The daphnes belong to the Family Thymelaceae. The natural habitat of Daphne petraea grandiflora is in the mountains around Lake Garda in North Italy. As their name suggests they are rock lovers and are to be found growing in the clefts in the rocks. They grow from a central rootstock and produce radiating branches from this. Normally the maximum height is about 20 cm. and the diameter can become quite considerable. The leaves are small and narrow and of a dullish but glossy green. The flowers are a rich pink and have an almost crystalline appearance. They also have a very strong scent. Daphne petraea grandiflora is arguably one of the nicest of the whole Genus and when it appears on the Benches at our Shows undoubtedly attracts a great deal of attention. Few of the specimens on show are of any great size. The one shown in the attached picture is about 35 cm in diameter.

Many of the plants available at this time are on grafted rootstocks, although there is no particular problem in rooting cuttings and growing them on their own roots. When in flower the plant is smothered in flowers to the extent that very little of the foliage remains visible. When the flowers went over, for interest, I counted the number of blooms on this plant and it was over 2,000.

To bring a plant to this state for exhibition requires that careful attention to certain details are attended to in the run-up period. Starting at about two months before the expected time of presentation, routine turning of the plant is carried out. Initially this is to the extent of ¼ of a turn about twice a week. This frequency is increased as the projected show time approaches. Failure to do this results in the side of the plant facing the sun coming into flower considerably sooner than the side away from the sun. This takes care of the evenness of the flowering.

Probably the most important factor of all in securing even flowering of the whole plant is in the attention to the watering of the plant. So often this is neglected in the winter. The flower buds start to form towards the end of the summer and for these to develop properly it is essential that the plant is kept adequately moist at the roots. Failure to do this results in the abortion of the flower buds and patchy flowering results. During the growing season they really do require quite a considerable amount of water. I usually lace this water with a tomato fertiliser and feed weekly, weakly. Any watering required in between times is with plain water.

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