Sarcococca hookeriana, Buxaceae
If you’ve ever been in the presence of sweet box between late winter and the beginning of spring, you probably remember its distinctive strong floral scent, which can be perceived meters away from the plant even on still and very cold days. This hardy evergreen shrub native to western China and the Himalayas is part of a genus unknown to me until I moved to Scotland, where I could see and appreciate it for the first time at the botanic gardens in Glasgow and Edinburgh. At GBG sweet box is planted together with sweetest honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) and the scent combo is very, very powerful. The small flowers leave space to shiny, and often black, persistent berries of which I know little about: I haven’t had a chance to observe a mature bush with fruit long enough to know if birds and the rest of wildlife ever consume them: once again, it’s odd to be unable to find any info about it. If that’s the case then the plant could start from your garden and naturalise in your area given the right conditions, so consider details like this and plant with judgement. As far as I am aware, sweet box isn’t associated with invasive species though, and generally spreads slowly by suckering.
Fun fact: the sweet scent, totally absent in the related common box used in hedging and topiary, could be perceived as too sweet and strong by some people, in a similar way as with large bunches of some oriental lilies kept in a too-small room. A couple of weeks ago at work I cut a slit in the plastic wrapping of a dutch trolley in which around thirty potted plants in full bloom had been sealed for at least a day, and I put my nose in, just for fun. In 0.2 seconds I was so disoriented I took out my phone to take a photo of the smell(???), then realised what I was doing…