Philadelphus or Mock Orange

Hi Lucy!

With Philadelphus, I find judicious pruning out the flowering stems AFTER flowering leaving new shoots to flower the following spring is the correct procedure. If it was my plant - I would prune out all old wood now (as if it had flowered) leaving new wood in place - you should find it will flower for you next year as just reward. Give it a feed of pot-ash or blood fish and bone after pruning and watch it romp away. Good luck!

Philadelphus is definitely better after pruning after flowering. I have a very large one and 2 years ago gave it a drastic pruning sadly last year it didnt bloom but this year it is again sky high with many buds about to flower.I have smaller one and this took quite while to establish but is now rampant. The scent of it is fantastic I love watching each shrub flower in turn starting with the Magnolia in front.

I have had a wonderful philadelphus which has been lovely for 20 years however for the last two years all I have had is a few new branches and about 10 flowers. Can anyone help ? The bush is usually fully green by now and the flowers are in bloom late may early june

I also have a philadelphus with leaves which look a bit the worse for wear. They look scorched on the edges. This also happened last year, but each year it has made good growth and has got masses of flowers. I have no reason to believe it's droughted - shrubs surrounding it are healthy. It is the one with the pale green leaves not the dark green variety. I might try a mega prune next year and see what happens. What a scent though! Can't be bettered.

Do they suffer from rust, like hypericums do? I agree about the smell. My other favourite smell is helliotrope..early evening smell of parma violets. Thankfully have a garden centre just up the road that sells them so I plant a few each year.

I discovered heliotrope last year - had heard of it but never seen one and then I bought one for a pound on a plant stall at a fire station open day! (wanted a hunky fireman to take home but husband said "where would we put him? Have a nice plant instead"!) It was the last one. It flowered its head off well into the late Autumn and was much admired. The scent reminded me of morello cherries. I am looking for some more this year.

I have a golden leaved philadelphus which wasn't doing much, so I threatened it with destruction if it didn't produce flowers this year and it is rampant. This also worked with a reluctant weigela in my previous garden!

It was the final straw with my marriage when my, then, husband pruned a mock orange to near destruction. He did say 'it'll grow back' to which I replied that I might be dead by then. Perhaps he was right