Daphne anyone?

The Burkwood Daphnes are somewhat common in these parts, with 'Carol Mackie' far and away the most frequently seen. Every now and again I'll run across 'Somerset' or 'Briggs Moonlight', but they haven't caught on like CM. I'm not sure why this is, but I'd guess it's hardier or "easier" than the others. I've had good luck with CM, and I'd like to expand my Daphne repetoire. Dirr lists D. caucasica, D. cneorum, and D. mezereum as hardy at least into z4. Has anyone tried these or others?

I had caucasica; you notice the past tense...
I used to have a number of daphne's planted out, but all have died over the years, incl Carol Mackie and Briggs Moonlight. Most recently, I lost a big daphne odora Zuiko Nishiki, which isn't too shocking since it was of marginal hardiness here, which was my last remaining planted-out daphne.
I still have 2 thriving daphne odora Mae-jima's in pots which I overwinter in the garage. The foliage is beautifully variegated; I'd post a picture, but I'm at work. You can google it. The fragrance is unbelievable. They bloom in February, during which time my garage smells better than Martha Stewart's fanciest sitting room...

Come on down in February for a sniff; I'll let you decide.
Of course, you'll need to make your own arrangements w/ Martha for the comparison sniff.

only tried CM daphne here and it did not make it.

pardon my lack of knowledge , but what is daphne?

Daphne is a shrub noted for being finicky, but having such fragrant flowers that gardeners cannont resist it. My advice is to try one, but keep your expectations low. I had 'Carol Mackie' at the old place that quickly grew to about 4' x 4', but then mysteriously started to die off one major stem at a time. Their fragrance is intoxicating, even exceeding the fragrant viburnums. ;) My spouse planted the one we have now about six years ago and it seems to be very healthy growing in poor, sandy soil. It's a plant that requires good drainage and prospers from neglect.

Argh, I hope to have better results with my Daphne's (yet to plant). I opted to try Mock Orange and Viburnums first. Lets hope Michigan's incessant winds will make all the difference.

Mipii, do you know Ken from Adrian? Oh, never mind. I wouldn't rate Daphne's especially ornamental, which is why the mutant foliage forms have stole the genus thunder. It's my mission to change that!

Our Carol Mackie is still thriving after four years. Some say they are quick to die but ours is lush. Just in case it plans to self-destruct - when can I take cuttings to propagate it?

I don't know Pseudo, Pirl's Carol Mackie looks pretty ornamental to me. Although, the biggest draw for me was the fragrance, it's hard to beat a good smelling specimen (the farther away you can smell it, the better).

It's a good thing.

Here's one of Pseudo's 'mutant-foliage' forms trying to steal thunder...
This is daphne odora Mae-jima.
Just a youngster I'm keeping in a pot.

The 2nd pic is a very different daphne, d. genkwa.
Unfortunately, it doesn't have any fragrance, which seems so weird to me,
in view of the intense scent of it's brethren.
A nice early spring blast of lavender color.
Mine got huge over 10yrs or so (maybe 8ft wide, 4ft tall),
but sprawled rather awkwardly in it's old age and eventually puttered out.
I meant to replace it, but haven't gotten around to it yet...

I have to agree: Pirl's CM is rather splendid. It looks like it's ideally sited next to entrance & walklway in partial shade. Nice!

Scott - love that genkwa!

Pseudo - thanks.

Arlene, experiment with your Daphne cuttings. I'm liking the results of hardwood cuttings taken in winter, kept in a cool place (supposed to have bottom heat). I keep mine in the basement in front of a south-facing window. I've just tried this method, so far so good.

Weerobin, your d. genkwa put on quite a show...didn't even invite the leaves to the party. It's acting like a magnolia.

Pseudo, don't you like variegated leaves?

Here's my daphne odorata Maejima trying to do it's thing in my garage.
Not the showiest venue to illustrate it's charms,
but it's doing it's best in somewhat 'challenged' circumstances.
As you can see, it's a youngster.
The fragrance is definitely an improvement over my baseline garage scent...

The venue surely shows your specimens resilience...blooming in snow. Very purty Weerobin!

Sorry, the venue is the garage.
I stuck it outside just long enough to take it's picture!
It's only hardy to z.7.
Never shy about zone-pushing, I've tried a few daphne odora's outside here.
I've had a couple survive a few years, including this one (d. odora Zuiko Nishiki)
which lived for about 5yrs and got ~2 1/2 ft tall before succumbing to this winter's cold.
The bright pink buds form in the fall and persist all winter before blooming early March.
The one in the garage blooms in February.
It's always cool to see something blooming that time of year.
But even in our mild winters, it never looked lush & happy
and I've decided not to replace it this year.

D. odora would be a non-starter up here, but I'm thinking about trying one of the D. x transatlantica or cneorum cultivars. My spouse started a small rock garden last year, but I'm thinking of taking it over and evicting her tawdry sedums. If all goes well and she falls spell to my horticultural charm, they'll be replaced with something a bit more classy -- like Daphne. A more likely scenario would be for her to tell me to get the hell out of her garden and go mow the lawn.

Oh Gosh! Too too funny! I read it to my hubby, and we both belly laughed!

Pirl, your shrub is outstanding! How Do you Do it?

Weerobin, your's is beautiful too.

For now, I am just gonna look at other's shrubs. I have looked at them for years but have decided not to get one. I am not into babying any plants. The shrubs once planted and watered their first year are on their own.

I am concerned about shrubs this winter, however. Our area is really dry as well as having unusually low temperatures. I am wondering if we're going to loose some shrubs and perennials.

Someone sent it to me and I just planted it in the first vacancy I had - beginner's luck. I'm thankful the deer don't seem interested in it.

Pirl, you're so modest.

It's the truth. I almost wish I could say I had to struggle, or baby it, to get it to grow but it must have liked the spot right from the start.

Yes, just an extra green thumb! :)

Wee sorry about your casualties from this raging winter, have yet to see what survived in my yard. Zone pushing does have the possibility of bringing great reward but the equally great disappointment is not for the faint of heart. I'm actually trying to do some this year to see if I can survive...lol.

If only I had an extra green thumb...

The overlooked thing in this whole thread is that Daphne's are really a low maintenance shrub. They're extremely susceptible to some disease or ailment of another, it's just that no one seems to know what it is. ;) All I know is they seem to do perfectly well in warm, dry soil. That'll do just fine, thank you.

OK, this is a really interesting and timely conversation for me, since I am about to choose my "Connoisseur" Plants for the year (I get six) and one of them is the aforementioned (by Wee, amongst others): ta da!

Daphne odora 'Zuiko Nishiki' (Thymelaeaceae)
winter daphne
We've heard that plantsman extrordinaire, John Elsley says this is the BEST Daphne odora. Glossy evergreen foliage in a low mound is covered in late winter by masses of slightly pink tinged, white flowers. This is by far the heaviest flowering daphne we've ever seen and we've seen a bunch. The fragrance is as lemony sweet as other daphne but the extra flowers provide even more punch to this intensely fragrant shrub. Daphne odora is best in a very well-drained soil and once established will grow under large shade trees with no problem. We've offered this before but it is back by very popular demand. (3.5" pot)

They have a BUNCH of pictures of it:

http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/photography/photograph_collection/photograph_collection_results.php?image=&date=&photographer=&personinshotnames=&country=&usstate=&city=&location=&garden=&building=&event=&keywords=&othernotes=&lecturetext=&allplantnames=&allcommonnames=&allfamily=&allplantnameserialnumbers=101685&Submit=Submit

I assumed my garage would be too cold for it. My advantage is that I do not have to pay more for it. And yes, I would put it in a pot. I'm actually overwintering some pretty amazingly tender plants in my south facing living room. It is warm but gets light, so I water them sparingly. I have an abuliton that is quite happy. And a musa. And a slew of different pelargoniums. I just water them all on a reduced basis. Things like roses and lilies go into the garage.

What think you? Should I ask for it? Or shpuld I let someone from a warmer climate claim it?

Ask for it Donna. Is your garage attached or unattached?

Donna, I don't think it will survive your winters outside. Mine lasted a few years, but they were pretty mild. This winter, reality returned and Zuiko Nishiki promptly turned up his toes. If you're keeping them in pots overwintering inside, I prefer the variegated ones. Just personal preference. (D. odora aureomarginata (subtle marginal leaf variegation) or D. odora Mae-Jima (whose variegation is more pronounced).

My garage is unattached. I had an attached garage years ago and used it to overwinter roses. I would put the next to the wall connected to the house and bundle them with quilts from a thrift store. My new garage is huge - 2 and a half cars. I successfully overwinter rose and lilies in pots last year. I find that the critical period is late winter/early spring when you get warm days that force roses out of dormancy. If they break dormancy and start to grow and it freezes again, you can kiss them goodbye. The same with hydrangea serrata. I grew a GORGEOUS one for several years this way, shuttling it into and out of the garage, but it broke dormancy and then froze again. It never occurred to me to put it in my south facing sunroom (duh!) where I had a variety of warm weather plants. If I had taken plants that had broken dormancy into a cool area of the house, they would have survived. Live and learn.

What I would do is grow it in a pot, put it outdoors during warmer seasons, and then probably put it in my indoors south spot and water sparingly. It has worked beautifully with a number of zone 8 plants that I have. The only caveat is that the plant cannot be too big. Honestly, it is really pleasant to gaze upon greenery and even a bit of flowering when it is -20 outside.

The Zuiko would be a gift. It's one of my choices. I'm not actually getting to choose between several plants. I just get a kick out of accepting plants I normally would not grow, if I can keep them healthy and strong.

It sounds like you've got it all figured out Donna. Now we're learning from your living...thanks!

Yes, big plants are a pain to shuttle. I'm gonna be feeling that pain as I'm growing some tropicals from seed this year (Hibiscus). Nevertheless, enjoy your gift.

Lucky you with a 2.5 car garage. I'd prefer to have less house and more garage myself. Attached garages are warmer, mine is consistently 10 degrees warmer when the temps dip.

I love passing on what I've learned, especially the mistakes. It helps to enlarge the community of my fellow gardeners if I contribute something that helps avoid costly ones. Those make people give up on gardening, which I think is a shame, because it lifts your spirits and, well, enlarges your soul (mine anyway).

Mine too :)