Daphne x napolitana

Daphne x napolitana We are all familiar with the winter flowering types of daphne, however Daphne x napolitana is a fragrant summer flowering daphne.

This is a naturally occurring hybrid from Southern Italy, hence the name. It also goes by the name Neapolitan mezereon and Daphne neapolitana.

The new flower buds emerge a deep red and open to a mid pink flushed with deeper red. Maybe not spectacular, but they are fragrant.

Daphne x napolitana will flower in spring, however it also has a second flush in late summer, so for good fragrance during summer, we like it a lot.

Growing Conditions

Reaching around around 3ft in height with a similar spread the dark green foliage acts as a nice backdrop to the deep pink flowers, and some colourful berries to follow as well.

And no its not new, its actually been around for two hundred years and is probably a hybrid from Italy. It is easy to grow compared to some of the other summer flowering Daphne's.

A few 'cultivars' carry the same name. Daphne x napolitana including, the low growing 'Bramdean', 'Enigma', as well as 'Meon' and 'Stasek', interestingly the later two seem to have different parentage.

Care

A little more sun than some other species, morning sun is excellent. Hot midday sun is probably not so good, however this species does like a little warmth.

Daphne x napolitana also require a little less water.

As this is a reasonably small and compact plant it can be successfully grown in containers, the same conditions apply as to growing on the garden.

Propagation

Easiest from cuttings, softwood in spring, or try layering. Can also be propagated by semi hardwood cuttings. But forget trying to grow this one from seed as it seems to be sterile.