PlantFiles: Mexican orange
Choisya ternata

Choisya ternata is a very common landscape plant here and fully hardy. The leaves are glossy green and in late spring, white flowers emerge from the plant, with a faint scent, more noticeable at night. A lovely evergreen plant which will tolerate some frosts.

I ordered this plant from a seller in Oregon about three years ago. When I received it I planted it in an area that gets about two hours of sun each day. It has really taken off. It is now about 5 feet wide by about 4 feet high and counting. The soil around my house is very sandy and full of rocks so I first amended the soil with a sandy loam addition. It has been getting more flowers as it matures and of course more fragrance. The fragrance is very sweet and the evergreen glossy leaves are another plus. I love this plant so much so that I have started several air layers and cuttings. Arbor Day has my zone as 9. I hope my information will help anybody interested in growing this plant.

I have several Mexican orange plants and love the way they look, smell and re-bloom periodically from spring to late summer. The only problem we've had is that the branches tend to split if the plant gets more than an inch of snow on it. The branches often continue to grow, even after splitting, but it creates gaps that take a few years to fill in.

Grew this plant when living on North Oregon Coast. Brought a plant with me when we moved to Florence, Alabama. I have to protect it on the very very cold winter nights but it is worth it. The fragrance of this plant is wonderful. Have rooted 3 new plants from the original plant by layering. It blooms every spring. Growing it in partial shade but still very bright area. Every year the Giant Swallowtail - Papilio cresphontes caterpillar appears on the leaves.

I purchased this shrub last spring and kept it in a large pot for a year so I could move it around to see what condition it liked in my yard. It grew fast and has lots of blooms on it this spring, although I can't pick up any scent on them. I am trying to decide where to plant it in the yard, because of the lack of scent I won't be putting it near the path I had planned for it, but it is an attractive shrub year round.

We've had a little success and some bloom, yet this plant really doesn't like our water at all. The chlorine in our tap water just has a tendency to put these plants into a stand still during our hot, dry summers. Spring does bring some bloom but nothing like the areas where summer rains are common.

Very vigorous and maintenance free - I think the fragrance is more like honey than orange - doesn't need much water.

Choisya ternata is a native of Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The flowers of this shrub are fragrant and even the leaves when crushed smell slightly of oranges. Described as hardy to USDA zone 7, it is known to be extremely frost-resistant, showing some scorching of the leaves and short die back, but recovering again and not dying outright.