Daphne cneorum

• BOTANICAL NAME: Daphne cneorum
• PRONUNCIATION: DAFF-ne suh-NOR-um
• COMMON NAME: Rose Daphne
• FAMILY: Thymelaeaceae
• NATIVITY: Spain to southwest Russia
• GROWTH HABIT: Low spreading shrub/groundcover.
• SIZE: 6 - 12" high by 2' in spread
• HARDINESS: Zone 5 - 8
• CULTURE: Sun to light shade with adequate soil moisture. Light shade in the winter is beneficial. (The north side of a building works well.) Soils should be loose, moist, well drained and near neutral pH. Supposedly Daphne like soils high in calcium. Plants do not transplant well. Probably best treated as a short-lived plant.
• LANDSCAPE USE: Low specimen plant, rockeries.
• FOLIAGE: Alternate, oblanceolate, entire, green above and glaucous beneath, 3/4 - 1" long, about 1/8" wide.
• BUDS: Sessile, ovoid, 4 - 6 exposed scales.
• FLOWERS: Clustered on the ends of the branches, rose-pink, 3/8" long. Plants are covered with extremely fragrant flowers in April - May and often again in late summer.
• FRUIT: Drupe, yellow-brown.
• PROPAGATION: Cuttings, seed.
• PESTS:  Leaf spots, crown rot, twig blight, cankers, aphids, mealybugs, scales, and viruses.
• CULTIVARS:
  • `Alba' - white flowers.
  • `Eximia' - larger leaves and flowers, buds crimson.
  • `Pygmaea' - prostrate grower.
  • `Ruby Glow' - dark pink flowers.