves, and the clusters of lilac blossoms are spaced from about ¼” to 1” inch apart over the shrub’s framework except for the old growth.
The picture is so delicate and unusual, seeming a little unreal even when one has admired it many times, that one could almost imagine the little shrub had been created from a design on old Chinese porcelain.
Lilac Daphne attracted the attention of the famous botanically-minded traveler, Dr. Siebold, in the southern Japanese islands, but it is known to lie Indy native in China and Korea.
Philip von Siebold, a Bavarian doctor, went to Japan in 1823 as a physician with the Dutch East India Company and made extensive studies of Japanese plants, a good number of which he introduced to European gardens through the time nursery he founded at Leyden years later.
The “Genk-way”
Siebold learned that one common name of this Daphne found in Japanese gardens was “Genk-way.” He used this as the specific name in his Latin description of the species, published in the impressive Flora Japonica, which he prepared with the assistance of the German botanist Zuccarini.
While Siebold gave Latin and French descriptions and an accurate drawing of this small shrub called Genk-was in the Orient, it remained for one of the greatest plant explorers, the Scotsman Fobert Fortune, to introduce the plant itself to western gardens. Fortune found the shrub rather frequently cultivated in the coastal cities of China.
And sent either seeds or plants to England soon after he arrived in 1843 on a corn mission to collect plants for the Royal Horticultural Society.
In addition to stocks of the finest tea plants grown in China, other items in the many consignments of green treasure sent back by Fortune are some of our most prized ornamental plants, including bridal-wreath spica, pearl bush, flowering plums, honeysuckles, and winter hazels.
When very small and in favorable conditions, the Lilac daphnes flower develops into well-rounded shrubs from 2’ to 4’ feet in height with distinctive upright branches. Unlike other species of Daphne, the flowers are without fragrance.
Lilac Daphnes Leaves
The leaves are mostly in pairs along the shoots, or occasionally the single leaves in a team are separated somewhat and do not face each other exactly.
The oblong leaves measure 1” to 2” inches and are a lovely grayish-green. They turn yellowish in the autumn and fall soon after the first frosts.
In addition to possessing members with names rather challenging to pronounce at the first attempt, the genus Daphne also has become endowed with a reputation for perverseness and difficulty in culture.
Some of this may be deserved, but it is more likely that it is mainly due to a lack of understanding on the part of collectors and gardeners who lavish unwanted richness and fertility on shrubs whose requirements for best growth are meager.
The most reliable authorities hold for generous proportions of peat moss or leaf mold in soil prepared for ‘hiplines, and this advice seems most valuable.
Ideal Growing Conditions
While the cherished garland flower (Daphne cneorum) makes dense evergreen cushions of growth in such a mixture, with the addition of crushed limestone or lime chips, it is Usually felt that lilac daphne should have no lime.
However, plenty of sand or small gravel ensures good drainage in the mixture of loam and humus. However, as rock gardeners know, reasonable drainage dues do not mean dryness.
The best results are obtained when the supply of moisture is ample but moving through the soil and never stagnant.
Under favorable growing conditions, lilac daphne is a sturdy and enduring plant. Still, heavy or poorly-drained soil is beset with many troubles and usually comes to an untimely end.
Temperatures below zero for any time typically cause damage, particularly if the past year’s growth has not ripened well. In gardens where the cold is more extreme, it is wise to try a few plants experimentally in different situations and exposures.
For such a choice subject, a carefully selected setting is most important. As the rare beauty of the shrub rests entirely in its flowers (though its appearance the remaining portion of the year is neat and attractive in every way), the location should be chosen to make the most of the floral picture.
The shrub is not appropriate for foundation plantings as usually envisioned, nor for the mass plantings of relatively coarse and vigorous types so valuable for boundary and enclosure groups.
Instead, this is a subject for the most delicate and cherished part of the garden, and it is well adapted to use as a feature for the spring picture in a small intimate formal garden or a naturalistic one.
Set against a large boulder or among rocks of moderate size, lilac daphnes make a dramatic accent at the back or side of a rock garden, especially when seen across a carpet of dwarf or low-growing evergreens.
The time analogy of its lilac bloom above an expanse of one of the low steely-blue junipers is excellent. And when Engelmann, your Donate spruces make a background, the combination is most satisfying.
It is well to be sure bright pink, red. And yellow blooms are firmly excluded from the composition, for these all spoil the delicacy and charm of this delicately colored Daphne.
44659 by Ben Blackburn