Featured Plant

In September and October the perfume of the shrub, Luculia, drifts through the garden with a delicate scent reminiscent of gardenias, both of which belong to the same family of plants. Panicles of fragrant pale pink or white, tubular flowers cover the plants in autumn when blooming shrubs are few. The leaves are long, glossy, serrated, and end in a graceful drip tip, a modification which allows water to flow quickly off of the leaf surface.

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An evergreen native of the Himalayas, Luculia grows at altitudes of 5000 feet in the companionship of rhododendrons and camellias. There are only 5 known species of Luculia which can be found native in China, Nepal, Vietnam, India, and Bhutan. They grow splendidly here with our mild climate and in lightly acidic well-drained soil. They can reach a height of 20 feet if grown in the shade of high trees and given summer watering. Blooms appear only on new wood; severe pruning of the old shoots after blooming is necessary.