Mockorange: Fragrant and Out of Fashion

By Matt Stevens, County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent, Pitt County

In some ways, the plant world is no different from the worlds of music, fashion, and art. Things go in and out of style.  Many plants that are common now weren’t often used in landscapes twenty or thirty years ago, while many that were more en vogue back then are rarely seen now. One such relic of landscapes past is the Mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius). In fact, it was already a bit of a relic 30 years ago when I started paying attention to plants.

Arching blooms of the mockorange shrub (Philadelphus coronarius)

Mockorange is a medium to large sized shrub prized for its fragrant white blooms in late spring and early summer. The flowers look similar to orange blossoms, and give off a strong citrusy smell, which explains the origin of its name. When in full bloom the scent is strong, and unlike many fragrant bloomers, it doesn’t seem to fade during the latter half of its bloom period.

Despite its attractive flowers and beloved fragrance, Mockorange has fallen out of favor to some extent because it offers little else of ornamental value to gardens. Once the flowers have gone, all that’s left is green foliage, making it no different from any number of other mid-size shrubs in summer and fall. It’s not unattractive once the foliage is gone, just bland. That said, there’s still a place for plants like that in landscapes. We still use forsythia, after all.  Mockorange just may not be a fit in every garden.

The trick to incorporating Mockorange in your landscape is threefold. First, you’ll need a spot where it has enough room to grow to its full size of 6-10 feet high and wide. Next, you’ll want that spot to be somewhere that you’ll pass by when the plant is in bloom so that

Four petaled white flowers appear in small clusteres

Mockorange foliage

you can enjoy its fragrance. Lastly, you’ll want that spot to also be somewhere that the Mockorange can hide amongst other plants after it has finished blooming and become less interesting. Mixed borders, where there are several different types of shrubs planted together, are good places to locate Mockorange. If placed on the back edge of such a border, you can walk along the back edge to enjoy the fragrance but view the border from the front during the remainder of the year.

Philadelphus 'Snow White Fantasy'

Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus'

Though Mockorange is a bit of an old-time plant, a few newer hybrid cultivars have been introduced to the nursery trade. ‘Snow White Fantasy’ is a 5 foot-tall cultivar with double flowers.  While double flowers are often less fragrant than single ones, ‘Snow White Fantasy’ has excellent fragrance.  ‘Snowbelle’ is another double flowering variety with good fragrance that grows only to 3-4 feet tall. With their smaller size, either of these cultivars is a little easier to incorporate into the average landscape than is the standard mockorange. Additionally, ‘Icezam’ is a cultivar with white and green leaf variegation, and ‘Aureus’ has chartreuse-colored leaves.  Their additional aesthetic characteristics and multi-season interest make ‘Icezam’ and ‘Aureus’ more appealing in modern landscapes than the standard Mockorange.

Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center.  If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardener Infoline at 252-902-1705.