September 19th, 2023Glen, about the house
How sweet it is – daphne odora and odora alba. Although often considered tricky to grow, the supposedly finicky daphnes will certainly earn a place in your garden even if it’s only for the sweet perfume or as a finishing touch to a bouquet or vase display.
In fact, given the right conditions – a cool semi-shaded position with protection from any hot afternoon sun or frost in a well-drained, humus-rich soil – they will flourish and reward you with long-lasting flowers galore.
Slow growing and compact, they need little in the way of pruning other than removing any damaged stems, or an occasional light, shaping trim. A regular picking of flowers for indoors will take care of that.
A major consideration is they dislike being over- or under-watered or having their roots disturbed. A regular dressing of liquid seaweed solution and top dressing with well-rotted cow manure and compost seems to be all the fertiliser they need.
You will soon know when your daphne is uncomfortable, that’s when the usually shiny, rich green leaves turn a little yellow or droop. Curling leaves indicate the presence of aphids or some other leaf-sucker.
They will normally grow to about one metre high but we inherited ours as a pair of ancient drought-ridden skeletons, sprawling up the eastern wall of the house.
A decade of TLC and serious pruning and we now have two flourishing two metre high, reasonably happy daphnes.
Daphne odora, or any other of the 70 other members of the daphne tribe, can be successfully grown in containers, enabling them to be grown in the best conditions.
The pots should be well drained and the potting mix kept moist but never dry or wet, and kept in a cool spot out of direct sunlight. So a shaded porch or under a spreading evergreen tree would be perfect.
Daphnes are reasonably slow growers so don’t need to be repotted very often and that’s just as well because, as mentioned, they’re rather finicky about having their roots disturbed.
Perennial division
Such early flowering species of perennials as iris, shasta daisy, etc, are best divided in autumn to give them time to become re-established before forming new flower buds, but those which flower from midsummer onwards will do well if divided now.
The easiest way to divide a large clump is to use two digging forks – one from each side, obviously best if done by two people. Lift the whole clump, then place the two forks (back to back) into the centre of it, then lever the forks apart and the clump should part with the minimum of damage to the crown or roots. A spade can be used, but there is a chance of collateral damage.
Pull apart all the individual plantlets, and obviously divisible segments with usable roots, and set aside for replanting. If the clumps are very large, discard all but the youngest and sturdiest outside shoots, as those from the centre are likely to be weak. You could, of course, plant the best of those up either as reserves, or to pass on to gardening friends.
When replanting perennials put them into soil that has been well fed. Plenty of compost plus a handful of organic fertiliser will keep them going for another year. As the tender young growth will be particularly attractive to slugs and snails, scatter a handful of bait among the crowns. This applies equally to any clumps which are not being divided, and in the case of delphiniums.
Got a gardening query? Email glenzgarden@gmail.com
