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Family: Salicaceae
Native to: Chile and Argentina
Dimensions: 20 to 25' tall, 12' wide
Cold resistance: hardy to 5 - 10°F
Drought resistance: moderate; grows faster with irrigation
Key Features: evergreen with fine-textured foliage, inconspicuous vanilla-scented late winter flowers
Uses: large shrub or small tree, good for screening/back of border, amentable to pruning, adapts to sun or shade
Description:
Don't be put off by this plant's common name: it isn't nearly as mundane as boxwood, and it smells much better too! (Ever smelled boxwood? Eww.) It's an elegant, small, evergreen tree with tiny, round, very dark green leaves, providing a very unique fine texture. Vigorous and easy to grow (hey, it even thrives in the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle!), it will reward you with tiny, cream colored flowers in spring, which are more notable for their strong vanilla scent than their appearance. Now what else can you plant that smells like vanilla in February? These are followed by tiny round berries in summer which may persist into fall. In the Pacific Northwest, it will grow in full sun if planted in rich, moist soil and does equally as well, while requiring less water, in partial shade.
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