Another Winter Bloomer

As a plant geek, I love finding plants that fit into certain obscure categories and incorporating them in my landscape. Plants that bloom in winter, for instance, or plants with flowers that you can smell before you can see, or plants that have a unique backstory are just a few classifications that come to mind.  At least one plant fits into all three of those categories - Edgeworthia chrysantha.

Edgeworthia chrysanthan blooms in the winter, starting with white buds.

Edgeworthia is a medium-sized deciduous shrub with several wonderful attributes. Let’s start with the flowers. Bloom begins as early as December, with swollen white buds along otherwise bare branches. As the buds open, clusters of tiny white tubular florets with golden-yellow centers are revealed.

The flower clusters hang downwards and look a bit like small white bells. The flowers are attractive, and especially welcome at a time of year when blossoms are hard to come by, but will not stop you in your tracks by appearance alone. However, the scent of the blooms is much more powerful than their size would let on, and you

Edgeworthia chrysanthan blooms  are fragrant creamy yellow-white florets in globular clusters.

won’t have to lean in close to notice. The scent is very pleasant and similar to that of gardenia. Flowers last quite a while, perhaps into early April, depending on the weather.

Edgeworthia chrysanthan leaves  are long and brilliant green, making an attractive landscaping plant.

As the flowers begin to fade in the warmth of spring, leaves appear. Edgeworthia’s leaves are long and slender, almost tropical-looking, creating an interesting look even when not in bloom. This plant grows best in partial shade with moist soil. In this environment, the leaves will be a lush green color with just a hint of silver pubescence, or fuzz, on the upper surface. Though it can grow in full sun, the leaf color will be duller and not stand out nearly as much. In the fall, the leaves turn a nice shade of yellow, which won’t be as spectacular as several other trees and shrubs during autumn, but is nonetheless a welcome flash of color.

Ever wonder how plants are named? In the case of Edgeworthia, it was named by an Irish botanist, Michael Edgeworth, and his half-sister, Maria. The species chrysantha refers to the golden yellow flowers typically associated with the plant. As with many plants, there are also multiple common names floating around, including paperbush, paper plant, rice paper plant, and oriental paper bush. Many of the common names are derived from the fact that some Asian cultures peel Edgeworthia’s bark to use as paper. There aren’t many cultivars on the market, though ‘Snow Cream’ is reported to have larger flowers and leaves than the species, and ‘Red Dragon’ has orange-red blooms that unfortunately are not fragrant.

Photos and information found at NC extension Gardener Plant Toolbox:
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/edgeworthia-chrysantha/

Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and horticulture agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have any questions about this article or other aspects of your home gardening, please contact the Pitt County Master Gardener Infoline at 252-902-1705.