This little-known shrub is perfectly suited for North Central Texas

It makes my heart sing when I can bring you a plant you may not know – one that should do well for you and that will reward you for years into the future.

Such it is with mock orange (Philadelphus x virginalis), an informal shrub that’s more commonly seen in the Midwest and Northeast, but that’s perfectly suited to North Central Texas. They are winter-hardy to all of Texas, but they’re probably easier to grow in the eastern half of the state due to higher average humidity.

Most of the vigorous mock orange plants that I’ve seen in our area have been growing in partially shaded locations, primarily protected from the hot afternoon sun in the summer. I have several growing beneath tall pecan trees where they’re planted in moist, highly organic soil.

Since mock orange plants are deciduous, and since they’re not much to look at when they’re not blooming, it’s usually best to tuck them back into evergreen settings where they can show off when they’re flowering and pretty much disappear when they’re not. That’s basically fairly good advice for most of our spring-blooming shrubs such as flowering quince, forsythia and bridal wreath.

These, however, are somewhat taller shrubs, growing to 8 to 10 feet tall and 6 or 8 feet wide. They’re best left without being formally shaped, pruned only to remove erratic branches after they bloom.

Their flowers are single, semi-double and even frilly double, depending on the selection you buy. They’re 1 to 2 inches across, and the plants keep blooming for a couple of weeks. Some types are fragrant. Many are not.

Mock orange is not as commonly sold in North Texas nurseries as one might hope it would be. You need to keep your eyes open and buy it when you find it. It is available online, but purchasing shrubs locally is always the preferred option. Local independent garden centers that handle a wide assortment of plants will be your most likely place to find it.

But be careful not to mistake Pittosporum tobira for it. For some odd reason, that plant is also called “mock orange” by West Coast growers, even though it’s not at all related, either by botany or visually. Its flowers are inconspicuous, and its winter hardiness is highly questionable locally.

If you do succeed in finding a mock orange, plant it immediately. Give it 5 feet in all directions, and situate it so it will get shade from noon on during the summer. Carefully take it out of its container and set it at the same depth at which it was growing originally. Fill the soil in around it and water it slowly and deeply. Water it by hand a couple of times weekly for its first growing season until it gets its roots established out into the adjacent soil.

Your plant will benefit from a high-nitrogen fertilizer the same as what you use on your lawngrass. Feed it as new growth begins in early spring, again immediately after it finishes flowering and again in late summer.

I have never seen any insects or diseases bother my own mock oranges, nor have I ever had any calls or questions about them. It’s nice to report a plant with so few issues.

Mock oranges are propagated by cuttings. In that regard they’re not especially difficult if you have succeeded starting other shrubs. The cuttings should be semi-hardwood, taken in early summer.

Strip the bottom leaves off each cutting. Dust the bottoms of the cuttings with rooting hormone powder from the nursery or hardware store. Stick 5 or 6 cuttings 4 to 5 inches long into a 6-inch flowerpot filled with a 50-50 mixture of sphagnum peat moss and perlite. Water the rooting medium thoroughly prior to sticking the cuttings. Cover the cuttings with dry cleaner’s plastic to give them a greenhouse-like environment, then place them in a really bright spot, but one that’s out of direct sunlight. With a little luck they should be rooted within 4 to 5 weeks, at which point you can pot them up and get them started in a shaded environment.

That, then, is my sales pitch for a lovely shrub you might want to consider for your North Texas landscape. It’s especially nice to know it’s one that will never be harmed by North Texas winters, even when they’re as bizarre as this last one just finished.

A couple of updates on cold damage

I’m willing to say that ash trees that have failed to leaf out by now are probably lost. It’s time to consider their replacements.

By comparison, don’t touch live oaks or Shumard red oaks yet. Every passing day continues to show new growth popping out on trees that we might have assumed to be dead. Some of the state’s finest arborists and foresters are still telling us we need to wait.

And I’m still watching crape myrtles, although it does look like some have frozen to the ground. I’ll go into more detail in another week or so, but if you have a plant with very strong new shoots coming up from its base, don’t remove those sprouts. Let them develop. You may need them as new trunks as you retrain your plant this spring and summer. Details to come soon.

You can hear Neil Sperry on KLIF 570AM on Saturday afternoons 1-3 pm and on WBAP 820AM Sunday mornings 8-10 am. Join him at www.neilsperry.com and follow him on Facebook.

This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 9:30 AM.