MOCK ORANGE
Plant breeders and merchandisers are working hard to create the perfect garden plant and I am sure someday they will do it. This paragon of horticultural virtue will be easy to care for, pest and disease resistant, adaptable to a wide range of conditions and perform equally well in sun and partial shade. Both decorative and useful, the plant will captivate buyers with beautiful, fragrant flowers, edible fruit, attractive foliage, compact shape and even winter interest in the form of exfoliating bark or eye-catching seedheads. It will never need pruning and will look good even after exposure to a 30-minute hailstorm with golf ball-size ice chunks. Wildlife will thrive on the fruits and pollinators will flock to the flowers. Planted en masse, the roots, which contain a substance that cures cancer and filters heavy metals out of ground water, will also control erosion on steep slopes. Commercial growers will enthuse over the plant because it will be easy to propagate, grow quickly and increase handily over time. Its vigor will be tempered with extreme good manners and it will never be invasive under any circumstances anywhere in the world.
Clearly mock orange—Philadelphus species—do not resemble that plant. The mock oranges, as a group, are tough, hardy shrubs and the fragrant flowers that adorn them are gorgeous. They are fairly easily to grow and propagate. Still, like its spring-flowering fellow-travelers, forsythia and deutzia, mock orange is often damned with faint praise. After two weeks of heavenly-scented glory, the blooms fade and the shrubs don’t do much, except wait patiently for pruning. Their deciduous nature means that winter interest is limited, except in species with exfoliating bark.
Still, mock orange has inspired devotion in many people, including Victor Lemoine—1823-1911–one of the most celebrated plant breeders of the nineteenth century and patriarch of a plant-breeding family. Lemoine had a soft spot for flowering plants that led him to work extensively with lilac, deutzia and a host of other species. He created compact, floriferous mock orange hybrids by crossing native American species like littleleaf mock orange–Philadelphus microphyllus—with Mexican mock orange—Philadelphus mexicanus—and common mock orange—Philadelphus coronarius. The end result was a series of hybrids, like ‘Belle Etoile’, that are relatively compact, with an arching, upright habit and abundant clusters of fragrant flowers. Today, if you buy a hybrid mock orange with a French name, it is probably one of Lemoine’s.
Mock orange is a member of the hydrangea or Hydrangeaceae family and the resemblance is clear if you look closely at the flowers. Each features four rounded petals and resembles a larger version of the individual florets produced by hydrangeas. The flowers are always white, though some species and varieties, like the Lemoine hybrids, boast rose or purple shading at the base of each petal. Every flower is also adorned with a prominent cluster of golden stamens in the center. Like many hydrangeas, mock oranges generally bloom on old wood, meaning that this year’s new growth produces next year’s flowers. Plants that bloom on old wood should always be pruned after flowering. If you encounter a neglected mock orange that has grown tall, gangly and less floriferous, prune it back to the ground right after flowering. It will spring forth with new resolve thereafter.
Mock oranges make excellent specimen plants or deciduous hedges. Planted in mixed annual-perennial-shrub borders, they can be paired with evergreens to add coveted year-round interest. Large varieties include Lemoine’s ‘Belle Etoile’, which grows five to 6 feet tall and up to 4 feet wide, with single blooms. If your area is drought-prone, pick littleleaf mock orange—Philadelphus microphyllus—which is native to the American southwest. The plants grow four to six feet tall, with pleasing small leaves, large fragrant summer flowers and reddish-brown exfoliating bark. Thanks to the rigors of its native environment, littleleaf mock orange long ago got into the habit of sipping, rather than guzzling, water.
Modern gardeners must often cope with severe space limitations or create gardens in containers of various sizes. People in those situations need not forget about mock orange. Small-size varieties are available, including ‘Miniature Snowflake’ and ‘Snow Dwarf’, both of which top out at about three feet tall and wide. This is a good size for either a large container or a modest garden plot. In addition to their desirable daintiness, these little mock oranges have the added bonus of fragrant double flowers.
If you are looking for double flowers on a larger shrub, try ‘Virginal’, which will grow to nine feet tall if left to its own devices, but can be pruned to keep it within more reasonable bounds.
Some helpful relative long ago told me that mock orange got its common name from the flowers’ fragrance, which was likened to that of orange blossoms. Multiple authoritative sources maintain that it is really the orange blossom-like appearance of the flowers that gives rise to the name. So much for relying on relatives for definitive answers. Fortunately my relatives never muddied the waters about the origins of the generic name, Philadelphus. That comes from an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, of the Macedonian Ptolomy line. Ptolemy II Philadelphus lived in the second century BCE and reputedly maintained a splendid court. It must have been that splendor that inspired Linnaeus to name the genus in his honor.
Mock orange is thoroughly memorable, despite its lack of perfection. But really, perfection is significantly overrated, whereas mock orange is somewhat underappreciated. Find a selection of these lovely shrubs at ForestFarm, 14643 Watergap Rd.,Williams, OR 97544-9599 (541), 846-7269, www.forestfarm.com. Free catalog.