Wyevale Nurseries is preparing its second commercial crop of a shrub described by product development manager Ben Gregory as “a game changer”.

Often described as the world's most scented shrub, Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’™ was awarded Plant of the Year at the 2016 Nursery & Garden Industry awards in Australia after its launch by Anthony Tesselaar Plants at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show in 2015.

‘Perfume Princess’ took New Zealand-based plant breeder Mark Jury more than 10 years to develop, becoming a true breeding success demonstrating both of the characteristics that Mark had hoped for: compact, shrubby foliage growth and heavy flowering. Plants reach a manageable 90-120cm and produce flowers between each leaf, double the size of those on usual D. odora varieties. Scent is improved too, with flowers offering an alluring fragrance with citrus undertones.

“ ‘Perfume Princess’ has been a game changer for us at Wyevale Nurseries,” said  Ben Gregory. “It is a superb grower, vigorous and branches well to create a very bushy potful with large, lush, deep coloured foliage. It is also tolerant of a range of conditions and will take full sun, higher levels of moisture and responds very well to pruning. So far, we have had absolutely minimal losses. It is unlike any other Daphne we have grown in the past.”

Gregory says the nursery will have good numbers available for Spring 2018 and are continuing to bulk and build the offer in a wider number of formats and increased volumes.”