Plant Focus Evergreen skimmias provide fragrant spring flowers and Christmas berries.

Compact evergreen skimmias provide year-round interest and fragrant spring flowers. But for heaps of glossy berries at Christmas, be sure to plant male and female plants together

PHOTOGRAPHS DIANNA JAZWINSKI

The clustered buds of Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’ open to reveal pretty, pinkish-white flowers in spring.

With their glossy leaves and festive red berries, skimmia are made for Christmas. What’s more, these compact evergreen shrubs are a super choice for gardens where size is a consideration, and they grow well in containers for courtyard or balcony gardeners. If you yearn to gather your own greenery for Christmas decorations, but don’t have room for a holly, a couple of choice skimmias could be just the thing – and since they’re prickle free, making those decorations will be far less painful! There is just one thing to bear in mind, however. Nearly all skimmia plants are either male or female, and only female plants will bear berries. Females also need a male plant nearby in order for their flowers to be pollinated and berries to form. One of the few exceptions is the selffertile Skimmia japonica subsp. reevesiana, which bears small white flowers in spring, followed by bunches of glowing scarlet winter berries among its glossy green leaves. If you want to keep things simple, this is the skimmia to choose. It reaches around 1m tall, so it’s a good choice for a small border or can be grown in a pot, where it will remain compact. That said, it isn’t too difficult to pair male and female skimmias together to ensure a good crop of berries. Most garden centres and online suppliers label their plants so you know. If in doubt, look for popular and readily available Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’. A male variety, it makes a good pollination partner for a berrybearing female variety, such as free-fruiting scarlet S. japonica ‘Nymans’ or the varieties with pearl-like white berries, such as ‘Kew White’ and ‘Wakehurst White’. As well as ensuring berries on your female plants, ‘Rubella’ is worth growing in its own right for its pretty flowers. These begin to form in autumn, and by winter the plant is adorned with clusters of small crimson or deep pink buds; along with its dark green foliage, these are the reason this skimmia is so often used in containers for winter interest. Eventually, come spring, the flowers open to reveal blush-pink and white fragrant flowers. Individually they’re tiny, but because they’re produced in tightly packed panicles, the effect is quite impactful.

Most skimmias follow the same timing, forming their flowers in autumn then spending winter with the tiny buds furled tightly closed, before finally opening up in spring. Skimmia x confusa ‘Kew Green’ is the same, bearing lime-green buds during winter that open into creamy-white fragrant flowers over several weeks in mid-spring. Growing to about 1m tall, this skimmia is such a handy size for a

Above The scarlet fruit of ‘Nymans’, a female, berry-bearing variety, are a festive addition to any winter garden.

mixed border, helping to bridge the space between taller shrubs and lower-growing perennials, while providing plenty of winter interest at the same time. Since it’s male, it will also help berries form on any female plants growing nearby.

That so many skimmia have names referencing Kew or Wakehurst is no coincidence. According to W.J. Bean’s Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, Kew was one of the earliest gardens in Europe to record growing skimmia in 1838 – a good few decades before the wider horticultural world discovered their delights. This came about in 1861 when Robert Fortune introduced more skimmia to Britain from Japan having been plant hunting there for Standish’s nursery. Today, Wakehurst, Kew’s ‘wild’ country garden in West Sussex, holds the National Plant Collection of Skimmia, and a visit in winter or spring will reveal the breadth and range of these shrubs, with lots of varieties growing in the new winter garden and elsewhere, including many cultivars you don’t see every day.

Among the female berrying varieties, there’s Skimmia japonica ‘Highgrove Redbud’, a classic example of why Plant Heritage’s national collections are so important, since it was last listed in the RHS Plant Finder in 2009 and is no longer available to buy – a shame, since its dusky pink flower buds are a winter treat iced with frost. Male variety ‘Macpenny Dwarf’, just 45cm tall, has fared better and is still listed by two

Above left ‘Highgrove Redbud’, a rarity in the Wakehurst collection. Above middle Pearl-like ‘Wakehurst White’. Above right Winter buds on male ‘Ruby Dome’. Right Fragrant ‘Kew Green’ is one of the best.

Above left The species nurseries. ‘Red Princess’ Skimmia anquetilia isn’t is a female variety, widely grown, but makes an interesting addition whose crimson-pink with its elegant leaves. buds turn into large Above right Pink-tinged clusters of bright red leaves of ‘Chilan Choice’; glossy berries as long as both male and female, it can set its own berries. there’s a male nearby, while ‘Chilan Choice’, with its pink-tinged foliage, is one of the handful of hermaphrodite varieties capable of setting its own berries. Slow-growing ‘Ruby Dome’ is a male plant with plum-pink flower buds, ‘Scarlet Dwarf’ is female with bronze-pink flowerbuds opening into white flowers and then red berries. For those who enjoy interesting foliage, Skimmia anquetilia is unusual, with long, tapering leaves.

Whether you take inspiration from Wakehurst and seek out a little-known skimmia from a specialist, or head to the garden centre for a familiar variety, these shrubs won’t disappoint – just remember to check their sex if you want those festive berries. n

Wakehurst, Ardingly, Haywards Heath RH17 6TN. kew.org. Try MacPennys for a selection of unusual skimmia. Tel: +44 (0)1425 672348; macpennys.co.uk Keep these evergreen shrubs happy by making sure they’re planted in the right place

Many gardeners think skimmia are acid-loving plants that need acidic soil or ericaceous compost, but this isn’t the case. The miserable yellowing foliage many skimmia suffer from isn’t the chlorosis that affects ericaceous plants in alkaline soil; it usually happens because they’ve been planted in full sun, or poor, dry soil.

To keep leaves green and skimmias in good condition, plant in light shade and soil that’s rich in organic matter so it’s less likely to dry out. ‘Kew Green’ can cope in a sunny spot, but almost all the others prefer to be in the shade. In containers, multipurpose compost mixed with John Innes No 3 for its nutrient-holding loam will suit skimmias well.

Water well while new plants are establishing in borders, but once they’re settled, skimmias are pretty drought tolerant. They shouldn’t need feeding either, but they do benefit from an annual mulch to conserve the soil’s moisture and boost its organic content.

Naturally tidy and compact, skimmias shouldn’t need any pruning. You could snip off the tips of shoots to take softwood cuttings, which is best done from midsummer to autumn.