Japanese Skimmia

Skimmia japonica is a fantastically beautiful evergreen plant and I absolutely love it. It does excellent here in Salt Lake City, Utah (z...Read Moreone 7b) as long as it’s in basically full shade. Ive bought all of mine from a local nursery here in Salt Lake, and they always have them in stock. They seem to thrive with all the heat here and grow at a decent rate. They really appreciate ample water when temps get over 100 F though. The berries and the flower buds are so beautiful and prolific. They add so much color and texture to evergreen shade gardens. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how good they do here in the desert Southwest.

A handsome evergreen that has prospered in a sheltered, shady spot in my Zone 6 garden bed for 8 years. Now, in March of 2016, after a m...Read Moreild winter, both the males and females are covered with buds. They're opening at the same time; in previous years the males bloomed quite a bit before the females. This year's crop of red berries should be abundant. One mild dissatisfaction: a couple of them sprawl, leaving a kind of bald spot in the center. So I surround them with low, folding wire fending under the bottom branches to lift them off the ground. That mostly closes the middle bald spot.

I found two of these on a sale table at Lowe's. They can't take the heat of a western exposure in Zone 7. The leaves get sunburned brown....Read More Will move them to the shade and try that. They weren't labeled male or female. Nice green color otherwise.

I have two of these in a garden where deer come often. They have eaten hostas and young azaleas growing next to the skimmias but have no...Read Moret touched the skimmias.

The glossy dark green leaves are beautiful and they grow fairly quickly. The only problem is that they're a little hard to find in nurseries. Azaleas are way more popular here, which is a shame for skimmia fans.