Plant of the Moment No. 19: Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill'

In flower since late December and still going strong, with many buds yet to open, this semi-evergreen shrub fills a large area of the garden with an intoxicating, almost addictive scent – particularly if you stand downwind on a mild day with the lightest of breezes. Unlike some Daphnes, this seems to be a relatively easy plant to establish and one that for us has made a large shrub over the course of the last eight years or so. Okay, so the foliage starts to look a bit battered by the end of the winter, and the older leaves yellow and drop in spring, but the long season of mid-winter flowering, the clusters of slightly waxy, yellow-stamened pink flowers, and above all the outstanding perfume, make this minor fault eminently forgiveable. This is a plant I would not be without.