What's Hot Now: Sweet Box

How could anyone resist a plant commonly called Sweet Box?  And now through early spring, Sarcococca will be the sweetest smell of all in the garden.  These evergreen shrubs with shiny green leaves aren’t large plants, but they carry a robust scent that pushes the clouds away.  And the tiny white flowers are so inconspicuous, many people wouldn’t even notice them, were it not for the smell.  Sarcococca thrives in part to full shade and come in three main species.  The species difference comes from the size and shape of the plants and the fruit color.  The species that I find most useful is Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis, commonly referred to as Himalayan Sweet Box, which only grows 1 ½-2’ tall, but can spread up to 8’.  It can function as a great ground cover in a bed and does a great job in weed suppression.  Sarcococca confusa and Sarcococca ruscifolia are more shrub-like and grow to be about 3-5’ tall and wide, though confusa has black fruit and ruscifolia and red.

My hookeriana is located in one of our “sunny” spots, which means that it gets about four hours of sunshine during the longest day of the year, and yet it thrives.  You’ll sometimes find sweet box in commercial spaces because it is rather tolerant of urban conditions, eg dry shade, pollution, uneven irrigation, abuse, etc.  A superhero of the winter garden, for certain.