Most fragrant SARCOCOCCA (sweetbox/Christmas Box)

I will be planting a Sarococca .... there are loads of varities .... does anyone know which is the most fragrant?

 

thanks ... had a read on the internet and found a link that said the orientalis is the most fragrant one

on Bob Brown's site, he scores the confusa a 9.5 out of 10 score .... so I may go with that one

 

You beat me to it Dim.....i've been after these and decided on Confusa

 

Dunno what variety I have, but I bought mine at Shiney's annual charity garden open day ... so the money went to charity.

Bit far for you, but maybe Shiney is expanding to Mail Order Charity Plant Sales? :D

 

Mea cupla ... I was looking at Lolimac's mini-profile for "East Yorkshire" and thinking that was where Dim lived.

Cambridge eh Dim? No excuse not to trog to Shiney's, meet the crowd, and get wallet out - not to mention raising the odd couple of thousand plants for Shiney to sell on the Open Day, eh?

I took hundred and hundreds last year (in the shape of the remaining half of 3 x 1/4 sized seed trays stuffed with very overgrown Lobellia seedlings) ... Mrs Shiney managed to sell them at a good price though

 

will definately have a look at Shiney's plants, however, this time round, most of the plants I require for the job are exotic/tropical plants .... (palms/tree ferns, ferns, musa basjoo, musa sikimensis, canna ... some huechera and some hakonchloa macra grass)

I have included the sweetbox for this job which was not part of my original quote, as I have planted loads of other fragrant shrubs/plants last year, (star jasmine, normal jasmine, mock orange, ebbingei) ... this is a new garden in a new build area

one section I will be completing in the next few weeks is a narrow bed next to a path by the back door (so there is a small space where this will do well, as it's semi-shade)

I have already ordered 2 Chamaerops Wagenarius palms plus a T-rex from 'The Palm House' this morning ....(very good deals there and many say their palms are very healthy)

I am in the process of ordering some ferns etc from another site ... the sweetbox will be bought from my local garden centre when I buy the compost/manure etc as I need to get these pretty quick while prices are still cheap

in a couple of weeks, plant prices will rocket as spring will be here .... I will keep the plants in a greenhouse for a few weeks until it gets warmer before planting out

I have a huge job coming up in mid spring (5 acre property with a total garden revamp) .... theme will be cottage style/english garden and I will defenately be in touch with Shiney!

 

Dim, I see you used Mock Orange ( Philadelphus ) in a tropical setting. You would be better off using Mexican Orange Blossom ( Choisya ternata ) as, not only is it evergreen it is also much better scented than Philadelphus.

 

What a fun project. I hear good things about 'The Palm House' (is that George? or have I mis-remembered ...)

Both Amulree and Urban Jungle have sales on this time of year, and they are in Norwich, so not too far from you - carriage cost is so exorbitant its worth driving if you can fill-the-vehicle. I got a decent sized Waggie from Urban Jungle as they were having a 50%-off sale last Weekend

"in a couple of weeks, plant prices will rocket"

Indeed they will ...

"I have a huge job coming up in mid spring (5 acre property with a total garden revamp) .... theme will be cottage style/english garden"

That sounds so conventional, and drab, compared to the Exotic garden!

 

thanks Dai ... I have planted loads of the yellow Choisya as I like the colour .... I can be honest, and say that i don't get much fragrance from those (but saying that, my nose is old) ... I have never planted the ternata yet, but will have a very close look at these, and have bookmarked it on my list of favourites

whereas, a decent sized mock orange has a very strong sweet smell that can be smelled from far away (the closest that I have found to a mock orange is an established ebbingei ... we have a large one along the path at our local tesco .... when it blooms in late summer, you can smell it from very far, in the early evenings)

in south africa, we have gardenia ... very strong sweet smell ... I see there is a hardy one now available in the UK (gardenia Kleim's hardy) .... will have a close look at these aswell

Gardenia jasminoides 'Kleim's Hardy' - Shrubs & Roses - Thompson & Morgan

 

yes, ordered from George ... his waggies have been highly recommended on hardy tropicals .... some real bargains on ebay germany, but ordered from george

the large garden in cottage style will be by biggest job so far .... the house is currently undergoing a total revamp (grade A listed) ...and the owners are living in one of their other houses nearby ... a tropical style garden will look odd with that house

 

You lot mentioning Choisya ternata reminded me (apart from the lack of scent ...) that Fatsia is a good plant for Exotic. Perhaps close-planting, so they intermingle, a bog-standard green one with a Spiders Web?

And, in case it provides any inspiration, I was really taken (at a visit to Will Giles garden, in Norwich, last Autumn) with a focal-point planting combination or Arundo dorax with the variegated form in front. I don't really have a picture that captures it, so this is the best I can do. (The variegated one is off-to-the-left in the second picture)

 

Hmmm ... I LIKE that hakonechloa macra grass, which I have just Googled ... not come across that before.

 

And talking about Fatsia, what about the Fatsia/Hedera helix cross, Fatshedera?