Sarcococca ruscifolia or, to give it its common name, Christmas Box (it is a member of the Box family), is a thick bushy shrub with attractive, glossy, dark-green foliage – the leaves grow to 6cm long. Its pure creamy white flowers appear in winter and have a subtle fragrance you may find reminiscent of vanilla. The highly decorative berries ripen from crimson to a rich dark red.
Our recommendation is to space each plant 25 centimetres apart.
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Sarcococca ruscifolia
A thick, bushy shrub with attractive, glossy, dark-green foliage and pure creamy white winter flowers. Useful in part shade as well as full sun.
This hedging plant is also hardy and highly resistant to pests and diseases.
Foliage Type: Evergreen Flowers: Small, sweet scented creamy-white flowers in late winter and early spring followed by red berries in summer. Hardiness: ✯✯✯✯✯ Ease of maintenance: ✯✯✯✯✯ Versatility: ✯✯✯✯✯ Drought Resistance: ✯✯✯✯ Soil type: Chalk, Clay, Sand or Loam Wet/Dry: Prefers damp but well-draining soil Preferred situation: Sun or Partial Shade Height: 2.0m Spread: 2.0m Growth Rate: Medium
Soil and Situation: Moderately fertile, humus-rich soil is preferred – mulch is more important . than fertilizer. Although a shade loving plant, keep its roots moist (but well-drained) and it will happily cope with full sun. Plant facing any aspect that offers protection from cold winds.
Maintenance: Trim annually in early autumn and mulch in spring. Once established, Sarcococca ruscifolia is hardy, extremely pest and disease resistant and tolerant of most conditions.
Versatility: A proven specimen and ground cover plant, Sarcococca ruscifolia can be trained against a wall as an espalier without any risk to your masonry. It also makes an excellent edging plant for pathways – take a winter stroll down the garden and enjoy the fragrance as you go. For flower arrangers, the foliage is a year-round joy and, when In bloom, it treat it as a cut flower.
And finally: Sarcococca ruscifolia has had to wait some time to achieve its deserved popularity. First collected during an expedition to Central China in 1887 by Augustine Henry, the Scot physician and amateur botanist, it safely made the journey back but wasn’t introduced to the market. Botanist Ernest H. ‘Chinese’ Wilson collected in again in 1901 but, again, it remained known only to interested specialists. Only in the mid-1990s was it third time lucky when RBS Kew funded further plant-hunting expeditions to China (primarily looking for cold-hardy specimens) and Sarcococca ruscifolia was finally made available to gardeners. .
Every plant we sell is backed by four decades of growing. Tell us about your garden and we’ll tell you honestly whether this is the right plant for it.
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