Sarcococca ruscifolia Dragon Gate

Sarcococca Dragon's Gate is a particularly elegant selection of a small sweet box, discreet but easy to grow, called Sarcococca with Ruscus leaves. Denser than its parent, it is adorned with thinner leaves, a beautiful dark green colour and decorative throughout the year. Nicely bushy, it is a star in winter, when few plants catch the gardener's attention: its small clusters of milky white flowers emit a delicious vanilla fragrance. Perfectly hardy and requiring very little maintenance, it goes well with all kinds of plants, even in small spaces. It is equally at home in a city garden as in the countryside.

Sarcococca ruscifolia is a bush belonging to the Buxaceae family, closely related to Boxwood, native to central China, in a mountainous region where it inhabits limestone (karstic) slopes. In nature, it grows alongside other shrubs such as Myrsine africana, Pistacia chinensis, Sophora davidii, for example, which make up a semi-tree vegetation formation of scrub vegetation, adapted to poor and relatively dry soils. It owes its species name to the resemblance of its leaves to those of Butcher's Broom (Ruscus). Introduced to Europe in the 19th century, it only appeared in Western gardens in the 1990s.

'Dragon's Gate' was discovered in the Chinese province of Yunnan by the British botanist Roy Lancaster in 1980. The habit and size of this small bush differ little from the usually encountered species, but it has thinner leaves. Its vegetation is dense, its globular and slightly irregular habit is supported by arched stems. It will not exceed 1 m (3ft) in all directions after many years, its growth is slow. Its leathery, evergreen foliage, is rich and shiny green on the upper side, lighter underneath. The leaves are elliptical, and acuminate, like those of Butcher's Broom. The flowers appear in January, in small clusters in the axils of the leaves, all along the branches. They measure no more than 3 to 5 mm (1in) in length and are devoid of petals, showing only highly developed white stamens. This highly fragrant flowering lasts throughout the month of February, delivering a sweet fragrance with vanilla notes. The ovoid fruits are 1 cm (1in) drupes, particularly decorative with their blood-red colour and shiny surface. They turn almost black in autumn.

Sarcococca Dragon's Gate is very hardy and grows slowly, in shade or partial shade. Just like dwarf conifers, it fades into the background in summer, structures small spaces in winter, and requires little. It has the advantage of bringing a taste of spring to the garden as early as January and can replace boxwood in shaded areas. It is cultivated in flower beds as well as in undergrowth, low informal hedges or ground cover. Place it behind a low wall, near a frequented passage, or even close to the entrance or under a window to fully enjoy its fragrance. It only dislikes poorly drained soils and it accepts root competition. It is perfect for filling an undergrowth with ferns, hellebores, botanical cyclamen, Lonicera pileata, snowberries, holly-leaved mahonia... You can even grow it in pots.