White-Berried Skimmia Temptation

A compact, distinctive evergreen shrub admired for its neat habit and unusual fruit colouring, Skimmia japonica Temptation Alba provides reliable multi-season structure to shaded plantings. Densely clad in glossy, aromatic, dark green elliptic foliage, the plant forms tight clusters of pale green flower buds through late Autumn and Winter. Come Spring, these open into sweetly fragrant, star-shaped creamy-white blooms that draw early bees and pollinators. A self-fertile selection, it does not require a companion pollinator to produce abundant, persistent crops of gleaming porcelain-white berries that ripen in early Autumn and remain on the branches throughout Winter. Naturally rounded and slow-growing, it brings luminosity to shaded garden corners and decorative containers.

Site: Tolerates moderate exposure
Soil: Moist, fertile, well-drained acidic to neutral soil; dislikes chalk and heavy, waterlogged ground
Position: Partial shade or deep shade
Season of interest: Fragrant white flowers in Spring, glossy green foliage year-round, and decorative white berries in Autumn and Winter
Hardiness: Fully hardy
Height: 3-4ft (0.9-1.2m) Spread: 3-4ft (0.9-1.2m)