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Culture

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to light shade. Prefers moist, organically rich soils. Tolerates a wide range of soils except poorly-drained ones. Flowers appear on the prior year’s growth, so prune as needed immediately after flowering.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Philadelphus lewisii, commonly called mockorange, is a dense, compact, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub that typically grows to 4-6' tall and as wide. It is native to mixed forests, thickets and mountain slopes of North America. It is grown in landscapes primarily for its fragrant, creamy white, disc-shaped flowers which are lightly tinged with pale yellow. Flowers (each to 1" across) in small clusters (racemes of 3-9 flowers) cover the shrub with a fragrant and abundant bloom in spring (May in St. Louis). Each flower purportedly resembles the shape of an orange blossom, hence the common name of mockorange. Flowers give way to seed capsules. Ovate to lanceolate leaves (2-4" long) with serrate margins are glabrous beneath. Dark brown bark exfoliates with age. Named after it's North America discovery by Meriwether Lewis.