Hi

I bought this shrub at a church fete and am struggling to identify it.

http://i3.tinypic.com/xg0f37.jpg

Can anyone help? Also, how will it grow, tall or bushy? Is it a good idea to
plant it or will it take over my garden?!

thanks in advance for any help!

xiv

Mexican Orange Blossom?

Grannie Annie
"louisxiv" wrote in message
...
Hi

I bought this shrub at a church fete and am struggling to identify it.

http://i3.tinypic.com/xg0f37.jpg

Can anyone help? Also, how will it grow, tall or bushy? Is it a good idea
to
plant it or will it take over my garden?!

thanks in advance for any help!

xiv

"Ann Heanes" wrote in message
...
Mexican Orange Blossom?

Hmm. Don't think so. The leaves are variegated and seem smaller. Thanks for
trying tho! :-)

louisxiv wrote:
Hi

I bought this shrub at a church fete and am struggling to identify it.

http://i3.tinypic.com/xg0f37.jpg

Can anyone help? Also, how will it grow, tall or bushy? Is it a good idea to
plant it or will it take over my garden?!

thanks in advance for any help!

I think it's a Daphne. If it's Daphne odora aureomarginata it will
grow to about 4' or so and smell absolutely wonderful in winter.

http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=...=Search+Images

If it's Daphne bholua - well, ours is about 15', I should guess and
again, the scent is outstanding. But at a guess, it's the former.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon

"Sacha" wrote in message
oups.com...

louisxiv wrote:
Hi

I bought this shrub at a church fete and am struggling to identify it.

http://i3.tinypic.com/xg0f37.jpg

Can anyone help? Also, how will it grow, tall or bushy? Is it a good idea
to
plant it or will it take over my garden?!

thanks in advance for any help!

I think it's a Daphne. If it's Daphne odora aureomarginata it will
grow to about 4' or so and smell absolutely wonderful in winter.

http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=...=Search+Images

If it's Daphne bholua - well, ours is about 15', I should guess and
again, the scent is outstanding. But at a guess, it's the former.
--

Hmm. maybe. Still doesn't seem right! Sorry to be an awkward 'customer'!

louisxiv wrote:
"Sacha" wrote in message
oups.com...

louisxiv wrote:
Hi

I bought this shrub at a church fete and am struggling to identify it.

http://i3.tinypic.com/xg0f37.jpg

Can anyone help? Also, how will it grow, tall or bushy? Is it a good idea
to
plant it or will it take over my garden?!

thanks in advance for any help!

I think it's a Daphne. If it's Daphne odora aureomarginata it will
grow to about 4' or so and smell absolutely wonderful in winter.

http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=...=Search+Images

If it's Daphne bholua - well, ours is about 15', I should guess and
again, the scent is outstanding. But at a guess, it's the former.
--

Hmm. maybe. Still doesn't seem right! Sorry to be an awkward 'customer'!


Hungarian fish maple.
It flowers in July and produces masses of small flowers that smell of
squid and attracts thousands of blue bottles. The sap is said to be an
irritant but probably not as much as the flies.

louisxiv wrote:
Hi

I bought this shrub at a church fete and am struggling to identify it.


could it be am Elaeagnus ?

louisxiv writes
Hi

I bought this shrub at a church fete and am struggling to identify it.

http://i3.tinypic.com/xg0f37.jpg

Can anyone help? Also, how will it grow, tall or bushy? Is it a good idea to
plant it or will it take over my garden?!

thanks in advance for any help!

I would have said almost certainly Skimmia. Leaves in bunches on the
ends of bare stems are characteristic. Leaves are about 1.5 - 2 inches
long.

http://www.tuinkrant.com/plantengids/macro1/12004.jpe

It has a tendency to look slightly sickly. I think it prefers a
non-alkaline soil. It doesn't grow very fast, but will eventually turn
into a shrub about 4ft across and 30 inches high. It has sweet smelling
white flowers in spring. If you have a female plant and a male plant
nearby, or if you have one of the varieties which have male/female
flowers, you also get large red berries in the autumn, which are not
liked by birds and which stay around well into the following year.


Definitely not Mexican Orange Blossom - leaves of that are in 3s.
--
Kay

"louisxiv" wrote in message
...
Hi

I bought this shrub at a church fete and am struggling to identify it.

http://i3.tinypic.com/xg0f37.jpg

Can anyone help? Also, how will it grow, tall or bushy? Is it a good idea
to
plant it or will it take over my garden?!

thanks in advance for any help!

xiv



Looks like Skimmia to me.

"K" wrote in message
...
louisxiv writes
Hi

I bought this shrub at a church fete and am struggling to identify it.

http://i3.tinypic.com/xg0f37.jpg

Can anyone help? Also, how will it grow, tall or bushy? Is it a good idea
to
plant it or will it take over my garden?!

thanks in advance for any help!

I would have said almost certainly Skimmia. Leaves in bunches on the ends
of bare stems are characteristic. Leaves are about 1.5 - 2 inches long.

http://www.tuinkrant.com/plantengids/macro1/12004.jpe

It has a tendency to look slightly sickly. I think it prefers a
non-alkaline soil. It doesn't grow very fast, but will eventually turn
into a shrub about 4ft across and 30 inches high. It has sweet smelling
white flowers in spring. If you have a female plant and a male plant
nearby, or if you have one of the varieties which have male/female
flowers, you also get large red berries in the autumn, which are not liked
by birds and which stay around well into the following year.


Definitely not Mexican Orange Blossom - leaves of that are in 3s.
--
Kay

I think that's it!

It's a very scrawny, narrow-leaved form of Skimmia japonica, probably
'Reevesiana' that has spent years in very heavy shade - hence the drawn
out stems and unripe berries. The pale leaf margins are not true
'variegation', but a result of the plant being deficient in magnesium
and it's a fair bet that the soil was also too alkaline.

Given good, humus-rich soil and a decent amount of light, it should
revert to being a dense, low growing, domed shrub producing terminal
clusters of white flowers in spring that yield red berries lasting well
into winter.

By all means plant it out and drench the roots with a solution of 4
heaped tablespoons of Epsom salts (otherwise known as Magnesium
sulphate) mixed in 2 gallons of water. If your garden soil tends to be
alkaline or neutral-alkaline, you may need to apply Sequestrene every
spring to prevent further chlorosis.