January 2025 Plant of the Month

Paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha)

Paperbush is a deciduous shrub that can provide superb winter interest and fragrance. This well-branched shrub can begin blooming in December and continue through the winter. The individual florets are tiny, but a few dozen make up larger golden yellow flower clusters that catch your attention.

You can smell a Paperbush shrub before you see it with a fragrance similar to gardenia with a slightly spicier element. Be sure to snip a few blooms to keep the house fragrant through the winter. It thrives in partial shade with well-enriched, moist soils. During the rest of the year, the shrub has an attractive shape and form with bluish foliage. In the autumn, the foliage turns rich shades of yellow. Native to China and the Himalayas, this shrub’s mature size will be 7 feet high and wide.

Jessica Strickland is an Agriculture Extension Agent, specializing in horticulture for North Carolina Cooperative Extension in Wayne County. Forward any questions you would like answered from this month’s column to Jessica.Strickland@waynegov.com.

Learn More!

· Sign up for Wayne County Extension Gardening e-mail list to receive timely gardening tips and more at https://wayne.ces.ncsu.edu/email-me

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· To discover more plant ideas for your landscape, visit the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox at https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu