Skimmia japonica (common names: Skimmia)

Great Pic:)

Very good. This plant does not seem to do well here. I've got one in a pot and it's alive but not doing much. The one I planted in the garden died last year.

looks very healthy, heard they were hard to grow, but seem to have it in the right spot..! It's lovely, I'll bet it smells fantastic.

as far as i know easy to grow, but then i think my soil must be a bit on the acidic side, i have never done a test but i have no problem growing other acidic lovers. so maybe that is why you have struggled before.

hi Chris, its a bit like a Rhododendron - acidic and likes dappled shade - and no pruning! so if you have it in multi-purpose compost or full sun this could well be why. try giving it a dose of Rhododendon and Camellia feed - its the right time of year for it and hopefully will do the trick!

Thanks Angie. I'll see if they sell it here.

Zone 7-9. Darn, I can't grow this one, but I sure would like to.

Is this just one shrub ? I'm not used to seeing shrubs with both blooms and berries on them at the same time. That's cool. It looks like it would be fragrant too. It reminds me of daphne.

As you know, I have now got two of these (not the same species, though) - I really hope that they thrive in my neutral soil! You MUST have acid soil, Angie, as you have thriving Pieris and Rhododendrons. A soil tester only costs about a pound from B&Q, why not find out how acid it is?

Lovely! Like it!

Fantastic Pic Ang,How big do Skimmia`s grow?

not too big i think and they are very slow growing, they don't like pruning, but usually make a nice rounded shape anyway so don't really need it, the biggest one i have ever seen was about 4ft x 4ft and i think it was quite old!

That is just beautiful~

Please dont remove bloom heads as this is where new leaf and next years flowers will come from.Skimmia not like hydrangea that retains old blooms and produces new blooms elsewhere on plant.
This explains why Skimmia always keep blooms to outer edge of plant.How do you know it is spent ? Its an evergreen that will last many years not sure what you mean by spent.

thank you for your answer. by "spent" i meant how would i know when the flower has died. sorry. it was poorly worded.

i'll leave the blooms on and watch with anticipation to see what happens next.
thanks.

Really a great plant that doesnt require much attention.The flowers will drop off leaving stalks these will grow on next year . They can be hungry plants and occassionally leaves yellow as nutrients in soil diminish a feed with liquid tomato feed restores them.

Useful advice Bonkers, thanks from me for that.

Lovely bush, pretty buds that pink.

I like that shrub. Nice healthy looking leaves too. Do you have a photo with the buds opened?

Ahh, there the buds are opening. Sweet little flowers.

Great photo. You could turn that into wrapping paper. Sweet flowers.

They like acid soil so a feed with food for acid lovers might help. I've got a hot dry sandy garden and I lost two Japonica Skimmias. They just didn't like it. Hope yours does better.

Chris is right acid soil is needed or acid feed. also they are not fond of full sun, if they are in a very sunny spot you could also try moving them into semi shade instead.