Sarcococca hookeriana ‘Winter Gem’

Winter flowers are very precious and scented winter flowers are doubly so. I’ve already written about Winter Heliotrope, a winter Honeysuckle, Witch Hazel and Viburnum bodnantense. Christmas Box, Sarcococca hookeriana, is another of these lovely winter pick-me-ups.

Christmas Box, also known as Sweet Box, is a compact, evergreen shrub. Its leaves are more pointed than true Box (Buxus sempervirens), though both are in the same family, the Buxaceae.

Several varieties of Sarcococca are grown in gardens. These include three natives of China: Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis, which grows to 60cm tall, the larger Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna (to 1.5 metres tall) and Sarcocococca confusa, bigger still (up to 2 metres tall). S. hookeriana spreads slowly by suckers but these appear close to the plant, so aren’t a nuisance; S. confusa doesn’t produce suckers. After flowering, S. hookeriana and S. confusa bear attractive glossy black berries.Their close relative Sarcococca ruscifolia has red berries.

The variety of Christmas Box that I grow is Sarcococca hookeriana ‘Winter Gem’, which will reach about 60cm tall after about six years. It is a hybrid between S. hookeriana var. digyna ‘Purple Stem’ and S. hookeriana var. humilis.  In my north-facing garden in Norwich it flowers in February. On a warm day (like early last week) the smell of the flowers drifts several feet away from the plant but when the weather is cold you may need to cup your hands around the flowers and breathe on them to release the scent, as with Witch Hazel. I would describe the perfume as  a spicy honey, less sweet than Winter Heliotrope and most similar to Witch Hazel.

Christmas Box are reliable and easy to grow. They are happy in full or partial shade in a variety of soils and our plant copes well in our sandy soil in semi-shade. (I added garden compost when I planted it just over two years ago.) Unlike the true Box, they aren’t affected by the dreaded Box Blight.