Sarcococca orientalis

If you like the boxwood relative sarcococca, you’ll love Sarcococca orientalis. Sarcococca orientalis hails from low elevations (below 3,000′) in southeast China, where it can be found along woodland streams. In the garden, Sarcococca orientalis forms a dense evergreen shrub to 5 tall x 7′ wide (8 years). The green stems are clothed with 3″ long glossy green leaves and adorned with small but insanely fragrant white flowers from January through March…the longest flowering period of any sweet box we’ve grown. Most interesting is that the glossy, black, blueberry-sized fruit from spring persist alongside the fall flowers.