Description
Christmas Box 30-45cm
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. .
