Dipelta floribunda
Shield shrub
- Height × spread
- 4.5m × 2.5m
- Position
- Tolerates full sun, tolerates part shade, likes light shade
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Flowers
- Spring, Autumn
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This is a large and very handsome shrub of some character that has delightfully fragrant, pinkish-white flowers with a yellow flush at their throats. The tubular flowers are quite large and produced in plentiful clusters during May. The shrub has flat, disc-like, winged fruits afterwards. The dark-green leaves are quite large ovals with pointed tips; they hang pendulously, taking on yellow autumn colour. The bark is beige-brown and peels in whorls during the winter, making an interesting feature.
- Flower colour
- White
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Autumn foliage
- Yellow
- Stem colour
- Brown
- Fruit colour
- Green
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- Yes, honey-almond
- Shape
- Oval
- Height
- 4.5m
- Spread
- 2.5m
- Height in 10 years
- 3m
- Spread in 10 years
- 2m
- Season of interest
- Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
- Flowers in
- Spring, Autumn
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Winter garden, Scented garden
- Sun or shade
- Tolerates full sun, tolerates part shade, likes light shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- Alkaline, Neutral
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Structural, Coloured stems
- Hazards
- No
- Pet safe
- Yes – listed in our pet-safe plants
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed young plants with slow release fertiliser
Spread a slow release fertiliser around the base of the plant to the edge of the foliage spread, so that it can feed the roots. It is helpful for this to be applied for several years.
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost until the plant becomes well established.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Prune after flowering
When the plant has flowered, cut all the flowered shoots back to healthy buds that are lower on the stems. When the plant is established, take out a quarter of the oldest branches to the ground at this time.
Planting & general
Outdoor planting · Planting
Add root growth stimulant to the planting hole
Mycorrhizal fungi helps roots establish quickly, so they absorb water and nutrients more efficiently. It comes as a powder, granule or gel. Add to the planting hole or container, and to the plant's rootball before planting in the hole. For "bareroot" plants use a gel.