What is it? Everyone’s dream plant is evergreen, flowering, scented, shade-tolerant and low-maintenance. Oh, and edible. Sweet box ticks all of those boxes, except for the last. Its headily scented flowers come at a bleak time of year too – from December to March, followed by long-lasting berries in blue, black or red.
Any good varieties? Sarcococca confusa has pure white flowers and dark green foliage and S. hookeriana var. digyna ‘Purple Stem’ has pinky-white flowers and dark purple stems: both have a height and spread of around 1.5m x 1.5m. If you are looking for a more compact shrub, S. hookeriana var. humilis comes in at about 1m each way.
Plant it with? RHS Wisley teams S. confusa with columns of common beech; snowdrops look comely scattered at its feet.
And where? Sweet box thrives in partial or full shade in most reasonably fertile soils; don’t let it get waterlogged in winter.
Any drawbacks? Sarcococca tends to be slow-growing, so buy plants as big as you can afford or be prepared to be patient while it reaches the sizes listed above.
What else can it do? It can be clipped into topiary shapes as an alternative to common box (Buxus sempervirens).
