Tag Archives: daphne

December Daphnes

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I’ve posted about daphnes a couple of times this year, but can’t help post again now that we’re in December and still have two daphnes in full flower, despite two nights at 25 degrees F.

The top is Daphne collina from Southern Italy, and the bottom is Daphne x napolitana ‘Bramdream’…a hybrid of Daphne collina x Daphne cneorum var. pygmaea. These are growing in our dry crevice garden in a soil mix of 50% Permatill gravel. It seems obvious that the Daphne collina is the source of the continuous bloom. Winter hardiness is Zone 6a-8b (top), and Zone 5-8b (bottom).

Daphnes in the crevice garden
Daphne collina
Daphne x napolitana 'Bramdream' in the rock garden
Daphne x napolitana ‘Bramdream’

Suckin’ Daphnes

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I’ve been surprised to see the black swallowtails regularly enjoying the nectar of the summer-flowering daphnes…in this case, Daphne x napolitana ‘Bramdream’. Our plants are thriving, growing in our full sun rock garden.

Image of a Black Swallowtail feasting on the nectar of one of our summer flowering daphnes
A Black Swallowtail feasting on the nectar of Daphne x napolitana ‘Bramdream’

Oh, Daphne

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My visit to Crete in 2010 was eye-opening when I observed that most native daphnes of the region grew in full sun among rock, in the driest conditions imaginable. That prompted us to re-try many of the daphnes that we’d killed years earlier…obviously, with too much kindness. Now, all of our daphnes are planted in baking sun in our crevice garden, or similar rock garden conditions. Here are a few photos at JLBG from early April.

The first is the Mediterranean native, Daphne collina, which most authorities now subsume under Daphne sericea. All daphne pictured below should be hardy from Zone 6a – 8b.

Daphne collina

Daphne ‘Rosy Wave’ is a Daphne collina hybrid with Daphne burkwoodii

Daphne ‘Rosy Wave’

Daphne x napolitana ‘Bramdream’ is a hybrid of Daphne collina and Daphne cneorum.

Daphne x napolitana ‘Bramdream’

Rock Garden Daphnes

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While daphnes have a reputation for being tough to grow, many are actually quite easy if given proper siting. My life with daphnes changed significantly after my 2010 botanical expedition to Crete. I was shocked to find daphnes growing in full baking sun in bone dry regions among large rocks. Before then, I had obviously taken far too good care of my daphnes. Once we constructed the crevice gardens at JLBG, we replaced all the daphnes we’d killed in “better” garden locations. Here’s the Cretan native Daphne sericea in full flower.