Screeners: Sarcococca confusa

description for "Screeners: Sarcococca confusa"

This is the largest and bushiest of all the Sarcococca. Planted next to a door or in an entryway, get ready to be rewarded with a heavenly sweet smell that fills the air in the dead of winter. These hardy, evergreen shrubs produce a very tiny white flower whose fragrance demands to be noticed. After it flowers, Sarcococca produces shiny, purple/black fruit up and down it's branches. Sarcococca confusa stays green all year with glossy narrow leaves. Excellent for planting next to walkways, under trees and against walls. It needs shade, with only morning sun. It will turn yellow and not preform well in sun. Sarcococca confusa is a slow grower, sometimes taking a couple of years to establish, it will send out runners which make it a great informal low screen. Eventually it will get to be 3-5' tall by 3-4' wide.

History:

It is native to western China. Sarcococca is derived from the Greek sarx meaning flesh and kokkos meaning berry. Confusa is from the Latin meaning ‘indistinct’. It grows in USDA zones 7-9.