Daphne Shrubs

Plant taxonomy classifies the daphne plants with which I deal in this article as Daphne x burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie'. The genus name thus doubles as the common name. 'Carol Mackie' is the cultivar. Burkwood daphne shrubs are the result of a cross between Daphne cneorum (indigenous to Europe) and Daphne caucasica, a Caucasus native.

These plants are deciduous or semi-evergreen (depending on climate) broad-leaf flowering shrubs.

'Carol Mackie' plants are rounded shrubs that mature to 2'-3' tall, with a slightly greater spread. They bear fragrant, white to light pink tubular flowers in clusters; blooming time is generally in May. The flowers are succeeded by small red berries (drupes). Perhaps the outstanding feature of 'Carol Mackie' plants is their variegated foliage. Despite being classified as "deciduous," I can understand why some refer to 'Carol Mackie' as "semi-evergreen": the daphne shrubs in my zone 5 garden kept their leaves throughout the winter last year; the leaves didn't become unattractive until late winter.

Daphne shrubs can be grown in planting zones 4-8.

Grow 'Carol Mackie' in a well-drained soil with plenty of humus and a neutral pH. Partial sun to partial shade is usually the recommended growing location for these plants. At the partial-sun end of this spectrum, you may experience superior blooming. But many people seeking shrubs for shade will gladly sacrifice some flowers in order to enjoy the bi-colored leaves of this bush.

Daphne shrubs prefer moist soil. To keep the soil around them moist in summer (and to keep the roots cool), apply mulch. Darrell Trout says that "perhaps as much as one-fourth of the old growth should be removed every year, after the plant has matured, treating them as you would Forsythias."

With their variegated foliage, they are attractive enough to stand alone as specimens. But they can also be grouped together in foundation plantings or hedges. Their need for excellent drainage makes them good candidates for rock gardens.

These are poisonous plants. Both the berries and leaves are listed as toxic in a number of sources. Moreover, daphnes are not the easiest of shrubs to grow. They don't transplant well, and the grower is required to maintain a delicate balance between keeping the soil moist and keeping it well-drained.

In Greek mythology the nymph, Daphne, fleeing Apollo, was transformed not into a daphne shrub, but into a bay laurel tree (genus name, Laurus, from the Latin). Bay laurel was, however, referred to in ancient Greek by the name, daphne. But, as noted in the Spice Pages, "In modern botanical terminology, Daphne denotes the genus of the toxic plant spurge laurel (Daphne mezereum)...."

Are you confused yet? Well, it gets even more confusing when you consider that mountain laurel is of a genus (Kalmia) distinct from either the true laurels or the true daphnes. Let me try to clear up the confusion somewhat:

We're dealing here with three distinct groups of plants:

1. Daphne is the genus of the daphne shrubs discussed in this article and has its roots in Europe and Asia; the name is of Greek origin
2. Laurus (which is Latin) is the genus name of the true laurels, also Old World natives;
3. Kalmia is a New World plant, commonly referred to as "mountain laurel."

But if the "daphne" shrub isn't the plant in the Apollo-Daphne myth, what, then, is the origin of the plant's name? Folkard (Plant Lore, Legends and Lyrics, p. 310) suggests that, because many daphne shrubs "have Laurel-like leaves," modern botanists must have been comfortable with this transference between the laurels and daphnes. To put it another way, similarities in appearance made the two plants candidates for the same names available in the Greek and Latin name pool. Presumably, since the Greek genus name, Daphne hadn't been used to classify the laurels (the Latin, Laurus having been preferred) and was, therefore, still available, it was put to use when it came time to name the plants that we have come to know as "daphnes."