Spring flowering shrubs

Choisya Spring Bloom

Choisya ternata, an evergreen shrub with fragrant spring flowers, what’s not to like? Actually, the foliage has a pungent odor, which I find invigorating, but others are turned off by it. I knew someone who decided to buy this plant, but after purchasing it and putting it in their car, the scent was so unappealing to them in the enclosed space that they promptly returned their Choisya! I was shocked, but to each their own. What first attracted me to this plant however wasn’t the scent. It wasn’t the flower. It wasn’t the evergreen part. Not the size, or the shape, or the name. I love the color. It’s green! But it’s greener than green. Glowing green, deep green, bright green, living green. It’s hard to see in the photos here, you have to get out and stare intently at Choisya in the ‘wild’. A green to celebrate. Lustrous. Not faded or hairy, but with a bit of a gloss. Leaf gloss. Orange scented.

The name is interesting too. Choisya is named after Jacques Denis Choisy (1799-1859) a Swiss botanist. Ternata refers to the three leaflets and this plant is native to Mexico. ‘Sundance’ is a variety with bright yellow new growth, slowly fading to green. ‘Aztec Pearl’ is a compact hybrid with narrow leaves and white flowers opening from pink buds. Choisya grows rapidly and makes a good privacy hedge. However, I have seen this plant suffer from winter damage if temperatures dip too low. Fortunately, it grows back quickly and can be pruned back severely if necessary.

Just the Facts
Choisya ternata Mexican Orange
Height 6-8 feet tall and Wide (1.8-2.5 meters)
Zones 7-9 Sun to Partial Shade
Moderate water, good drainage, drought tolerant
Evergreen, fragrant white blossoms in early spring with a second flush in summer, leaves pungent

A Fine Evergreen Shrub

Mexican Orange

Sundance

Lustrous Mexican Orange

Aztec Pearl

Rosy Pink Flower Clusters

The bright blossoms of Ribes sanguineum are a sign that spring has arrived. The red flowering currant has rosy red blossom clusters that cover a mature shrub in the spring, creating quite a show. Most of the spring colors are pastels, soft daffodil yellows, light cherry pinks, but this plant is bright and beautiful. Almost a summer color. The name Ribes means ‘acid tasting’ referring to the bitter fruit and sanguineum is like sangre or blood, referring to the flower color, blood red. The color can range from light pink to deep red.

Flamingos

The color reminds me of a bird I recently saw at the Woodland Park Zoo, the perfectly pink flamingo. I think it’s amazing that an animal can change it’s color according to what it eats. With their diet of crustaceans and algae, the flamingos take on these rosy hues. Can you imagine if we started to change color according to our diets? Would you become deep green like spinach? Neon green like Mountain Dew? Or various shades of brown like a chocolate chip cookie? Maybe that’s too much information to share with the world, we’ll stick to changing our hair color to express ourselves. What color would you be?

Just the Facts
Ribes sanguineum or Red Flowering Currant
Height: 3-9 feet, upright
Leaves: Alternate, deciduous, five-lobed leaves, young growth hairy
Flowers: White to pink to deep red. Erect or drooping.
Fruits: Blue-black round berries, unpalatable.
Habitat: Dry open woods, disturbed sights.
Native in the Pacific Northwest

Springtime Red Flowering Currant

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All Shades of Green—-A Plant Perspective

Tag Archives: Spring flowering shrubs

Choisya

Red Flowering Currant

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