PlantFiles: Mock Orange
Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile'

I've had this plant now two seasons. I received a very small
14" plant to start. Last year it grew to about 3 to 4 ft. and
was so beautiful it arches a bit , its right behind my mailbox
so when you walk or drive bye you can smell this beauty when
it blooms, just a nice white flower with a purple center.
It reminds me of a cremecicle, its one of my favorite bushes
I grow and I look forward to it blooming. One problem I had
this year I lost some of the branches. They were all leaved
out and just weeks before the flowers appear the whole
stem died so I had to cut about 1/3 of the 15 or so 4 ft.
branches. They didn't all die at the same time. It was over
a couple weeks period. I watered it well and let the sunshine
to the rest but it did lose some branches but when it was
time to bloom it didn't loose anything else. I'm not sure if
these dries out quickly in the full sun and it may need to
be kept moist but not wet. Anyone have this bush and have
any similar problem. it may nor like to much sun? I will continue to grown this as its
well worth the effort.

This has to be one of the best shrubs ever for flower arrangements. The fragrance is amazing and it naturally assumes a graceful position in a vase. It's easy to grow here in the San Francisco Bay Area, too. One problem I have: it seems like a rootstock has taken over so that only a portion of the shrub blooms. The rootstock is very similar to Belle Etoile except that the leaves are darker and serrated. Has anyone else had this problem? I guess I have to hack out the roots of the rootstock. Another reason to like ownroot cuttings.

This is really my most favourite of the Philadelphus species and cultivars. This shrub has beautiful light lime-green leaves that make it stand out, and also has attractive dark coppery colour exfoliating bark as it matures. The flowers are actually a pure shiny white with a maroon patch in the center of the flower. This is a very very fragrant Mock-Orange (Philadelphus). To me, it smells exactly like Juicy Fruit gum, so we call it the Juicy Fruit bush now. It grows quite well in our high elevation, montane climate surprisingly. Our native Philadelphus also grows all over the mountains around here. It is Philadelphus Lewisii and is also quite beautiful in it's shape and it's tendency to grow out of cliff-sides, making the cliff-sides appear with white patches all over them as if there is still snow there! The fragrance of the P. Lewisii flowers is not very strong compared to the Belle Etoile cultivar which one can smell from quite a ways away. A nice shrub to plant near a window or door for the intoxicating fragrance. Cheers - MontanaVineMan

This is one of the most highly scented of all the mock oranges.