Daphne

How to grow daphne in your garden

1. Choose a sunny spot in the garden that receives afternoon shade and prepare the planting area well by digging in Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser.
2. Dig a hole, place the plant in the bottom of the hole, gently backfill with soil and water in well. 
3. Mulch with an organic mulch, such as bark chips, sugar cane or pea straw and water in well.
4. Feed weekly with Yates Thrive Roses & Flowers Liquid Plant Food to encourage strong root development, healthy green leaves and lots of heavenly flowers.
   
    

How to grow daphne in a pot

1. Choose a pot at least 300mm wide and deep with good drainage holes. Position in full sun that receives shade in the afternoon.  
2. Fill chosen pots with quality potting mix, such as Yates Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter. Plant, backfill gently with potting mix & water in well. 
3. Feed weekly with Yates Thrive Roses & Flowers Liquid Plant Food to ensure strong root development, healthy green leaves and lots of heavenly flowers.

Growing tips

• Regularly remove spent leaves and flowers. Plants that grow too tall can have their trunks pruned. This will stimulate new branches to form
• Plants grown indoors will need periods outside to stay healthy, for example 6 months inside then 3 months outside. 
• Can be propagated. Take stem cuttings, with leaves removed from the lower 300mm and allow to dry out (in a cool place out of direct sunlight) before planting. They will take up to 6 months to establish. Strike cuttings in Spring to Summer. Plants can also be grown from suckers or from seed.
• The sap of some species can cause skin irritation.
• Some varieties include:
  • The spineless Y. elephantipes - in both its plain and variegated forms, has become popular for its architectural shape and its versatility – it can be used both indoors and out, grows to 8m tall in its natural habitat but in home gardens closer to 1.5 - 3m high.
  • Y. whipplei – known as ‘Our Lord’s Candle’ grows into a large rosette of very stiff blue-green leaves that after many years bears white flowers.
  • Y. filamentosa – known as ‘Adam’s Needle’ is widely grown, especially its yellow or white-margined varieties.  It rarely grows more than 1m high.
  • Y. aloifolia – known as the ‘Spanish Bayonet’, which reaches 8m high.
  • Y. brevifolia – known as the ‘Joshua Tree’ from the southwestern United States, can grow to 12m tall.
• This information is from the Yates Garden Guide: fully revised & updated 44th edition, HarperCollins, $39.99. You can have this information and so much more at your fingertips by purchasing the Yates Garden Guide, available at all leading bookstores and Bunnings stores.