The Great Drum Rake Off
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Skim About Skimmia
Published 27/10/2022
Skimmias have a long season of interest. Skimmias have evergreen, aromatic foliage, pretty flowers in late spring and all through winter they have attractive heads of tightly-closed flower buds and/or cheerful colourful berries.
Choose Skimmias with care as most varieties have either male or female flowers.
• Male plants have flowers only and no berries.
• The beautiful berries form on female plants and only when there is a male plant nearby.
• Some Skimmia varieties have both male and female flowers on the same plant and produce both flowers and berries. These do not require a partner. They are referred to as ‘hermaphrodite’ or ‘self-fertile’.
Male flowers can have a beautiful scent whilst the females have a more delicate fragrance or no fragrance at all.
Skimmia look superb growing alone in pots or accompanied by small plants like trailing Ivy, Gaultheria or small ferns. They will thrive for several years in a pot provided they are fed with a slow-release ericaceous fertiliser in spring. They grow best in a shady spot in Ericaceous compost, ideal for a woodland border.
Male plants (flowers only)
Female plants (berries, grow with a male nearby)
Hermaphrodite (both flowers and berries on same plant)
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