Edgeworth's Garden

Plants

Maria Edgeworth Centre Garden

Outside the Maria Edgeworth Centre is a grassy area with path and seating and along the walls you can find the Centre Garden. These pages give you details of the plants in that Garden.

Sarcocoa garden plant

Sarcocoa

Sarcococca is a genus of 11 species of flowering plants in the box family Buxaceae, native to eastern and southeastern Asia and the Himalayas. They are slow-growing, monoecious, evergreen shrubs 1–2 m tall. The leaves are borne alternately, 3–12 cm long and 1–4 cm broad.

Sometimes called the Christmas Box as it bears scented white blooms in winter. Its sweet vanilla-like fragrance can be enjoyed at a time of year when there is little other scents in your garden. It is also prized for its rich green foliage. 

It is a good plant in shrubberies as it provides contrast. Grow it near a path so you can enjoy the scent, as a hedge perhaps. 

Sarcocoa produces small black berries which are eaten by birds. 

The leaves and stems of the plants are used in Chinese medicine as anti-inflammatories and as analgesics.

Sarococoa can be propagated from semi-hardwood cuttings or by sowing its berries which you harvest in winter. It will thrive in a moist but well-drained soil in sun or shade