Choisya ternata is one of those utterly dependable evergreen shrubs, able to perform faultlessly in all sorts of tough situations, in both sun and shade. No matter whether it’s in a frosty garden well inland, or a garden by the sea, its glossy green foliage always looks pristine and the crop of spring flowers is bountiful and blemish-free.
Left to its own devices, Choisya ternata will usually grow to a height of around two metres, but it responds very well to a bit of pruning so can be kept half this height if you wish. This responsiveness to clipping means it can also be grown as a hedge, forming a dense barrier of green, with the bonus of the spring flowers.
In good soils and sheltered gardens, it combines well with Wisteria, which flowers at the same time, with rhododendrons and the early flowering banksia rose (Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’) which is thornless and has small, light yellow flowers, and blossom trees such as flowering cherries. Use it as a background to masses of daisy flowers and lavenders. It also looks stunning with a foreground planting of the ground covering, china blue flowered, Lithodora ‘Grace Ward’.
Near the coast it can be mingled with some of the spectacular South African bulbs which flower at the same time, such as tall stemmed, pink or white watsonias and slender stemmed ixias, or with blue flowered rosemary varieties such as ‘Mozart’ and sky blue, bushy Ceanothus.
Choisya ternata can play a useful part in a mixed border of attractive, evergreen shrubs designed with low maintenance in mind. Try planting it with the evergreen Hydrangea relative Dichroa ‘Blue Sapphires’, bushy Hebes such as ‘Wiri Prince’, Michelia figo which will provide strong and pleasing perfume, Gordonia ‘Moonlight Magic’, and autumn flowering Camellia sasanqua varieties such as ‘Paradise Belinda’ and ‘Paradise Helen’.
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Schemes & Themes
using Liddle Wonder Plants